"This is due to waiting on a train member"?

[YorkshireRider]

For interest what is the longest a train crew does?

I have seen gaurds / catering crew do London - Edinburgh but I suspect the driver does not. I know Norwich - Liverpool change at Nottingham and Xc will never get from A-b but how long can they remain on duty? How much is this extended in severe disruption before the drivers become out of hours? You will often see the Southbound 0755 Inverness - London delayed if the northbound was badly delayed the previous evening to allow the driver to recover.

Newcastle drivers will work up to Inverness and Aberdeen, although only a few of the turns are driving it all the way, i think some of the catering crews from up there come as far south as Darlington. Its not the same driver which takes the Inverness south again in the morning however it is the same guard so more likely its their rest period which will cause the delay in the morning.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Thing is we hear a lot about how the railway should improve communication. Sometimes though it doesn't matter, sometimes people just won't accept what is told and will continue to believe the world revolves around them. Doesn't matter what you say to these people. They will never accept it

Flights are delayed all the time by "the late arrival of the incoming aircraft", announced in a matter of fact way with no effort to say why it was late in the first place.
The railway actually does rather better on this sort of information.

By the way, do passengers ever still thank a train driver for a "good run"?
Up here, it's etiquette to thank a bus driver simply for getting you to your stop safe and sound.
Not very common in London, however.

 

[Minilad]

Flights are delayed all the time by "the late arrival of the incoming aircraft", announced in a matter of fact way with no effort to say why it was late in the first place.
The railway actually does rather better on this sort of information.

By the way, do passengers ever still thank a train driver for a "good run"?
Up here, it's etiquette to thank a bus driver simply for getting you to your stop safe and sound.
Not very common in London, however.

Yeah it happens from time to time. Usually when you are just stepping from the cab as people are walking past. Have to say it tends to be the older generation who do it.

 

[Bungle73]

Flights are delayed all the time by "the late arrival of the incoming aircraft", announced in a matter of fact way with no effort to say why it was late in the first place.
The railway actually does rather better on this sort of information.

By the way, do passengers ever still thank a train driver for a "good run"?
Up here, it's etiquette to thank a bus driver simply for getting you to your stop safe and sound.
Not very common in London, however.

In London you exit the bus in the middle so you're no where near the driver.

 

[Oswyntail]

Yeah it happens from time to time. Usually when you are just stepping from the cab as people are walking past. Have to say it tends to be the older generation who do it.

Does anyone remember I-Spy on the Trains" (or something like that title)? IIRC, there was a section on "etiquette" which included instructions that young passengers should always thank the driver if possible. Lessons learnt early in life say with you!

 

[Clip]

In London you exit the bus in the middle so you're no where near the driver.

Apart from when you're on a single decker bus that has access and egress from the front of said bus.

 

[GB]

Waiting for is fine; waiting on , though, is a different kettle of mackerel .....

You might find it odd or think it is wrong, but it gets the message across perfectly well.....which is the name of the game.

 

[asylumxl]

I always thank bus drivers/train drivers/guards. It's nothing to do with your generation and all to do with upbringing. Many of us still believe in good manners. Thank you

 

[spacehopper]

Checking the Scotrail information page this morning and a few of these have appeared.

What does it exactly mean? Is it just the train is waiting on a ticket examiner to turn up? Thanks a lot!

Have long wait for a guard on trains Mr bAzTNM travels on overdue since circa 1989. Train won't wait on a TE.

 

[hluraven]

I always thank bus drivers/train drivers/guards. It's nothing to do with your generation and all to do with upbringing. Many of us still believe in good manners. Thank you

I always thank my bus driver and find so do most of the schoolkids. It is the older generation that tend to get off without doing so.

 

[ainsworth74]

I always thank bus drivers/train drivers/guards. It's nothing to do with your generation and all to do with upbringing. Many of us still believe in good manners.

Quite, I always thank the guard of the train I'm on if it's possible (for example on a short Northern unit I normally give them a wave when I get off but that isn't really practical to do with a EC HST) and the same goes for the driver though it's normally only possible to do at a terminus because most exits don't go past the driver!

I also do the same for bus drivers by the by!

