Mendip Rail traffic.

[43096]

Are the 59/2s not included in the deal?

No. The 59/2s are owned by DB Cargo so it is up to them what they do with them.

 

[Numbnuts846]

Are the 59/2s not included in the deal?

No they are owned by db

 

[Suraggu]

Going to need more than 8 59s to run Mendip trains.
More motive power will be needed.

Rumours flying round about class 60s to supplement the class 59 fleet but its likely the class 66/6 fleet is to be split between Tunstead/Earles/Grain/Westbury and will work the direct trains with the 59s sticking to Jumbos.

 

[Bonshakerbrown]

This is not good news for the railfreight industry by any means!!In DBc goes to the wall then the whole industry will collapse like a pack of cards! This is not new traffic its been poached by another company!!

 

[4F89]

If one lost contract puts a company in the wall, I suggest the company wasn't doing too well to start with.

 

[Bonshakerbrown]

If one lost contract puts a company in the wall, I suggest the company wasn't doing too well to start with.

Its not just ONE lost contract though is it! This was a big part of DB Cargos revenue!!

 

[cactustwirly]

If one lost contract puts a company in the wall, I suggest the company wasn't doing too well to start with.

Yeah, the finances of DB Cargo aren't exactly healthy atm

 

[GB]

This is not good news for the railfreight industry by any means!!In DBc goes to the wall then the whole industry will collapse like a pack of cards! This is not new traffic its been poached by another company!!

Really? There is no evidence to suggest that DBC are keystone to maintaining the industry or that their demise will cause such a collapse. There is plenty of scope for FLIM, FLHH, GBRf, COLAS, DRS, ROG and DCR to pick up the pieces if DBC unfortunately went under.

Also no one has claimed this is new traffic and "poached" is a rather hyperbolic term. FL won the contract fair and square.

 

[Dieseldriver]

This is not good news for the railfreight industry by any means!!In DBc goes to the wall then the whole industry will collapse like a pack of cards! This is not new traffic its been poached by another company!!

No one poached anything. Are you training to be a Tabloid journalist?

 

[Suraggu]

This is not good news for the railfreight industry by any means!!In DBc goes to the wall then the whole industry will collapse like a pack of cards! This is not new traffic its been poached by another company!!

Poached? Everyone knows FL are one of the more expensive FOC's and likely won't of been the cheapest bid. DB lost and GB were told not to bid by many accounts.

 

[Breize block]

As I know the Westbury drivers personally I won't say too much , but I have no sympathy for DBC. I was one of drivers who took redundancy last year and why they let so many of us go I'll never know, but ever since the clear out of 'unneeded drivers' Westbury have been unable to cover all of their work, and have had to hire in drivers, some of which being the very same drivers that were made redundant as surplus, now working for someone else! So its no surprise Mendip were unhappy. DB management (and EWS before them) have a history of own goals and as such I have absolutely no sympathy, I do however feel very sorry for my ex colleagues and I hope they all get TUPEd over and things turn out for them, they don't deserve what's happened.

 

[Suraggu]

As I know the Westbury drivers personally I won't say too much , but I have no sympathy for DBC. I was one of drivers who took redundancy last year and why they let so many of us go I'll never know, but ever since the clear out of 'unneeded drivers' Westbury have been unable to cover all of their work, and have had to hire in drivers, some of which being the very same drivers that were made redundant as surplus, now working for someone else! So its no surprise Mendip were unhappy. DB management (and EWS before them) have a history of own goals and as such I have absolutely no sympathy, I do however feel very sorry for my ex colleagues and I hope they all get TUPEd over and things turn out for them, they don't deserve what's happened.

No one is going to lose there jobs.

 

[Breize block]

No one is going to lose there jobs.

I hope you're right and I think you probably will be, in fact I think FL are going to find that covering this contract will be harder than they think.
I also think that there is a high probability that some of the current Westbury DB drivers will be wearing a green uniform this time next year - but it won't be a freightliner one!

 

[4F89]

As the FL uniform is black, that's highly possible....

 

[Breize block]

As the FL uniform is black, that's highly possible....

yeh you know what I mean though

And in fact FL green shirts are not quite extinct yet - no more than EWS marroon ones are !

