Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[phile]

the 0840,1011 and 1100 services from Plymouth are the first three direct of the day -

Not to worry, the 11:00 has been re-instated!

11:00 Plymouth to London Paddington due 14:28 will be reinstated.

Horray!

It will be terminated at Exeter St Davids.
It will no longer call at Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Reading and London Paddington.
This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

Ah!

Oh well, at least it gives the chance to change at Exeter for services to Waterloo.

Those Plymouth to Paddingtons that are being reinstated and running to Exeter only are formed with 2 carriages so seems they are being crewed by West staff rather than HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) crews

[grahame]

Those Plymouth to Paddingtons that are being reinstated and running to Exeter only are formed with 2 carriages so seems they are being crewed by West staff rather than HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) crews

I have no proof ... but the suggestion that there's a staff BBQ today seems to fit the bill. To my knowledge Sunday working is still a matter of choice for many / most, so no contractual reason that individuals should choose driving a train over a social with their colleagues.  Indeed, if said BBQ is organised by colleagues it catches individuals between a rock and a hard place of not letting their colleagues down by missing the event, and letting a wider public down by being an element in train services being cancelled wholesale.

[broadgage]

Oh and one for Taplow Green and others, if you click on the 'Train Running' button which takes you to the JourneyCheck page, then at the top click 'Customer Service', it kind of says it all really

It does indeed say it all. Unusually honest.

[TaplowGreen]

Those Plymouth to Paddingtons that are being reinstated and running to Exeter only are formed with 2 carriages so seems they are being crewed by West staff rather than HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) crews

I have no proof ... but the suggestion that there's a staff BBQ today seems to fit the bill. To my knowledge Sunday working is still a matter of choice for many / most, so no contractual reason that individuals should choose driving a train over a social with their colleagues.  Indeed, if said BBQ is organised by colleagues it catches individuals between a rock and a hard place of not letting their colleagues down by missing the event, and letting a wider public down by being an element in train services being cancelled wholesale.

It's almost beyond parody.

"We apologise to customers on Platform 1, your train is cancelled due to a staff BBQ"

Once again, IF this is the case, it MUST have been a foreseable circumstance that the timetable would be decimated as a result - if so, why was a workable emergency timetable not scheduled and advertised rather than everything being cancelled at the last minute when it was far, far too late for customers to make alternative arrangements?

Let's be charitable and put it down to embarrassment rather than incompetence.

Nothing like putting the customer first, is there?  

[grahame]

Oh and one for Taplow Green and others, if you click on the 'Train Running' button which takes you to the JourneyCheck page, then at the top click 'Customer Service', it kind of says it all really

It does indeed say it all. Unusually honest.

Would you care to quote the page / give a direct link please?   I couldn't find anything ...

[broadgage]

https://www.gwr.com/customer-service

[broadgage]

Following the link to customer services produces a page that states "CUSTOMER SERVICES, WERE SORRY THIS PAGE DOES NOT EXIST" and error 404.

Entertaining in a black humour sort of way. I assume a natural breakdown rather than hackers. Had hackers been at it, I would expect something more humorous and also a bit insulting. Such as "WE have all gone to a barbecue. So very few trains are running. We hope you enjoy your day"

[RA]

Co-ordinated action ("Barbecue Sunday") by Plymouth depot today with no guards and only 2 drivers willing to work.

If that's the case then I am ashamed of my fellow Janners - hope they choke on their sausages!

Not the staff you should be ashamed of. It is the fault of the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) for advertising a 7 days a week timetable when it only has staff contracted for 6 days of the week. 'Buying out' the Terms and Conditions of staff to include Sundays inside the week would be expensive, as well as requiring in the region of a 20 to 25% increase in headcount per depot, as Sundays would constitute part of the contracted hours and not be worked as overtime as present. This is why the TOC continue with the current set up. Once the increasingly limited amount of staff goodwill has been used up, the service falls apart.

[WelshBluebird]

Co-ordinated action ("Barbecue Sunday") by Plymouth depot today with no guards and only 2 drivers willing to work.

If that's the case then I am ashamed of my fellow Janners - hope they choke on their sausages!

They do not have to work Sundays. So why shouldn't they do something nice when they can? The real problem is that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) assume they can run a 7 day service without having the staff to do so, as RA has also explained above.

[broadgage]

It is now a couple of years since I suggested that NEW staff should be required to work on Sundays. There is nothing unreasonable in this if the requirement is clear at the recruitment stage.

An initially limited but steadily growing pool of staff who are required to work on say alternate weekends would limit the impact of this sort of thing.
It would not be an overnight cure of course but at least the problem would be getting better and not worse.

The unions would hate this of course, but ultimately it will have to be done.

[ellendune]

One thing many employers in this country do not understand is that the employer is not always the one in the strongest position.  If there is a shortage of labour with a certain skill, then the boot is very much on the other foot. An employer that does not appreciate that they are in such a position might carry on in some high handed fashion and find there is no good will left.

You could insist on new staff working Sundays, but if other employers of drivers do not then you could just become a training ground for other companies drivers.

It would seem that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) find themselves in this position, though they are not alone. Politicians are the worst possible at this.  After all if you need more doctors you just put a card in the job centre don't you!

[TaplowGreen]

The unions would hate this of course, but ultimately it will have to be done.

Dinosaurs never liked change. They're now extinct.

[IndustryInsider]

Sunday’s within the working week will be a much quicker and more effective solution than Broadgage’s, which would take several years to have any meaningful impact, though the principle behind it is fair enough.  Driver wise I believe a provisional target implementation date has been set by both management and unions for the end of 2019.  A long way off still, but talks are ongoing.

Driver harmonisation appears to be closer than ever with a referendum due on a deal which should sail through meaning much more effective use of drivers can soon be made (IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)’s running DCO^▸ (Driver Controlled Operation) on some routes for example).

Plymouth had an industrial relations issue recently, so I expect that’s why there are issues again this weekend, rather than someone throwing an impromptu BBQ - though perhaps that’s happened as a result?

[Timmer]

..............there's a plus side? 

Not really TG, I’m just trying to find a positive in negative situation. Polishing something that can’t be polished comes to mind.

[TaplowGreen]

..............there's a plus side? 

Not really TG, I’m just trying to find a positive in negative situation. Polishing something that can’t be polished comes to mind.

I'd advise against polishing it or indeed trying to put it on the BBQ.