Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[phile]

No mention of the problem at the Customer Panel Meeting on 18th November nor of number of trains out of service.  Seemed to have been kept off the Agenda,

[TonyK]

No comment about the copyright question...

I have heard a rumour that

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) proved too much for the man,
So he's leavin' the life he's come to know,
He said he's goin' back to find
Ooh, what's left of his world,
The world he left behind
Not so long ago.

.........but I can't confirm it unfortunately 😜

I deplore the absence of an acknowledgement of James D Weatherly's part in all this.

[grahame]

No mention of the problem at the Customer Panel Meeting on 18th November nor of number of trains out of service.  Seemed to have been kept off the Agenda.

Different groupings have very different slants as to what comes up; I went along to the first of the hew style panels in Bristol, and the concerns there were overwhelmingly biased to the ease of otherwise of getting on an off the station and train, and with the availability or lack thereof (at times) of staff at stations.

[ellendune]

I see that in the latest issue of Rail Magazine GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) is advertising for "Qualified Train Drivers"
 
Positions available at "Paddington, Reading, Oxford, Bristol, Gloucester, Westbury, Exeter and Penzance."

[TonyK]

I see that in the latest issue of Rail Magazine GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) is advertising for "Qualified Train Drivers"
 

I saw that too. Just that word "Qualified" in the way...

[IndustryInsider]

I see that in the latest issue of Rail Magazine GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) is advertising for "Qualified Train Drivers"
 
Positions available at "Paddington, Reading, Oxford, Bristol, Gloucester, Westbury, Exeter and Penzance."

Yep, seeing if they can poach anyone from any other TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company), or, more likely, FOC^▸ (Freight Operating Company, or possibly 'free of charge', depending on context).  Shorter training period of course than taking somebody off of the street.

[Timmer]

Great to see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) looking to recruit drivers to solve the shortage 

[NickB]

Yeah - now if only they had done this 9 months ago they could have avoided inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of passengers...

[a-driver]

Been advertising for some of those depots for the past few years!  The LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) depots with the start of CrossRail are a sinking ship

[ChrisB]

Yeah - now if only they had done this 9 months ago they could have avoided inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of passengers...

9 months ago, the delivery of IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) wasn't set in stone. And that's been the problem, along with the problem that a-driver refers to.

[SandTEngineer]

9 months ago, the delivery of IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) wasn't set in stone. And that's been the problem, along with the problem that a-driver refers to.

...err, I think it was in the contract.  See physical Page 91 onwards here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/355607/great-western-iep-network-train-agreement.pdf

Health Warning: Its a large document

[ChrisB]

Ok, thanks. 9 months hasn't been long enough to train up the current GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) drivers (it's still ongoing now!), so when would the new drivers have been trained?

[a-driver]

Training on the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))’s was only allowed to commence once testing had been completed and the IET was handed over to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). Testing was carried out using GBRf drivers. I think it’s something like 3 or 4 weeks to fully train a driver on the IET.

[grahame]

Training on the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))’s was only allowed to commence once testing had been completed and the IET was handed over to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). Testing was carried out using GBRf drivers. I think it’s something like 3 or 4 weeks to fully train a driver on the IET.

At first glance, that seems a curious arrangement ... there will be two lots of drivers to train rather than just the one set, and the GWR driver training will be compressed into a month during which the driver(s) concerned will contribute to a peak in the "shortage of train drivers".   We should thank goodness that the 800 class is being ramped up and not coming in with a massive spike (even if the 387s are)

[ChrisB]

I suspect Hitachi wanted the testing done by third party drivers who couldn't be 'influenced' in their reporting back?