Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 02:15 19 Apr 2025
 
- British man, 27, killed by avalanche in French Alps
- US lays out plans to hit Chinese ships with port fees
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 10/05/25 - BRTA Westbury
10/05/25 - Model Railsay Show, Calne
13/05/25 - Melksham TUG / AGM
14/05/25 - West Wiltshire RUG

On this day
19th Apr (1938)
Foundation, Beatties of London (link)

Train RunningCancelled
05:58 Westbury to Portsmouth Harbour
06:52 Par to Newquay
16:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street
18:52 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads
21:32 Cheltenham Spa to Swindon
22:39 Swindon to Gloucester
Short Run
07:27 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
08:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
08:27 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
08:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street
10:52 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads
11:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:42 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury
12:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
13:07 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
13:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
14:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street
14:52 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads
15:42 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury
16:52 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads
17:06 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
17:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
18:12 Salisbury to Cheltenham Spa
20:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Weymouth
21:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Westbury
Delayed
An additional train service has been planned to operate as shown 13:59 Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central
PollsThere are no open or recent polls
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
April 19, 2025, 02:24:13 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[147] FOSS and FOSW validity - some quirks
[111] Fifteen years of the Transwilts CRP
[97] Wiltshire Day Rover - new multi-operator bus ticket
[81] St Erth station - facilities, footbridge, improvements, incide...
[56] Destination: London Travelcard Zones 1-6
[44] Melksham's rail service - where are we, on the anniversary of ...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1] 2
  Print  
Author Topic: Mass London/Bristol/Cheltenham cancellations 21/6/15  (Read 8293 times)
TaplowGreen
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 8612



View Profile
« on: June 21, 2015, 16:30:06 »

Apparently this is due to a shortage of drivers......FGW (First Great Western) state that enough drivers were scheduled but cannot comment further on why they were unable to work.

Not great for customers.
Logged
broadgage
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5674



View Profile
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2015, 17:23:01 »

A certain amount of last minute absence due to sickness etc is to be expected and should be allowed for.
It does seem rather odd for this to happen suddenly and on such a scale, I am not aware of any large outbreak of illness generally.

Could be some form of protest perhaps, if significant numbers have suddenly decided not to work overtime ?

Some of the earlier cancellations were due to animals on the line, but as posted above , most are staff shortage.
Logged

A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
Adelante_CCT
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1314



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2015, 17:48:57 »

Possibly should be merged with http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15855.msg177808#msg177808
as these two topics are pretty much related
Logged
sprinterguard
Full Member
***
Posts: 55


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2015, 18:17:31 »

It's Fathers Day so you may find more members of staff deciding they don't wish to work their Sunday's. Many grades also have the option to opt-out of Sunday work so the company has to rely on people wanting to do them.
Logged

All opinions are my own.
plymothian
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 858


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2015, 19:03:24 »

And they want to be able to run trains when no guard is available; must be time to start thinking of removing the need for a driver too.
Logged

Please be aware that only the first 4 words of this post will be platformed on this message board.
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6603


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2015, 19:11:47 »

Whilst I understand that drivers would not wish to work today being Father's Day, it's once again the travelling public who are inconvienced because the train operating company doesn't have enough staff to cover the advertised timetable. Not helped of course by engineering work taking place between Chippenham and Swindon.
Logged
Chris from Nailsea
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 19549



View Profile Email
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2015, 20:28:31 »

Possibly should be merged with http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15855.msg177808#msg177808
as these two topics are pretty much related

Hmm Undecided . Thanks for your constructive suggestion, Adelante_CCT.  However, in this particular case, I read that earlier 'animals on the line' issues, as well as other problems, caused widespread cancellations and delays in the Cotswolds - while more particular driver shortage issues caused disruption around Melksham.

