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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
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on: December 20, 2019, 16:05:38
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As promised, here’s an update on Sunday’s services for you and the situation is improving all the time. This update is also being shared on our website and through social media. Changes to trains for Sunday 22 December – UPDATED
An amended timetable is in place affecting some journeys between London and Bristol Temple Meads, and London and Swansea. Where trains are able to run they are expected to be busy.
Customers are advised to travel early and should check their journeys at https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey before travelling as some changes will be made at short notice.
The usual compensation arrangements are in place should customers be delayed and ticket restrictions have been lifted allowing customers to travel on an earlier or later service.
How will this affect my journey?In order to keep passengers moving, from midday services between London Paddington and Swansea will be hourly.
On the route between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads an hourly service will also be in operation from late afternoon.
The amendments have come about because of the unusually high number of rail staff are not available to work. While newer GWR▸ contracts include Sunday working, not all railway workers are contracted to work on Sundays. GWR is working with colleagues and trade unions to make Sunday contracted hours more consistent across the business.
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
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on: December 16, 2019, 15:31:04
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GWR▸ Twitter response seems to consist of "Sorry, we've got a crew shortage, you can catch the next train"
Interesting also that they are advising that they are "trying to source" road transport - they've known that this was going to happen for days, if not longer - why was this, at the very least, not put in place in a timely fashion?
Many of you know that I manage the relationship between GWR and the Coffee Shop and I thought it would be helpful to give you an idea of where we are today. I can’t respond to every comment on here but recognise the issues being flagged about Sunday availability of crews. Any cancellation is not acceptable but we have been working hard to get Sundays included in the working week for all GWR colleagues with some progress but we recognise there is more to do. Regular contributors will be aware of what we are doing to bring Sunday into the working week for all staff. The issue is absolutely understood and the evidence shows the new contracts we introduced last year are having a positive impact on the overall service, although we recognise that is no consolation to anyone impacted today. The timetable itself is working well, but it doesn't insulate us against the challenges any train operator faces on a day to day basis. We are running the majority of services today and current ppm is over 90%. Most of the short notice cancellations today relate to work at our Swansea depot which has historically not been a place we have recorded many issues. This is due to the availability of Swansea drivers with the relevant route knowledge to run services on the Vale of Glamorgan diversionary route. We are trying to reduce the impact where possible and your contributors have mentioned some of these activities. We have plans to continue minimise the impact in the short term and to address the issue in the longer term. Caroline can you advise as to whether this situation is going to be repeated next Sunday, when demand is likely to be even higher & the situation even more critical, given the restrictions at Paddington w/c 23/12? Do you have a sufficient complement of drivers available or will there be similar mass cancellations/curtailment? What is the advice for passengers planning/who have already made arrangements to travel to/from Wales/the West on 22/12? In previous years we have experienced challenges with traincrew availability at Christmas and we are doing everything we can to maximise their availability for next Sunday (22 December). Recently recruited drivers are signed up to the new terms and conditions, which include a commitment to work rostered Sundays, and the majority of LTV▸ and West drivers are also signed up. The HSS▸ drivers are not in that position and negotiations continue to explore how we might get Sundays in working weeks. If we anticipate any issues on Sunday we will let you know later in the week and we will, of course, ensure that customers who are planning to travel are aware. I should note that engineering work over this last weekend restricted the number of available drivers. These engineering works will not be taking place this weekend (21/22 December). Yesterday we tried to ensure there were not big gaps in the service either by reinstating some services or providing road transport. If a similar situation arises next Sunday we would plan to do the same to ensure we keep customers moving. |
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
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on: December 15, 2019, 15:52:37
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As Bristol and Paddington drivers also drive Swansea trains, perhaps they could learn via the VoG line for situations such as this?
Paddington and Bristol drivers would ideally sign Vale of Glamorgan but they can’t as there is not enough work for them to retain their route knowledge and for Paddington drivers it would probably exceed the maximum driving time allowed. Isn’t that the same situation as Lydney though? Some drivers at Bristol and some at Paddington sign that for Severn Tunnel diversions, despite the fact there is normally no booked work. A driver refreshing Lydney could probably refresh Vale of Glamorgan on the same shift. It’s different for Lydney as half of the Lydney route is on the regular route to Cheltenham, which makes route refreshing much easier. The Vale of Glamorgan is much further from London and therefore more difficult for drivers to maintain competency within their booked hours. It is worth noting that there are significant differences in the signalling layout on the two routes – the Vale of Glamorgan is more complex. |
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
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on: December 15, 2019, 14:56:25
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As far as negotiations are concerned we are not able to share details of this for wider discussion until we have done a deal. We will, of course, keep you informed when a deal is confirmed.
Thank you. I wasn't asking for any details other than whether it is still expected (or hoped) to be resolved as planned for next December. We face another summer of significant cancellations on Sundays next year sadly - my feeling is that any extra staff numbers will be outweighed by the additional trains in the timetable - but hopefully that will be the last one if a deal can be done in time. We hope that it will be concluded as soon as possible. |
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
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on: December 15, 2019, 14:19:24
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Many of you know that I manage the relationship between GWR▸ and the Coffee Shop and I thought it would be helpful to give you an idea of where we are today.
