GWR Shortage of Traincrew Weekend and During Week

[Shaw S Hunter]

That’s the third post you have made making a really poor assumption about current FG rail labour relations and employment policy without any actual knowledge about what is actually going on at GWR. Please stop guessing, the Lockhead/Finch days have long gone.

Wilts Wanderer is on the money - the never ending late engineering changes this year coupled with the compressed training timescales for a variety of new/cascaded stock as well as coping with all the new starters that have had to be recruited has taken it’s toll. The staff at several depots are on the floor and want their time off.

If the DfT could actually make their infrastructure subsidiary do it’s job properly then GWR could resource it’s trains better.

You're agreeing with me! And no-one has been able to explain why GWR has been suffering greater staff turnover than other TOCs. Unless we're supposed to believe it's just an unfortunate coincidence?

 

[Clarence Yard]

GWR are getting the reputation in the industry as a “feeder” TOC, recruiting and training staff that are poached by others. There are other TOCs who pay more for better work and/or have depots in less expensive to live parts of the country.

It’s not only the drivers/guards. The engineering staff are currently hard to keep too, especially with all the changes and other opportunities out there.

 

[tiptoptaff]

At start of service, there are NO cancellations today. But I doubt that sort of thing would get mentioned

 

[JN114]

It’s chaotic and shambolic taff; didn’t you get the memo?

 

[philthetube]

no cancellations today either.

 

[PHILIPE]

no cancellations today either.

I have to disagree, I'm afraid, 100% cancellations.

 

[tiptoptaff]

I have to disagree, I'm afraid, 100% cancellations.

But none traincrew related

 

[philthetube]

But none traincrew related

You guys always have to be pedantic

 

[PHILIPE]

You guys always have to be pedantic

Take a joke

 

[philthetube]

trust me, I did

 

[387star]

GWR are getting the reputation in the industry as a “feeder” TOC, recruiting and training staff that are poached by others. There are other TOCs who pay more for better work and/or have depots in less expensive to live parts of the country.

It’s not only the drivers/guards. The engineering staff are currently hard to keep too, especially with all the changes and other opportunities out there.

Depots in more expensive areas of the country should be payed more to compensate

I always thought outside of Bristol and LTV GWR had some depots in cheap areas with sought after work

Where do they move to ? Northern and Crosscountry?

I assumed it was more london TOCS that had the higher turnover which is mostly due to affordability of housing which is laughable in London

 

[tiptoptaff]

Depots in more expensive areas of the country should be payed more to compensate

I always thought outside of Bristol and LTV GWR had some depots in cheap areas with sought after work

Where do they move to ? Northern and Crosscountry?

I assumed it was more london TOCS that had the higher turnover which is mostly due to affordability of housing which is laughable in London

PAD, OXD and RDG are fairly expensive places to live....

 

[Clarence Yard]

Especially if the member of staffs other half works in the public sector and hasn’t had a half decent pay increase in years.

 

[BestWestern]

Especially if the member of staffs other half works in the public sector and hasn’t had a half decent pay increase in years.

Good job they picked a railwayman to shack up with then

 

[FGW_DID]

PAD, OXD and RDG are fairly expensive places to live....

I could think of some words to describe how expensive they are, fairly ain’t one them although it does start with the same letter as the main one I would use

 

[tiptoptaff]

I could think of some words to describe how expensive they are, fairly ain’t one them although it does start with the same letter as the main one I would use

Now now, this a family forum!!

 

[tgrb]

I'm hoping to take the little people for a day out Sunday (NYE), going Kemble to Gloucester I've checked with GWR and they say they're scheduled to run with no bustitution - is this route one that usually gets hit by the crew shortages? Am I safeish to book do you think? Getting stuck at Gloucester or facing a bus trip home from there doesn't appeal

 

[JN114]

I'm hoping to take the little people for a day out Sunday (NYE), going Kemble to Gloucester I've checked with GWR and they say they're scheduled to run with no bustitution - is this route one that usually gets hit by the crew shortages? Am I safeish to book do you think? Getting stuck at Gloucester or facing a bus trip home from there doesn't appeal

It can be more adversely affected; yes. There’s no indications at this stage it will be though.

You shouldn’t get stuck in Gloucester; GWR would have to get you back to Kemble whatever happens - so it’s safe to book in that regard. However I would remind you that bus replacement can happen at any time for any reason; so if you’re that adverse to replacement bus services don’t travel by train.

 

[tgrb]

Thanks @JN114

Appreciate the bus risk, I've been lucky the last year or so and managed to avoid it, it's not that I'm adverse to the bus it's just it could take a fair amount of more time and I think the small passengers might get bored and the boss would certainly not be impressed - hard enough getting her on the train!!

All in all though I think I'll risk it, I've signed up for journey check alerts and the little people like the train, it's quite a good length trip for them and it works quite well with brunch and cinema @ Gloucester docks.... we've done it a few times and it works so.....