I'm therefore inclined to leave these two discussion topics in their existing separate boards.
Logged

William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
Richard Fairhurst
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1283


View Profile Email
« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2015, 22:37:58 »

A cow at Kingham. Or, more precisely, an ex-cow at Kingham. Sad
Logged
Palfers
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 152

palfers19289@live.com
View Profile
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2015, 22:46:00 »

A cow at Kingham. Or, more precisely, an ex-cow at Kingham. Sad

hmm is it now being cut into steaks and roasting joints I quite fancy a sirloin steak and all the trimmings!!

Logged
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 19304



View Profile
« Reply #9 on: June 22, 2015, 00:28:20 »

Wish I'd known about this earlier. I was catering today, and, whilst there was food a-plenty, I'm sure a few very fresh steaks would've been appreciated.
Logged

"Good news for regular users of Euston Station in London! One day they will die. Then they won't have to go to Euston Station ever again." - David Mitchell
TaplowGreen
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 8612



View Profile
« Reply #10 on: June 22, 2015, 05:22:17 »

Whilst I understand that drivers would not wish to work today being Father's Day, it's once again the travelling public who are inconvienced because the train operating company doesn't have enough staff to cover the advertised timetable. Not helped of course by engineering work taking place between Chippenham and Swindon.

It would appear that the TOC (Train Operating Company) did have enough staff rostered, but a number of those scheduled to work chose not to. I'm sure they had their reasons, and that they spared a thought for the thousands of customers they inconvenienced by doing so.

I'm not sure I share the hilarity regarding the cow being hit on the line, I've been on a train where a similar thing happened, and it was pretty upsetting for the driver and others concerned with the incident.
Logged
BerkshireBugsy
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1640


Berkshire Bugsy Jr


View Profile
« Reply #11 on: June 22, 2015, 07:41:17 »

Whilst I understand that drivers would not wish to work today being Father's Day, it's once again the travelling public who are inconvienced because the train operating company doesn't have enough staff to cover the advertised timetable. Not helped of course by engineering work taking place between Chippenham and Swindon.

It would appear that the TOC (Train Operating Company) did have enough staff rostered, but a number of those scheduled to work chose not to. I'm sure they had their reasons, and that they spared a thought for the thousands of customers they inconvenienced by doing so.

I'm not sure I share the hilarity regarding the cow being hit on the line, I've been on a train where a similar thing happened, and it was pretty upsetting for the driver and others concerned with the incident.

Doesn't anyone here know if the rostering affected any of the other TOCS or is there something different about the FGW (First Great Western) driver employment contracts?
« Last Edit: June 22, 2015, 08:28:17 by BerkshireBugsy » Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 43843



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #12 on: June 22, 2015, 08:22:24 »

It would appear that the TOC (Train Operating Company) did have enough staff rostered, but a number of those scheduled to work chose not to. I'm sure they had their reasons, and that they spared a thought for the thousands of customers they inconvenienced by doing so.

It's an "odd one".   Staff rostered don't normally just fail to turn up for "no good reason" - FGW (First Great Western) train crews are (personal experience) pretty responsible.  I suspect tight rostering, perhaps a flu virus going around where a higher than normal number called in sick, and backup calls to other staff "please come in to help" at the last minute being me with "sorry - my son/daughter has had me booked since April for Father's day".   

Still not clever at all; I run a business and we have a fallback to ensure that we're still fully operational even if someone calls in at 6 a.m. sick for a 6.15 start, and ironic when you look at the number of extra buses running around yesterday, with more drivers than there would have been train drivers providing an inferior service at (no doubt) extra cost.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
eightf48544
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4574


View Profile Email
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2015, 08:43:34 »

I seem to recall another TOC (Train Operating Company) got into similar trouble with Sunday rostering a few years back. Have a feeling it was either FCC (First Capital Connect) or Silverlink or one of the North London suburban franchises.
Logged
trainer
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1035


View Profile
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2015, 08:53:50 »

I seem to recall another TOC (Train Operating Company) got into similar trouble with Sunday rostering a few years back. Have a feeling it was either FCC (First Capital Connect) or Silverlink or one of the North London suburban franchises.

I think it was Central Trains and its successor London Midland that had the most heavily publicised issues around Sunday (non-) working.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1] 2
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page