Shortage of traincrew at TPE

[Fokx]

Due to traincrew shortages as a result of the pandemic, the South TPE route (Manchester/Airport to Cleethorpes) will be reduced to operate every two hours until further notice, instead of an hourly service. Irregular cancellations are also expected this week.

Barton line services will be replaced by buses until further notice.

 

[marty1977]

Don't worry a certain headcode will be along shortly with some inside info/conspiracy theory about what's going on.

 

[Bald Rick]

To be fair, the rest day working ban from Sunday isn’t helping matters.

 

[NoMorePacers]

To be fair I remember it broadly being the same this time last year - although it might be more exaggerated this year because of an certain event.

 

[PG]

TBH we could probably start one of these threads for every TOC.

*NOT* a serious suggestion!

 

[warwickshire]

Is it possibly due to 156 traction training for the Barton on Humber branch to release staff for this to happen?

 

[RHolmes]

24th December 2020
Due to a shortage of train crew on the route between Cleethorpes and Manchester Piccadilly in both directions, some services have had to be cancelled or altered at short notice.

The affected services are:

11:26 Cleethorpes to Manchester Piccadilly. This service will be cancelled (Update: service reinstated)
13:26 Cleethorpes to Manchester Piccadilly. This service will be cancelled.
14:26 Cleethorpes to Manchester Piccadilly. This service will terminate at Sheffield.
19:26 Cleethorpes to Manchester Piccadilly. This service will terminate at Sheffield.

14:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Cleethorpes. This service will be cancelled.
16:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Cleethorpes. This service will be cancelled.
17:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Cleethorpes. This service will start at Sheffield.
20:18 Manchester Piccadilly to Sheffield. This service will be cancelled.

0800 Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield. This service will be cancelled (Now reinstated)
0853 Huddersfield to Piccadilly. This service will be cancelled (Now reinstated)

 

[2L70]

To be fair, the rest day working ban from Sunday isn’t helping matters.

Don’t bring facts into this @Bald Rick you’ll upset them...

 

[PennineSuperb]

To be fair, the rest day working ban from Sunday isn’t helping matters.

The rest day ban for Drivers was agreed by ASLEF that it wouldn't go ahead after 'talks'

 

[2L70]

Not the best of times for TPE at the moment. From looking to gain extra work they’re having to give it away.

Corona is a free hit for them, just reduce the train service like they’ve done Station hours pre-covid to avoid spending money.

Awaits spin.

 

[PennineSuperb]

Not the best of times for TPE at the moment. From looking to gain extra work they’re having to give it away.

Corona is a free hit for them, just reduce the train service like they’ve done Station hours pre-covid to avoid spending money.

Awaits spin.

Agreed.

 

[Bald Rick]

The rest day ban for Drivers was agreed by ASLEF that it wouldn't go ahead after 'talks'

Ah, I hadn’t heard that. Good to see sense breaking out, given that the TPE drivers I know didn’t actually know what the dispute was about.

 

[marty1977]

Ah, I hadn’t heard that. Good to see sense breaking out, given that the TPE drivers I know didn’t actually know what the dispute was about.

I honestly don't know where some of this misinformation comes from. Every driver knew what the dispute about, it was in the letter that every driver received and posted in every single depot.

 

[Bald Rick]

I honestly don't know where some of this misinformation comes from. Every driver knew what the dispute about, it was in the letter that every driver received and posted in every single depot.

It comes from a couple of TPE drivers that I know, who I spoke to last week, who didn’t know what it was about. Perhaps they don’t read the letters!

 

[185]

RMT dispute not settled. Rest Day & Overtime Ban starts soon.

Some cancellations being attributed as "YI - due to the late arrival of an incoming train" when seemingly, all the ones earlier on the unit diagram had it entered as well - suggesting a delay at 0545 caused a cancellation at 1930?! Another last week was entered as 'maintenance fault' - where a train arrived on time at York, then was failed / totally broke down and didn't go to Redcar and back, then restarted on time at York... well, it could have been maintenance...

