They're cancelled on RTT (and other NR stream systems)
To be fair, yes - any state corporation, other or substantially publicly-subsidised provider, would be criticised in strong terms if they were to give up completely and tell their service users it's hard luck, even the ones with advance bookings.
It's not, there's a weird thing with cancelled trains, you need to select CAN as an option in the search or they show as WTT in searches.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
It's not, there's a weird thing with cancelled trains, you need to select CAN as an option in the search or they show as WTT in searches.
Realtime Trains | Departures from Northwich between 0200 and 0159 on 24/12/2023
Train information at Northwich between 0200 and 0159 on 24/12/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
If they've been cancelled today, some (most?) retail systems won't reflect the change until the updated timetable feed is sent out overnight, depending on which system has been used to process the cancellations.
Well it's not like it's a surprise to anyone that conductors (of the relevant conditions) aren't obliged to work on Sundays is it? It has been known for weeks there'll be next to no volunteers. It's also not like there's a shortage of replacement bus drivers on the morning of Christmas Eve either. There'd only be a need for four or five services given the do not travel message would stand. Also this bus work could have been booked months ago, it was very predictable.
Er, it's been known about for several years I'd suggest. Nobody in their right mind would imagine conductors (of the relevant conditions) would work on Sunday when it's Christmas Eve in anything like the required number.
There's not really a shortage of availability. There's good availability at market rates. Market rate for Christmas Eve 0800 - 1600 will be in the region of £1k all in, bus and driver. Plenty local independents happy to provide at that rate, plenty drivers willing to do it as they'll be sipping their Christmas Eve cocoa with their families by 1700 and a nice bit of cash in the bank for their trouble.
Indeed. Funny how when Network Rail are on the hook for the costs, there's money for road transport, but when the cause is a shortage of train crew or units there's pleading of no buses available...
Don't worry it hasn't disappeared, it's very much there https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:W31447/2023-12-22/detailed
Not to stop attempting to provide alternatives until every avenue has been exhausted. If that means all the directors etc getting behind the wheel of their own cars then so be it.
A lot of people will be travelling on Sunday if they're working Saturday or Sunday daytime, or if accommodation means that they've only got Sunday night (or Sunday night and Monday night).
I expect them to plan, organise and run things competently. Not give out a notice like this 1.5 days before Xmas Eve. That's not competent; it's the opposite.
Stagecoach Rail Replacement aren't magicing up stand-by buses for LNER on Christmas Eve from thin air, of course.
I note Northern do not have arrangements for tickets to be accepted by Transport for Wales on Manchester - Crewe / Chester routes, or by Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire on their Lancaster - Morecombe routes.
Agreed Stagecoach Manchester / Bee Network Go North West cover nearly all of it. There may be some TransPennine Express services but I didn't check if those were actually running.
One thing Mrs Thatcher didn’t manage to privatise!
The ‘Regulator’ has never ‘enforced’ service provision matters. This has been done by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, Strategic Rail Authority or Department for Transport. (I am not referring to Scotland, Wales, London, Liverpool or Open Access.)
As you've been told multiple times (but keep claiming), the timetable isn't structured to allow removal of the Trings as that isn't how the diagrams work, and this is a diagram issue. There will be next to no service on Sunday as they are saying, the CIS screens all say do not travel already for Sunday.
Without really looking much at this particular case, TrainSplit does pull data from Darwin for realtime cancellations and delays to try and avoid selling tickets for services that won't run or connections that have no hope of working out. Sounds like something else is going on with these services, perhaps. Either that or a bug to investigate in the New Year I suppose (though it's odd it wouldn't have cropped up before).
I have accommodation booked for those two nights, I will be travelling by road. The railway (or certain parts thereof) has obviously decided it doesn't need my money any longer.
It was entirely predictable, it's been a complete failure of upper management to prepare for this situation. A reasonable acknowledgement, a few weeks earlier with a reasonable offer to conductors would have avoided all of this.
When the railway was nationalised under BR Sunday was worked as o/t.
