Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Yep - the 7.59am HST^▸ (High Speed Train) (8 coaches) and the 8.02am from Henley (5 coaches) which ran non stop from Maidenhead to Paddington have been replaced by one 8 carriage electric train. The 7.59am was probably the busiest HST other than the 7.08am.. I've not tried the 8.02am electric train but I'm pretty sure you won't be guaranteed a seat on it seeing the amount of people who used to use the 7.59am...

I am looking forward to a week of cancellations again since the Electric train drivers have been working this weekend...

As I said - one step forward and two massive ones back. Thanks GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)  - I expect you'll still be happy to take my money when I go to get my new monthly ticket later

You must be psychic!!!

07:17 Maidenhead to London Paddington due 08:03
07:17 Maidenhead to London Paddington due 08:03 will be started from Ealing Broadway.
It will no longer call at Maidenhead, Burnham, Slough, Langley and West Drayton.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers

06:12 London Paddington to Maidenhead due 06:58
06:12 London Paddington to Maidenhead due 06:58 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

[NickB]

And the 06.40 Maidenhead to Paddington is cancelled.

Useless.

[Sixty3Closure]

Looking forward to my trip home already. Fortunately I have an understanding manager who doesn't mind a bit of flexibility but it must be really tough if you're on a fixed shift or start times.

[Jason]

0734 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington
This service was cancelled throughout due to an issue with the train crew

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C20004/2017/09/25/advanced

[Adelante_CCT]

Out of interest, what will happen to the class 360 drivers? Will they be transferred to crossrail or stay with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and operate class 387s?

If the latter then that would be a handful of extra drivers added to the roster pool from May? next year when TFL^▸ (Transport for London) takes over the Heathrow stoppers.

[IndustryInsider]

The Heathrow Connect drivers are not GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) drivers, they are the same drivers that drive the Heathrow Express trains.  Not sure what will happen to them next year though.

[TaplowGreen]

Not too many alternative options for shift workers with these two cancelled.......a long, long wait for some.

28/09/17 02:24 Reading to London Paddington due 03:18 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

28/09/17 03:34 London Paddington to Reading due 04:30 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

[ChrisB]

How many shifts start at thise times?

All they would carry are those finishing after midnight. Bar workers mainly

[BBM]

Not too many alternative options for shift workers with these two cancelled.......a long, long wait for some.

28/09/17 02:24 Reading to London Paddington due 03:18 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

28/09/17 03:34 London Paddington to Reading due 04:30 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

I've just been looking at RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) for overnight last night, Down stoppers from PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) at 22:57, 23:49, 01:34, then 05:17 & 06:12 were all cancelled due to "an issue with the train crew". After the 01:34 there's nothing for another 2 hours so presumably taxis were provided?

[a-driver]

Crew shortages. What did they expect to happen?  TfL^» (Transport for London - about) are recruiting all new drivers rather than take them from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).
Once CrossRail starts and takes over services from GWR there is a good chance that the current GWR will close. As a result drivers are leaving and who can blame them. They aren’t going to sit and wait to be made redundant.
The whole situation has been handled very poorly considering not that many years ago GWR heavily recruited drivers in the area with the expectation of them being transferred over to CrossRail

[ChrisB]

Taking them from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) would presumably mean TUPEing them on existing T&Cs?

Going out & recruiting them directly means they can be offered the contract TfL^» (Transport for London - about)/Crossrail want them to have. Who can blame TfL?

[IndustryInsider]

With Boxing Day working included for example.  Along with having to set up a new relationship with unions rather than an existing one established over many decades.

Personally I don't think the situation is quite as bleak as 'a-driver' thinks, but time will tell.

[broadgage]

Crew shortages. What did they expect to happen?  TfL^» (Transport for London - about) are recruiting all new drivers rather than take them from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).
Once CrossRail starts and takes over services from GWR there is a good chance that the current GWR will close. As a result drivers are leaving and who can blame them. They aren’t going to sit and wait to be made redundant.
The whole situation has been handled very poorly considering not that many years ago GWR heavily recruited drivers in the area with the expectation of them being transferred over to CrossRail

Why would the "present GWR close" ? Surely GWR will still be running all the non  Crossrail routes and will still need large numbers of drivers to so do.
First group might lose the franchise of course, but that is a separate issue, and the new operator would have to take on the drivers.

[TaplowGreen]

Peak services out of Paddington being cancelled tonight, looks like mostly 387s........all that money spent on these lovely new trains, but someone forgot they need people to drive them...............

[ray951]

1521 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington cancelled due to 'Shortage of Train Crew' according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website).
Empty stock running on the same schedule http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O31084/2017/09/29/advanced, so I assume that is a shortage of guard's.

And the obvious substitute from Oxford the 1611 or 1638 to Marylebone are also cancelled, this is due to a broken down train at Denham.