 

[2L70]

Is it possibly due to 156 traction training for the Barton on Humber branch to release staff for this to happen?

That won’t be happening anytime soon.

 

[Bald Rick]

Well if they don't read the letters or bother to read the the stuff ASLEF puts up in tge depot they really shouldn't be moaning about it to anyone!! Perhaps their time would be better served getting themselves up to speed on the facts of what was going on.

They weren’t moaning.

 

[fabs]

Well if they don't read the letters or bother to read the the stuff ASLEF puts up in tge depot they really shouldn't be moaning about it to anyone!! Perhaps their time would be better served getting themselves up to speed on the facts of what was going on.

If drivers really wanted the ‘facts’ those inflammatory letters full of nonsense were not the place to start.

 

[IanXC]

Some cancellations being attributed as "YI - due to the late arrival of an incoming train" when seemingly, all the ones earlier on the unit diagram had it entered as well - suggesting a delay at 0545 caused a cancellation at 1930?! Another last week was entered as 'maintenance fault' - where a train arrived on time at York, then was failed / totally broke down and didn't go to Redcar and back, then restarted on time at York... well, it could have been maintenance...

YI really just means a problem with the inward working, 'late arrival' is a bit misleading.

I'm not aware of any cancellation codes mentioning rolling stock maintenance, sounds more like MU - Depot Operations.

 

[the sniper]

It comes from a couple of TPE drivers that I know, who I spoke to last week, who didn’t know what it was about. Perhaps they don’t read the letters!

They sound like they're as close to the union as you. Wouldn't have been hard for them to find out, weird.

 

[busesrusuk]

One would hope that the trade union is not the only source of information - they could ask their line manager to who should be able to give an answer. What is this dispute about???

 

[marty1977]

If drivers really wanted the ‘facts’ those inflammatory letters full of nonsense were not the place to start.

Spoken by someone who clearly has no idea what was going on. If you have an agenda against ASLEF or companies adhering to agreed to terms and conditions that's fine but please don't post when you haven't a clue what you're writing about.

 

[fabs]

Spoken by someone who clearly has no idea what was going on. If you have an agenda against ASLEF or companies adhering to agreed to terms and conditions that's fine but please don't post when you haven't a clue what you're writing about. Also please if you know the "facts " as a TPE driver I would love to hear them.

Agenda? Typical smoke and mirrors. And as a TPE driver I would have expected you to look into it more yourself. How happy are you continually being lied to by some (not all) of the reps? You post your ‘facts’ and ill Post mine, if you know anything about the ‘disciplines’ then you’ll know that part is toss. Maybe management also started showing the same ‘respect’ to reps as the reps have been showing the last few years. Laughable ballot this, do you know the result at all? Can’t remember a vote ever getting such a low turnout and vote ‘for’, says it all.
In all honesty though if you think this lot treat their employees badly then you have never worked in the real world.
(que ‘race to the bottom’ reply).

Merry Christmas btw. (I genuinely mean that).

 

[marty1977]

Agenda? Typical smoke and mirrors. And as a TPE driver I would have expected you to look into it more yourself. How happy are you continually being lied to by some (not all) of the reps? You post your ‘facts’ and ill Post mine, if you know anything about the ‘disciplines’ then you’ll know that part is toss. Maybe management also started showing the same ‘respect’ to reps as the reps have been showing the last few years. Laughable ballot this, do you know the result at all? Can’t remember a vote ever getting such a low turnout and vote ‘for’, says it all.
In all honesty though if you think this lot treat their employees badly then you have never worked in the real world.
(que ‘race to the bottom’ reply).

Merry Christmas btw. (I genuinely mean that).