 

[Schnellzug]

You might find it odd or think it is wrong, but it gets the message across perfectly well.....which is the name of the game.

it's an unattractive Americanism, which is out of place even in fast food resturants. "You're waiting on fries? Well, get off them. You'll tread them all over the floor". :-/

 

[Holly]

Hard not to take it personally though when you walk down the platform and people are asking "where the **** have you been" and "try to make it on time next time you wanker"
Ahhhh our lovely passengers who we should respect so much

As the Americans say "What goes around, comes around".
Passengers have about as much sympathy for railway company staff who turn up late for a train as railway companies have for passengers with inflexible tickets who turn up late for a train.

In the days of British Railways (i.e. before 1965), staff would make all reasonable efforts to get distressed passengers to their destinations as expeditiously as they could. Without only a cursory investigation into how the passengers come to be distressed, without extra charge for services and without obligation to bear a penalty in the event that best efforts were not enough.

The difference between a railway that is a public service and a railway whose objective is maximum profit.

 

[MCR247]

As the Americans say "What goes around, comes around".
Passengers have about as much sympathy for railway company staff who turn up late for a train as railway companies have for passengers with inflexible tickets who turn up late for a train.

You're making it out like the driver overslept, not his inbound working was delayed to an earlier suicide for example?

 

[CC 72100]

Does anyone remember I-Spy on the Trains" (or something like that title)? IIRC, there was a section on "etiquette" which included instructions that young passengers should always thank the driver if possible. Lessons learnt early in life say with you!

I used to love those books! Can't remember it in my brother's copy though, and we got that in something like 2000 I think

 

[6Gman]

Irate Passenger : Driver, you should have been here at 7.22 !

Driver : Why? What happened?



[I'll get my coat.]

 

[Bungle73]

Does anyone remember I-Spy on the Trains" (or something like that title)? IIRC, there was a section on "etiquette" which included instructions that young passengers should always thank the driver if possible. Lessons learnt early in life say with you!

How can you thank the driver when 9 times out of 10 you never see the driver? They're usually locked up in the cab, or at a terminus long gone before you get the front of the train.

As the Americans say "What goes around, comes around".
Passengers have about as much sympathy for railway company staff who turn up late for a train as railway companies have for passengers with inflexible tickets who turn up late for a train.

In the days of British Railways (i.e. before 1965), staff would make all reasonable efforts to get distressed passengers to their destinations as expeditiously as they could. Without only a cursory investigation into how the passengers come to be distressed, without extra charge for services and without obligation to bear a penalty in the event that best efforts were not enough.

The difference between a railway that is a public service and a railway whose objective is maximum profit.

So pre-1965 if a passenger had an invalid ticket they'd just be sent on their way, no questions asked? Did they even have inflexible tickets then....a disadvantage the passenger is asked to put up with because they have paid considerably less for their ticket.

 

[Minilad]

As the Americans say "What goes around, comes around".
Passengers have about as much sympathy for railway company staff who turn up late for a train as railway companies have for passengers with inflexible tickets who turn up late for a train.

In the days of British Railways (i.e. before 1965), staff would make all reasonable efforts to get distressed passengers to their destinations as expeditiously as they could. Without only a cursory investigation into how the passengers come to be distressed, without extra charge for services and without obligation to bear a penalty in the event that best efforts were not enough.

The difference between a railway that is a public service and a railway whose objective is maximum profit.

A few points if I may by way of a response.
Firstly in 11 and a half years of driving I have been late though my own fault once. A simple misreading of my diagram and I delayed the train by around 7 mins. I did also once book on late due to a fatal accident in the A38 tunnels in Birmingham completely snarling up the city centre but some smart job covering by the TCS saw no trains delayed. Both occasions I have been sworn at the train was delayed because I was late arriving in and therefore late leaving. i.e. no fault of mine.
I infer from your post you think it is acceptable to be sworn at whilst working ?
Please feel free to tell me where you work so I may stand close by and shout obscenities at you for doing your job. No I do not think being sworn at is acceptable at all. Just as I would not swear at a passenger I do not expect to be sworn at.
This forum seems to be filled more and more with people who do not, and maybe never have had to work with the public. A thankless task I might add. But seem to know all about how to deal with the public. Maybe they have been on a course or something.
The atmosphere on this forum just lately has become very anti-staff and I know a lot of people who are staff are beginning to lose patience with it.
This I feel is a bit of a shame as one of the strengths of this forum is that there are so many knowledgeable staff who are willing to share information and give out little insights. Unfortunately I can see this number dwindling as staff get fed up with petty arguments and knife twisting.
Oh well thats my twopenneth I shall await the flaming I am sure to receive

Oh and I don't know if you had noticed but its not the 1950s and 60s anymore.