 

[cossie4i]

Poached? Everyone knows FL are one of the more expensive FOC's and likely won't of been the cheapest bid. DB lost and GB were told not to bid by many accounts.

Rumour is the bids for the work was almost identical but FL bid a lot more for the 59s, about £5 million more if rumours are true.

 

[cossie4i]

I hope you're right and I think you probably will be, in fact I think FL are going to find that covering this contract will be harder than they think.
I also think that there is a high probability that some of the current Westbury DB drivers will be wearing a green uniform this time next year - but it won't be a freightliner one!

Being one of your ex colleagues I bumped into the Westbury Oracle yesterday (You will know who I mean, IF)
He said around 7 have made inquiries for jobs with various TOCs

 

[tiptoptaff]

Being one of your ex colleagues I bumped into the Westbury Oracle yesterday (You will know who I mean, IF)
He said around 7 have made inquiries for jobs with various TOCs

We've had about 4 of your boys come next door in the last 12months

 

[Suraggu]

I hope you're right and I think you probably will be, in fact I think FL are going to find that covering this contract will be harder than they think.
I also think that there is a high probability that some of the current Westbury DB drivers will be wearing a green uniform this time next year - but it won't be a freightliner one!

The challenge is widely known and expect to see a huge recruitment drive shortly.

 

[Helvellyn]

If DBC don't want an oddball fleet of six 59/2s then there might be scope for FLHH to do a deal to buy them. I also wonder if there would be scope for Freightliner to swap a 66 for the sole GBRf Class 59.

 

[cossie4i]

If DBC don't want an oddball fleet of six 59/2s then there might be scope for FLHH to do a deal to buy them. I also wonder if there would be scope for Freightliner to swap a 66 for the sole GBRf Class 59.

From what I have been told the 59/2s will be used on the Burngallow - Bow traffic.

 

[221129]

Deleted

 

[Bonshakerbrown]

No one is going to lose there jobs.

Listen to the man in the know for he is an (armchair)expert!

 

[jdxn]

The Acton yard thing is interesting. The jumbo trains run up from the Mendips and split into many smaller strains serving the South East. Do DB actually own it or do the operate the yard? I can’t think of anywhere else this yard work could be done, and with Crossrail on the horizon getting more paths from the West Country would be hard/impossible.

 

[furnessvale]

The Acton yard thing is interesting. The jumbo trains run up from the Mendips and split into many smaller strains serving the South East. Do DB actually own it or do the operate the yard? I can’t think of anywhere else this yard work could be done, and with Crossrail on the horizon getting more paths from the West Country would be hard/impossible.

I can only assume that FLL weighed up all the ramifications when tendering.

 

[Suraggu]

Listen to the man in the know for he is an (armchair)expert!

Armchair expert.... Wow, pretty childish behaviour.

 

[Tom Quinne]

You can not know for certain no one will lose their jobs though, the full implications for DB won’t be know (by the shop floor, let alone public) for some time.

Job loses are a real prospect, so stating in a way as to claim you know for sure isn’t appropriate.

 

[w1bbl3]

The Acton yard thing is interesting. The jumbo trains run up from the Mendips and split into many smaller strains serving the South East. Do DB actually own it or do the operate the yard?

The yard and surrounding land is network rail property. IIRC the current leaseholder is actually aggregate industries, DBS are the yard operator not sure if directly or under mendip rail. The cross rail works and yard renewal was all paid for by NR.

 

[Suraggu]

You can not know for certain no one will lose their jobs though, the full implications for DB won’t be know (by the shop floor, let alone public) for some time.

Job loses are a real prospect, so stating in a way as to claim you know for sure isn’t appropriate.

The train plan has not been changed. Mendip Rail want the existing train plan to run from the start of the new contract. FLHH do not have the manpower to cover the services and it's hoped DB agree to TUPE drivers over. If DB are hiring GB Drivers daily for the contract then Driver and shunter wise the jobs are safe. If anything the longevity of the contract will prove that.

 

[Tom Quinne]

“Hope” and “if” don’t inspire confidence in afraid, what is certain is that there’s a host of at present undefined variables which could effect employment opportunities of the staff engaged in the current work.

Thus, no one at present can say 100% or even 51% that no staff will lose employment.