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Chris Grayling says rail industry 'has failed passengers' 30 May 2018

The transport secretary says the "rail industry has collectively failed" passengers after timetable changes caused chaos across the network.

Chris Grayling wrote to MPs over the "wholly unsatisfactory" service on Govia Thameslink Railway and Northern.

GTR said it expected disruption to ease "over the coming month" and Northern said it has commissioned a report to "ensure lessons are learned".

Mr Grayling said: "The way timetabling is done has to change."

The transport secretary also criticised Network Rail, saying it "cannot cope" with the workload, and its performance was "simply unacceptable".

He added: "We were aware there might be some disruption in the early stages of any new timetable change but the scale of the problem has far outstripped any expectation."

He said he was now in "regular contact" with Network Rail and rail companies to deal with the issues quickly.

But a Surrey rail user group earlier blamed the Department for Transport (DfT) for rail problems.

GTR runs Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and the Gatwick Express, while Northern runs services across North of England from Newcastle to Nottingham and in Greater Manchester, Yorkshire, Cumbria and Merseyside.

Trains are frequently crowded at stations such as Harpenden, while other services are cancelled.
Stephen Trigg, of the Reigate, Redhill and District Rail Users Association, said: "Thameslink is just failing all over the place.

"This morning six out of 12 trains have disappeared from the timetable. That's before any cancellations. How do people get to work?"

Ros Southward, who set up the Hitchin Rail Commuters Group, said there was constant "stress and disruption" on the Great Northern line.

"[I'm] beyond words, I don't get it because this is supposed to have been planned for a couple of years," she said.

Seems the Network Rail’s System Operator division at Milton Keynes are being made the scapegoat for this disaster as Grayling has written to MP's saying so!

I am writing to you concerning the wholly unsatisfactory levels of disruption on rail services following the huge timetable change last week.

I am frustrated that what should have been a good news story for passengers, with the introduction of new services, new routes and expanded capacity has had such a poor start.

The industry collectively has failed the passengers it serves.

A combination of delayed Network Rail infrastructure works and reduced time to plan a modified timetable meant that the new timetable was finalised much too late to permit adequate logistical planning for the timetable changes.

Network Rail’s System Operator division is responsible for taking all planned timetables and making sure that the plans for the whole network are workable and do not create conflicts between different types of service.

If they are unable to do so to the expected timescales, it causes chaos for the train companies.

A change on this scale requires reworking of train crew schedules, train deployment and a whole range of other complex issues that affect the running of what is a very congested service.

We were aware that there might be some disruption in the early days of any new timetable change of this size, but the scale of the problem has far outstripped any expectation.

I am determined both that the problems are dealt with as quickly as possible, and that this is not repeated in the future.

We have been in regular contact with the leadership of Network Rail and GTR in the last few days, and Jo Johnson and I are continuing to monitor the situation closely.

We are speaking to those involved on a daily basis and we have insisted that both organisations put whatever resource they need to into resolving the situation, and in making sure that there is proper leadership of the recovery effort.

We will be holding a meeting for affected colleagues as soon as the recess is over, when I hope we will be able to give you more encouraging news about the recovery effort.

I have also asked both organisations to organise a briefing meeting for MPs next week so they can explain the detail of what has gone wrong and how it is being solved.

I am also clear that the way timetabling is done has to change.

It is obvious that Network Rail’s current timetabling system simply cannot cope with the volume of work that it has to complete, and I have asked both the current leadership and the incoming Chief Executive, Andrew Haines, to ensure that this issue is addressed as a priority.

Network Rail’s current performance on this is simply unacceptable.

Until this has been done, I will insist on a gradual approach to timetable change wherever possible and not the significant changes that we have seen this month.

Once these problems are resolved, we will have a much better service for passengers.

That is small comfort to them when things are not working as they should, but once we are through this difficult period we will have a better railway.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/712161/sos-letter-to-mps-gtr.pdf

Failing Grayling is throwing Network Rail, which to all intents and purposes is state controlled, under a bus. He's blaming them for the Northern debacle too. Nice boss to have.  ::)

What's his agenda with Network Rail? His department have to share  blame. Its the DfT who specified these basket case franchises.