 

[Failed Unit]

Maybe you should drive fast, run a few red lights, break a few speed limits to recover time xc driver that is what would happen on a motorway if you were a bus driver.

Puts away petrol can.....

 

[michael769]

How can you thank the driver when 9 times out of 10 you never see the driver? They're usually locked up in the cab, or at a terminus long gone before you get the front of the train.

I think this is the key. One can always thank the driver of a bus so it is easy to get into the habit of it.

With train drivers shut up in their cabs it is mostly impossible - even if you go to the end of the line encountering the driver is uncommon - it is hardly surprising that it will not occur to many people as they have, in effect, been trained that they cannot.

 

[Nonsense]

I habitually thank bus drivers, even when they're a grumpy wotnot that deserved no such courtesy. Never seen a train driver under circumstances I could thank them though, not without it being a bit creepy.

 

[fairysdad]

If I happen to walk past a member of the train crew on getting off (if, say, I alight through the door the guard is controlling the doors from, or setting up the wheelchair ramp) I will always thank them. Always thank bus drivers too, except in a couple of instances... one time when I was but a lad I told the driver that normally I would say 'thank you' to him, but because he was being an arse (school bus, threatened to turn the bus around and go back to the school for some reason, were it not for some parents who were waiting for the bus to arrive (rural area, some people had to get driven to/from the bus stop) who basically stood in the road to stop the bus moving that we got off) I wasn't going to... my reasoning being that he wouldn't have known how polite I was otherwise!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

By the way, do passengers ever still thank a train driver for a "good run"?

I do, if I get the opportunity.

 

[gnolife]

I always thank the driver on arrival at Man Airpt or Rose Hill, as I go past the cab to get out of the station. Otherwise, ill thank at a terminal, provided that I'm not gambling with a connection

As for bus drivers, the only time I won't thank is if there's a big group of us at one point on Hibbert Ln, the driver goes right past us and stops a couple of hundred metres down the road (there's no obstructions or corners or anyyting to give the driver an excuse for that)

 

[IanXC]

I always thank my bus driver and find so do most of the schoolkids. It is the older generation that tend to get off without doing so.

In my daily experience its usually the older generation who feel the need to stand up before the bus has stopped, and so are annoyed with the driver because they've had to 'hang on for dear life' while standing on a moving bus.

No pleasing some people eh!

 

[DaveNewcastle]

A few points . . .

This forum seems to be filled more and more with people who do not, and maybe never have had to work with the public. A thankless task I might add. But seem to know all about how to deal with the public. Maybe they have been on a course or something.
The atmosphere on this forum just lately has become very anti-staff and I know a lot of people who are staff are beginning to lose patience with it.
This I feel is a bit of a shame . . . .

I agree, on all counts.

It's my perception that many of the critics have not worked in public-facing roles, perhaps several have never had the pleasure of being employed in any role, perhaps have not felt the pressure of responsibility for other welfare (as interpreted by others and not by themselves), and actually don't have the knowledge nor experience to sustain their 'opinions'.
I too have been dismayed by the persistent anti-railway staff posts by people who are, apparently, on here because there is something about the railways that they actually do like! Its not an amusing irony.

I just wonder if the explanation for some of that critical attitude from alledged enthusiasts might come from more than one cause: there's lack of experience of employment; lack of experience of professional responsibility; lack of knowledge of corporate responsibilities; and simply an interest which lies elsewhere (train colours, numbers, sounds, etc.).

Don't let it get to you. We're all just typists on the internet!