Right I'll go through your reply and respond. I know nearly all the reps from every depot and you are claiming some of them continually lie??? Please tell me what lies "some" of the reps are trotting out. The discipline procedures that the company has tried to take out against drivers, do you know a driver who followed company procedure was hounded and harassed to a point where they nearly left?? Subsequently it was found they had done nothing wrong. I won't go into details but do you know about the driver who needed time off for a serious personal reason and was nearly forced out of the company?? A laughable ballot?? 88.3% of drivers voted to take action short of a strike, 70.8% of drivers voted to take full strike action. Overall a 70% turnout. So yes I do know exactly what the figures were. You say you can't remember such a low turnout?? Oh hang on you are going by the figures the company put out are you not? that had shall we say some imaginative mathematics applied to them.
Lastly before the railway and I've been on it for 20 years I worked in various industries that gave me some real world experience and I know exactly how lucky I am. You however just for some reason seem very bitter and without all the facts. Merry Christmas to you too.

 

[Ben Bow]

You vote for your union reps on the basis they are the best person for the role. If they go to the membership and say there's a problem, but we're sorry on this occasion we can't go into detail because some of it involves individual disciplinary cases, we're asking for your support, then you need to trust them on that. If you don't trust them, and don't feel they are doing a good job, then there is always the option to put yourself forward to be elected on the basis that you will do a better job, and are more trustworthy. The fact remains that, in this case, progress was only made once a vote for strike action had been made - a very, very familiar pattern at TPE.

 

[busesrusuk]

i'm sorry but are you really suggesting that people should just take at face value what anyone tells them without any detail and vote for strike action with the resultant loss of pay? If somebody asked me to walk off the job and lose pay without knowing the FULL details of why we are taking such action and how it has got as far as going on strike would be told to get lost and come back with some detail before any consideration of voting let alone walking out.

People really can't be expected to act like sheep in this day and age - they really ought to have the FULL facts laid out before them before being asked to take such action.

 

[dctraindriver]

i'm sorry but are you really suggesting that people should just take at face value what anyone tells them without any detail and vote for strike action with the resultant loss of pay? If somebody asked me to walk off the job and lose pay without knowing the FULL details of why we are taking such action and how it has got as far as going on strike would be told to get lost and come back with some detail before any consideration of voting let alone walking out.

People really can't be expected to act like sheep in this day and age - they really ought to have the FULL facts laid out before them before being asked to take such action.

Define day and age, post 2016?

 

[ComUtoR]

i'm sorry but are you really suggesting that people should just take at face value what anyone tells them without any detail and vote for strike action with the resultant loss of pay? If somebody asked me to walk off the job and lose pay without knowing the FULL details of why we are taking such action and how it has got as far as going on strike would be told to get lost and come back with some detail before any consideration of voting let alone walking out.

People really can't be expected to act like sheep in this day and age - they really ought to have the FULL facts laid out before them before being asked to take such action.

If I messed up or was floating down that notorious creek without the proverbial, and had the Union and my collegues do everything they could to defend meI would be proud and honoured. If I was called upon as a Union member to help defend one of my collegues I would go that extra mile because A) thats what I signed up for and B) one day I might be in that same predicament.

 

[tpjm]

I will not comment on the union aspects, but am happy to clarify that the reason for planned cancellation (I.e. 2 hourly service) is due to a significant shortage of crew at a number of depots as a result of increased sickness absence.

TPE are not the only TOC affected by this, and until now have done reasonably well to manage the effects of COVID on the workforce.

Regarding station opening hours, these have been amended to reflect the reduction in available workforce due to sickness - nothing to do with “cost cutting”. TOCs who are in ERMAs with the DfT are scrutinised very closely with regard to customer facilities, of which staffing of stations is one. It’s actually in FirstGroup’s interests to ensure that the stations ARE fully staffed as it reflects better on the score card. Thank you as ever for your 120% accurate knowledge though @2L70

 

[busesrusuk]

not sure what you mean - I'm talking about now. However having worked in public transport for the past 32 years there was far more interaction between all parties for virtually the whole of that time leading to very few stoppages in those 32 years. In my experience, when losing money is a real possibility there has always been plenty of questions asked of both sides as to why they should go down that route before making a decision.

Whilst there were a small minority who would just do whatever they were told and "encourage" others to take up the cause, there were plenty more who wanted to know the story and would use value judgement before supporting or otherwise any action.