Like when Thatcher wanted to defund the railroads, first thing to do is defund them, then they don't work and people get angry and they want a change. You say okay, privatize them and then they get worse. In that case the government had to step in and rescue it.

That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital.

As the American Philosopher Noam Chomsky (https://genius.com/Noam-chomsky-the-state-corporate-complex-a-threat-to-freedom-and-survival-annotated#) Said


And

This is an excellent explanation of the Thameslink situation

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2018/the-cicadas-take-flight-explaining-the-may-timetable-changes/

As a mere passenger, but one familiar with some of the Thameslink core route, I've thought (ever since I found out about it) that squeezing 24tph through the likes of Farringdon was going to be a challenge. And even more so, as those trains are converging through that potential bottleneck from several different routes (if I have understood correctly)?

How well any of these other networks do I 'm not sure, apart from the Paris RER tunnel between Gare du Nord and Chatelet. This has to cope with 32 tph, though that's misleading for two reasons. The first is that it's just the tunnel between two four-platform stations, with no two-platform stations in it, and the second it that it never manages that many tph. There have been plans for a while to relieve it, the latest of which was to add one more track!

an acceptance that trains will run through the centre in whatever order they turn up

how well it works will depend on getting a lot of details right consistently

He's not the only one who should be considering their position.

I think Charles Horton has either quit before he was pushed or been made a scapegoat with a lovely golden handshake.

I think Charles Horton has either quit before he was pushed or been made a scapegoat with a lovely golden handshake.

NR and the DfT are not totally blameless with the situation on GTR, yet it’s the M.D. of the private TOC that pays the price. This is just an attempt to appease the passenger.  Give it some time and the M.D. merry go round will be in full swing!

I think Charles Horton has either quit before he was pushed or been made a scapegoat with a lovely golden handshake.

NR and the DfT are not totally blameless with the situation on GTR, yet it’s the M.D. of the private TOC that pays the price. This is just an attempt to appease the passenger.  Give it some time and the M.D. merry go round will be in full swing!

They should renationalise the railways straight away. That's the only way to stop this game of political football. _{Now then which is the emoji for 'yes I am being ironic?'}

BBC South Today's Transport correspondent Paul Clifton reporting that the chief executive of Govia Thameslink Railway, Charles Horton, has resigned.

As a mere passenger, but one familiar with some of the Thameslink core route, I've thought (ever since I found out about it) that squeezing 24tph through the likes of Farringdon was going to be a challenge. And even more so, as those trains are converging through that potential bottleneck from several different routes (if I have understood correctly)?

The station dwell times are those of the Tube.

Isn't this where they switch from 3rd rail to OHLE (and vice versa)?

Normally Farringdon is the southbound change to DC, but City Thameslink is the location for northbound change to AC.  However both tracks of the section between the stations are dual electrified, this allows for various solutions in the event of a problem, eg 8 car northbound failures can still be binned into Smithfield sidings.

Effectively it is arranged so that failure to changeover can still be dealt with before a train reaches a point of no return.

Paul

General feedback seems to be that it should all work fine through the central core then.


I pass through Farringdon (on the Tube) on a fairly regular basis, and the neighbouring Thameslink trains are pretty much always stationary when I arrive and depart.

Isn't this where they switch from 3rd rail to OHLE (and vice versa)?

Another report here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-44560769 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-44560769)

Enraged commuters kick at ticket gates, extra police patrols to provide "reassurance"

This in fact was another network rail signalling failure and not the fault of Thameslink. I can however understand the enormous frustration felt by regular victims of Thameslink.
Many feel that no peaceful or lawful redress is available, and that violence does work.

Agreed. These are regular hardworking people who under normal circumstances wouldn't dream of such actions, but are driven to it by enduring, and paying high prices for the daily misery of a railway not fit for purpose.