 

[S19]

A few points if I may by way of a response.
Firstly in 11 and a half years of driving I have been late though my own fault once. A simple misreading of my diagram and I delayed the train by around 7 mins. I did also once book on late due to a fatal accident in the A38 tunnels in Birmingham completely snarling up the city centre but some smart job covering by the TCS saw no trains delayed. Both occasions I have been sworn at the train was delayed because I was late arriving in and therefore late leaving. i.e. no fault of mine.
I infer from your post you think it is acceptable to be sworn at whilst working ?
Please feel free to tell me where you work so I may stand close by and shout obscenities at you for doing your job. No I do not think being sworn at is acceptable at all. Just as I would not swear at a passenger I do not expect to be sworn at.
This forum seems to be filled more and more with people who do not, and maybe never have had to work with the public. A thankless task I might add. But seem to know all about how to deal with the public. Maybe they have been on a course or something.
The atmosphere on this forum just lately has become very anti-staff and I know a lot of people who are staff are beginning to lose patience with it.
This I feel is a bit of a shame as one of the strengths of this forum is that there are so many knowledgeable staff who are willing to share information and give out little insights. Unfortunately I can see this number dwindling as staff get fed up with petty arguments and knife twisting.
Oh well thats my twopenneth I shall await the flaming I am sure to receive

Oh and I don't know if you had noticed but its not the 1950s and 60s anymore.

I'm going to ask a Police Officer 'what the **** are you doing, tosser?' or 'where have you been you tosser?' later on and see if he/she deems it acceptable.

What do we reckon?

Yeah that's right, they won't. There are some right idiots on here sometimes.

With regards to thanking people. I'll thank the Conductor/Guard/Train Manager if I'm getting off out if the same door, but wouldn't go out of my way to find them (I.e disturb them) doing their duties. Certainly wouldn't go up and thank the Driver disturbing them.

Don't do any thanking on buses as I never use them. Dirty horrible things. Would rather drive my own car or walk

 

[KA4C]

Irate Passenger : Driver, you should have been here at 7.22 !

Driver : Why? What happened?



[I'll get my coat.]

True one

Passenger to Driver: Are you Ramsgate?
Driver: No I'm Roger
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The atmosphere on this forum just lately has become very anti-staff and I know a lot of people who are staff are beginning to lose patience with it.

Well said

 

[AlterEgo]

I agree, on all counts.

It's my perception that many of the critics have not worked in public-facing roles, perhaps several have never had the pleasure of being employed in any role, perhaps have not felt the pressure of responsibility for other welfare (as interpreted by others and not by themselves), and actually don't have the knowledge nor experience to sustain their 'opinions'.
I too have been dismayed by the persistent anti-railway staff posts by people who are, apparently, on here because there is something about the railways that they actually do like! Its not an amusing irony.

I just wonder if the explanation for some of that critical attitude from alledged enthusiasts might come from more than one cause: there's lack of experience of employment; lack of experience of professional responsibility; lack of knowledge of corporate responsibilities; and simply an interest which lies elsewhere (train colours, numbers, sounds, etc.).

Don't let it get to you. We're all just typists on the internet!

Spot on Dave.

Of course, rail staff, like anyone else, are only human and not beyond criticism. However as Dave says much of this criticism is simply not warranted. Part of the reason I'm on the forum is because I like to see things from a passenger's perspective. I'm afraid I'm finding less and less of the contributions useful. Quite simply, some people simply haven't a clue as they haven't the experience to substantiate their opinion.

There may be perfectly valid and incorruptible reasons that staff may be seen to do something a layman finds unusual or confusing. Take the recent thread about a guard having a break (which he must do as a matter of ensuring he does not become fatigued and thus put lives at risk). By all means the uninitiated may start a thread voicing confusion and anger at this apparently strange occurrence. But, when things have been explained by those on here in the know, there really is no place to maintain that anger.

I also suspect some of this stems from jealousy. I'm sure other staff will be more than happy to join me in saying we're very pleased to work in our chosen industry. We're paid well and generally enjoy what we do for a living and the privileges it brings.

 

[LE Greys]

I'm going to ask a Police Officer 'what the **** are you doing, tosser?' or 'where have you been you tosser?' later on and see if he/she deems it acceptable.

What do we reckon?

Yeah that's right, they won't. There are some right idiots on here sometimes.

With regards to thanking people. I'll thank the Conductor/Guard/Train Manager if I'm getting off out if the same door, but wouldn't go out of my way to find them (I.e disturb them) doing their duties. Certainly wouldn't go up and thank the Driver disturbing them.

Don't do any thanking on buses as I never use them. Dirty horrible things. Would rather drive my own car or walk

I remember hearing about one driver who yelled right back, "Ask the ****ing signalman who let a ****ing freight out in front of us and went along at forty ****ing miles an hour! ****ing unbelievable!"
At least two people got out of the wrong side of bed that morning.