That is hugely helpful, Caroline - thank you. I have just come back from Melksham Station - intent was just to pick up some tickets but, my goodness, busy with people congregating for the 12:52 to Swindon and all's running (though that one a little late). Good to see the signs all updated too, to reflect the new timetable. Whilst we should not / cannot make light of the issues, there are also many lines which are running ... a gent on his way to Gatwick (with the brightest green fluorescent suitcase I have even seen!) and I was able to advise him "fine to Swindon, a bit thin today from there to Reading compared to normal, and then as per timetable pretty well to Gatwick". He's defensive- scheduled / overnight in a hotel and flying first thing tomorrow, so very laid back. Thank you Graham, really good to hear things are going well at Melksham and glad you were able to update the gentleman travelling to Gatwick. |
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
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on: December 15, 2019, 14:18:28
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I can’t respond to every comment on here but recognise the issues being flagged about Sunday availability of crews. Any cancellation is not acceptable but we have been working hard to get Sundays included in the working week for all GWR▸ colleagues with some progress but we recognise there is more to do.
Regular contributors will be aware of what we are doing to bring Sunday into the working week for all staff. The issue is absolutely understood and the evidence shows the new contracts we introduced last year are having a positive impact on the overall service, although we recognise that is no consolation to anyone impacted today.
Is it possible to have an update from GWR as to whether the additional staff and required negotiations with the unions for Sundays in the working week for the two driving grades GWR and HSS▸ (not the 'committed Sundays' agreements that are already in place for GWR grade drivers) are expected to be concluded in time for a commencement date of next December, which was the original target? As far as negotiations are concerned we are not able to share details of this for wider discussion until we have done a deal. We will, of course, keep you informed when a deal is confirmed. |
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
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on: December 15, 2019, 12:36:33
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GWR▸ Twitter response seems to consist of "Sorry, we've got a crew shortage, you can catch the next train"
Interesting also that they are advising that they are "trying to source" road transport - they've known that this was going to happen for days, if not longer - why was this, at the very least, not put in place in a timely fashion?
Many of you know that I manage the relationship between GWR and the Coffee Shop and I thought it would be helpful to give you an idea of where we are today. I can’t respond to every comment on here but recognise the issues being flagged about Sunday availability of crews. Any cancellation is not acceptable but we have been working hard to get Sundays included in the working week for all GWR colleagues with some progress but we recognise there is more to do. Regular contributors will be aware of what we are doing to bring Sunday into the working week for all staff. The issue is absolutely understood and the evidence shows the new contracts we introduced last year are having a positive impact on the overall service, although we recognise that is no consolation to anyone impacted today. The timetable itself is working well, but it doesn't insulate us against the challenges any train operator faces on a day to day basis. We are running the majority of services today and current ppm is over 90%. Most of the short notice cancellations today relate to work at our Swansea depot which has historically not been a place we have recorded many issues. This is due to the availability of Swansea drivers with the relevant route knowledge to run services on the Vale of Glamorgan diversionary route. We are trying to reduce the impact where possible and your contributors have mentioned some of these activities. We have plans to continue minimise the impact in the short term and to address the issue in the longer term. |
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All across the Great Western territory / Meet the Manager / Re: Qn.1 for Mark Hopwood: Future "Meet the Manager" sessions at major stations?
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on: August 06, 2019, 19:18:40
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I was at what I think was maybe the last Meet the Manager session, in Cardiff in April last year. My recollection of that one was that it was very well attended, and a worthwhile evening for customers and GWR▸ alike. Main problem on that occasion was that there was not enough time for discussions to be properly concluded. Certainly people weren't rushing away to get home - but maybe you get a different sort of audience in Cardiff than, say, Paddington where there will be more hard-pressed commuters who have just finished a day's work and still have a long journey home.
Thanks for your additional comments, I am pleased to hear the session at Cardiff went well. We have more planned for later this year. Welcome to the forum, Caroline. We (on the Coffee Shop) would be delighted to help you (at Great Western) publicise them via our diary - indeed (as a member) you can add them to our calendar yourself. It's always hard to know which events to diarise and which not - but at-station or on-train events come high on the "should include" list. Thank you for the warm welcome Graham, will certainly keep you informed of the dates when they are confirmed. Will even have a go at adding them to the calendar myself!  |
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All across the Great Western territory / Meet the Manager / Re: Qn.1 for Mark Hopwood: Future "Meet the Manager" sessions at major stations?
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on: August 06, 2019, 18:24:23
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I was at what I think was maybe the last Meet the Manager session, in Cardiff in April last year. My recollection of that one was that it was very well attended, and a worthwhile evening for customers and GWR▸ alike. Main problem on that occasion was that there was not enough time for discussions to be properly concluded. Certainly people weren't rushing away to get home - but maybe you get a different sort of audience in Cardiff than, say, Paddington where there will be more hard-pressed commuters who have just finished a day's work and still have a long journey home.
Thanks for your additional comments, I am pleased to hear the session at Cardiff went well. We have more planned for later this year. |
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