Delays near Hayes and Harlington 21/01/2013

[whole diary]

[Electric train]

I think there are two separate issues here.  One is the fault that causes the closure or reduced capacity of one or more running lines in the first place, the other is how FGW^▸ (First Great Western) responds to this and runs the best possible service it can - and keeps the passengers informed.  How well FGW responds comes down to its resources in Control and elsewhere.

As disucssed elsewhere, FGW has cut back on train crew supervisors and other key posts and probably doesn't have the necessary resources to deal with major disruptions as well as say, Thames Trains did a few years ago.  What they manage to run, and what information they get out to their own staff and the passengers, will probably be less than what they could have delivered if they had sufficient resources.  So FGW need to be careful about putting all the blame for passengers' disrupted journeys on to NR^» (Network Rail - home page).   

The failure, looked to me as I went past on the 16:22 Padd - Oxford on the points from the DR to DN Heathrow there were a number of NR tech working on that point machine.  It was getting dark so I can understand closing the relief lines to give the staff a safe place to work and allow any testing.

I can understand a number of trains will get trapped in the affected area, but I stood on Slough station for a stopper to Maidenhead for close on an hour with out any trains in the DN direction, no attempt to turn any of the UP trains at slough to clear the backlog absolute pooh customer service from the FGW station team they seemed to be eat McDonald's and relying on the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) auto announcements.

When a 3 car 166 did arrive it was packed not every one got on, people were left at Burnham and someone could not get off at Taplow as they we sitting in the middle of the coach.

It may well be appalling infrastructure performance on the part of NR, FGW certainly at Slough did not do them selves any favours; I will say the drive of the train was excellent with the on board announcements apologising for the over crowding and asking folks to move right inside 

[Chris from Nailsea]

One of the railway magazines suggested that Network Rail need to send someone with real weight and credibility within their ranks to specifically oversee the Great Western route.  Given the current disruption, and the massive programme of improvements over the next 7 years, that seems like a very good idea to me!

Dave Ward. 

I think you will find Patrick Halgate is the RMD for GW^▸ (Great Western)  (RMD Route Managing Director)

I know he is: I was merely suggesting an alternative name for someone to fill the hypothetical new post "as specified by one of the railway magazines". 

By the way, I've met both Dave Ward and Patrick Halgate, and I rate them both highly: in their previous and current roles, they have produced and are producing great results for the network.  But I would suggest that neither of them could be expected to be out taking one of eightf48544' club hammers to a signal at Acton in an effort to resolve the problem personally ... 

[inspector_blakey]

That will be so "the train" gets to it's final destination on time.. As for the passengers, they are less important... Hhm maybe that is why wine was invented? ;-)

It's not quite that straightforward. True, stops are often removed when "service recovery" is underway after a significant delay incident in an attempt to reduce the delays to given trains. If you reduce the delay in getting a train to its final destination, this then reduces the knock-on effect on that train's next working, so helping to reduce delays throughout the remainder of the service. Running a train fast can therefore be an important tool in getting things back to time. In general control will try not to do this unless there is a reasonable alternative service that affected passengers can use.

It's a common accusation that stops are cut in order to get a train to its destination within its punctuality target and therefore keep PPM^‡(resolve) looking good. However, skipping stops is deemed to be a part-cancellation of a service and the operator will be penalized for this, so in many cases skipping stops will not gain the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) anything in terms of performance statistics.

[Oxman]

In my own experience, railway management has a culture which is biased towards the morning peak. Managers are urged to start early and manage the peak before getting on with their day jobs. Its understandable - most technical problems occur early morning, I suspect.

But it does mean that there are fewer managers around in the evening peak. So when things go wrong, its left to the staff on the ground, which might well have been the issue at Slough. Larger stations do have Duty Managers of course, so should perform better.

its an interesting question: which is more important, the morning or evening peak? I tended to the idea that passengers would be more upset about delays in getting home, rather than delays in getting to work!

But, as I said, it is a culture thing.

[Super Guard]

its an interesting question: which is more important, the morning or evening peak? I tended to the idea that passengers would be more upset about delays in getting home, rather than delays in getting to work!

No-one wants to be delayed going home, but if you are getting to work late, chances are a.) employer not happy and b.) you may end up having to stay late and then get home later than planned anyway...

I did hear someone complain during the disruption the 23rd, that this "never happens on works time, always my time.."

Also, keeping the morning peak running someway to time, even during disruption is clearly going to keep things running smoother for the rest of the day, then letting the morning go to ruin and then write the whole day off.

[thetrout]

Well the circumstances were different. But a couple of years back there was a "Jumper" which saw me stuck on a HST^▸ (High Speed Train) coming into Reading in the morning peak (07:04 off Westbury). The ironic thing about it was I was flying abroad to attend a Family Member's Funeral. The bulk of my family already out there, I was flying Solo...

Fortunately I left far earlier than I needed to for my flight from Birmingham International, essentially a contingency plan and assumed I would be stuck in the airport of ages. I made a good call and got lucky. They pulled my train into what was Platform 4 at Reading (The Down Main AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) - so the wrong way basically) and the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Service was stuck behind the HST I was on.

I arrived at the airport although nearly 2 hours behind schedule... I was still within plenty of time to check in, book in for my boarding assistance and then get to the ServisAir Lounge for a cuppa.

Had I not have put in that contingency... I would've almost certainly missed the flight!