 

[JN114]

Thanks @JN114

Appreciate the bus risk, I've been lucky the last year or so and managed to avoid it, it's not that I'm adverse to the bus it's just it could take a fair amount of more time and I think the small passengers might get bored and the boss would certainly not be impressed - hard enough getting her on the train!!

All in all though I think I'll risk it, I've signed up for journey check alerts and the little people like the train, it's quite a good length trip for them and it works quite well with brunch and cinema @ Gloucester docks.... we've done it a few times and it works so.....

I can relate there!

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Mintona]

I’m spare on Sunday afternoon, so I imagine if there is a shortage of drivers for the Kemble line I’ll get a phone call to go and cover it!

 

[tgrb]

I’m spare on Sunday afternoon, so I imagine if there is a shortage of drivers for the Kemble line I’ll get a phone call to go and cover it!

Good man I'm counting on you

 

[tiptoptaff]

I’m spare on Sunday afternoon, so I imagine if there is a shortage of drivers for the Kemble line I’ll get a phone call to go and cover it!

One person may not be enough! It's all WEST stuff currently....

 

[tgrb]

One person may not be enough! It's all WEST stuff currently....

I don't know... he seems keen!!!

 

[FenMan]

I await the the introduction of the much improved North Downs Line Sunday timetable on 7th January with interest.

Fair play to GWR for introducing this much needed enhancement over the daft skip-stop poverty Sunday timetable imposed by DafT a few years ago. But I do hope GWR are more than keeping their fingers crossed that they have the resources to run it!

 

[PHILIPE]

Many cancellations today due to shortage of drivers centered round Gloucester, Bristol and Westbury.

 

[Parallel]

Many cancellations today due to shortage of drivers centered round Gloucester, Bristol and Westbury.

No surprises there - a quick look at twitter shows the scale of the problem with passenger frustrations rising. The same happens every year with FGW/GWR blaming the time of year for why trains are so busy. This is not a criticism of the ground staff at all, but the amount of disruption caused by shortage of staff/train faults/short formed trains/engineering works over the last few months to Bristol area local and regional services has been unacceptable, and the GWR name is probaby as unpopular around Bristol as FGW was.

What will be interesting is to see what the public response will be when Turbos take over the bulk of the work - Passengers have been promised 'new trains' for about the last 5 years but the Turbos are nearly as old as the units they are replacing. That said, I think most will just be happy with the extra capacity, though GWR have been very quiet on capacity on most routes, other than telling passengers that 5-car trains will operate between Cardiff and Portsmouth.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

What will be interesting is to see what the public response will be when Turbos take over the bulk of the work - Passengers have been promised 'new trains' for about the last 5 years but the Turbos are nearly as old as the units they are replacing. That said, I think most will just be happy with the extra capacity, though GWR have been very quiet on capacity on most routes, other than telling passengers that 5-car trains will operate between Cardiff and Portsmouth.

My worry is that people will turn up in January expecting a new fleet across the board. In reality Turbo introduction is gradual, expanding current routes until local door control is fitted (February), then gradually added routes to Bath / Westbury / Weymouth / Southampton completed by May, with ASDO enabling gradual 5-car Turbo introduction on Pompey diagrams between September to December 2018.

Given that the average commuter uses the same 2-3 trains every day, there will be many commuters who are still riding the same units as now during next summer and feeling misled.

A good example is the 0723 Warminster-Great Malvern which becomes the 1050 Great Malvern-Brighton. Brighton will not be cleared for Turbos for the foreseeable future, so this key morning peak train off the Trowbridge line retains its 3-car 158 (pretty wedged). Ironically many of those pax will return home on the 1649 Bristol-Weymouth, which originates from Great Malvern at 1450 off the 0900 ex-Brighton. Another 3-car 158, overcrowded and to be retained!

 

[PHILIPE]

Surprise, Surprise. Especially this New Year weekend. Saturday, only a very slight handful and Sunday nothing actually cancelled, just several IEPs running with only 5 effective carriages due to the inability to provide a member of crew for both sets.

 

[tgrb]

Surprise, Surprise. Especially this New Year weekend. Saturday, only a very slight handful and Sunday nothing actually cancelled, just several IEPs running with only 5 effective carriages due to the inability to provide a member of crew for both sets.

Yep we had a perfect service yesterday! (Apart from no reservations on the return trip!)

Slightly OT (but made us chuckle) on the journey to Gloucester yesterday morning, boarding at Kemble we got into carriage D - I think there were 2 or 3 other people in the carriage, anyway we settled round our table. After Weser of a young lady appeared - obviously looking for her reserved seat, which turned out to be one of the 3 other seats occupied, it was an asile seat abd the chap had a bag on the floor, in very good humour (but looking slightly bewildered) he stowed his bag and moved to the window seat and he sat next to her.... they then proceeded to both (try) and have rather different phone conversations..... both seeming quite frustrated!