Then there is an issue in the system and the process.
If supermarkets were not getting apples delivered to them 20% of the time, or if hospitals had errors in 20% of appendix operations, or Ford had 20% of Mondeos breaking down all with the same issue, or Apple had 20% of iPhones not being able to open Safari, there would be root-and-branch investigations, there would be analysis of the causes, and processes changed or developed to stop it happening.
But what is there to stop it happenning if the government and the franchises have decided they have enough staff for what they want already? If it happens because it's as simple as staff can't be in two places at the same time, and all stakeholders say no more staff at present, then there's no solution. Other than slim down the demand to only those who need it due to disability and or the equality act rather than opening it to all but it struggles to be accurate.
Exactly this. When I worked doing it, I had this one guy bring 6 large, extremely heavy (I couldn't lift them, was a first for me) cases and two holdalls. Took three of us to get him to the train, was annoyed the guard did not charge him for his luggage.
People need to be told when booking what their limits are and that they have to be a reasonable weight for the person that will be helping them to carry, staff aren't weightlifters.
In theory tocs do agree limits on luggage allowance. Trouble is customers aren't aware of it and if they were many would be in breach of them and there's no way of policing it. In reality it should come down to reasonable, and common sense.
Luggage wise though this is another issue with the passenger assist system which ought to be addressed:
Anyone who classes themselves as Elderly (no DOB needed, it's opinion) is able to book full luggage assistance and a full station transfer service free of charge with any amount of luggage of any weight. And it's all on the staff to do as soon as the passenger comes through the door.
Perhaps customers booking non disability luggage assistance should select a more appropriate size or weight of luggage considering that they're giving it over to staff, and if it was them having to attempt to lift it, they may well not be able to handle it whatsoever.
However, because the current assistance service does all the manual work for the customsr at all points for all transfers, they can bring an extra large case, heavy if they wish, that they wouldn't be able to lift themselves. Or multiple large cases per one assist.
It's then down to assistance staff to lift this stuff to and from trains, on and off racks and around the stations, whether they think it's an awkward piece of luggage or not. And they risk injury, because often they are doing this all day.
UK manual handling courses tell you to hold the top and bottom opposite corners, bend knees and assess the load, which is not possible with a large heavy case. You have to use the handles to get a grip which are top and one on one side. Then lift it up or down a step .Then lift it on or off vestibule or overhead racks, perhaps with other cases in the way. The train maybe full. Then factor in the train's dwell time is 2 maybe 1 minute. And you have to get off to avoid being carried off with the train.
This seem to be one of the most likely jobs to suffer an injury or be off sick due to pain on the customer facing railway imo.
Whether it's right anyone should bring luggage they couldnt reasonably handle themselves I'm not sure. Passengers with disabilities and physical impairments you can totally understand they can't handle luggage. But it seems flawed there's the 'Elderly, Luggage' category when booking assistance, which seems to be available to anyone over 50 who sees themselves to be Elderly (my brother does).
I do doubt whether this was what was actually envisaged or intended when the passenger assist service was set up. Perhaps it was initially supposed to be aimed at those who absolutely required help to make the railway accessible or to be able to travel. Over time the bookings have got far wider and it seems now like a huge huge chunk of assists are bookings under ''Elderly, luggage assistance, assistance at all points to and from seat'. Is this really what they intended when they introduced the service?
That could cover millions of the population if it's a full porter and transfer service for anyone who books it based on they're old. And it's free, so who wouldn't want a full porters type service if they knew it was available?
There can be a fair turnover of staff because it's so strenuous and demanding and not paid as well as many of the other operational roles which may be lighter, and most staff who leave move on to other roles within the railway.
People can keep complaining and keep saying if it needs far more staff then staff it, but the reality is, it's not going to be staffed with drastically more staff than it has today. Maybe a few more every few years for natural growth inflation. But not to extent that every gran and grandad would be able to receive assistance every single time because with the ageing population and word spreading on how useful the service is, more and more people want to book it with the same amounts of budget and staff. So people don't have enough hands and bookings get missed.
