Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

I've just dropped my son off at Maidenhead for the 10.17 to Paddington.. It's cancelled due to lack of drivers.. Not ideal at this time of night when it was only a half  hourly service anyway.. 

I think some readers would be amazed by the statement 'only a half hourly service' 

[johoare]

I've just dropped my son off at Maidenhead for the 10.17 to Paddington.. It's cancelled due to lack of drivers.. Not ideal at this time of night when it was only a half  hourly service anyway.. 

I think some readers would be amazed by the statement 'only a half hourly service' 

Would they be readers on the mainline into Paddington from what is basically a commuter town?  Comparing like for like hopefully?

[grahame]

I've just dropped my son off at Maidenhead for the 10.17 to Paddington.. It's cancelled due to lack of drivers.. Not ideal at this time of night when it was only a half  hourly service anyway.. 

I think some readers would be amazed by the statement 'only a half hourly service' 

Would they be readers on the mainline into Paddington from what is basically a commuter town?  Comparing like for like hopefully?

The economy of towns like Maidenhead and its transport links to the nearby massive employment areas (Central London) have grown up in a symbiotic relationship - you would have the trains without the need to travel, and you wouldn't have the need to travel (i.e. people would not have moved there) without the fast and frequent trains - thus making it a commuter town.  And, sure, in context "only" half an hourly service is a valid descriptor.

The economy of - err - Melksham, where I live, has had a huge boost in transport links to the nearby massive employment areas (such as Swindon and Bath) in public transport.  Indeed, for the last month our bus to Bath has gone up to 3 journeys per hour (regrettably not every 20 minutes, nor with interchangeable tickets), and our train service leapt from every 12 hours to every 2 hour from 2014.   And the social and economy changes are happening - symbiotic again, with some people moving here because they can use an established train service to Swindon.  "Half hourly" we would love - though I suspect the business case based on volume is currently only there for an hourly train.  In the future, planned symbiotic growth continues, who knows?

With a service above a certain frequency,  the customer (who is King, remember) can plan his day and then work out which train fits.  Below that frequency, the customer need to choose his trains and then plan his day around them - second best in terms of temping people to use the train.  Where is the crossover?   My feeling is that it's at the point whether the frequency of service is the same as the travel time.   Thus - Melksham to Swindon, just under half an hour - so the train service needs to be "only"  every half hour in order for people to plan their lives first and have the train times secondary.   Of course, traffic volume economics may preclude such a frequency away from the biggest of cities.

Interesting discussion point Jo and Ellendune ... and I fear taking us way off topic.  It is not pleasant waiting around for an extra half hour in the evening for a train hoping the next one will show up - agreed.

[TaplowGreen]

Today's cancellations so far due to driver shortage...….numbers seem to be steadily increasing as time goes by, however not as bad as recent weekends (yet!)


08:15 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 10:05
08:30 London Paddington to Swansea due 11:49
10:27 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 12:45
10:30 London Paddington to Swansea due 13:46
10:43 Redhill to Reading due 12:06
12:27 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 14:46
12:50 Reading to Redhill due 14:14
13:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 14:50
13:24 Swansea to London Paddington due 16:40
13:33 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 15:45
14:24 Swansea to London Paddington due 17:40
15:24 Swansea to London Paddington due 18:40

[Worcester_Passenger]

That's a big hit on Swansea and Cardiff - taking out three successive trains on the hourly service.

[Timmer]

Added to the list since TG’s post:

Pad-Bristol services reduced to hourly with xx.00 departures canned upto and including the 20:00 to WSM.
And 18:27 Pad-Bristol train cancelled.

 

UPDATE: What goes down must come back up. Return journeys up to London now starting to appear in the list. After a quiet start this morning with not many listed, the service has rapidly gone down hill.

[TaplowGreen]

13:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 14:50
13:24 Swansea to London Paddington due 16:40
13:33 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 15:45
14:24 Swansea to London Paddington due 17:40
15:00 London Paddington to Taunton due 18:01
15:24 Swansea to London Paddington due 18:40
15:30 London Paddington to Swansea due 18:54
15:33 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 17:45
16:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 17:58
16:22 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 18:45
16:51 Swansea to London Paddington due 20:11
17:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 18:56
18:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 19:56
18:27 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 20:21
18:51 Swansea to London Paddington due 22:13
18:56 Taunton to London Paddington due 21:53
19:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 21:25
19:32 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 21:45
20:00 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 22:32
20:26 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 23:03

[Timmer]

All in all a pretty poor show once again. Sadly everyone’s attention is on what’s going at Northern and GTR and rightly so because it’s a mess but as this thread shows this problem is not confined to these two franchises.

[TaplowGreen]

Welcome to Sunday! Cancellations so far...………….

08:30 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 10:43
10:30 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 12:45
11:18 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 13:35
12:23 Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach due 12:58
13:12 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads due 13:54
13:33 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 15:43
16:12 Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central due 17:06
17:40 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour due 21:21
18:37 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Shrub Hill due 20:20
20:38 Worcester Shrub Hill to Bristol Temple Meads due 22:06
20:53 Bristol Temple Meads to Clifton Down due 21:06
21:23 Clifton Down to Bristol Temple Meads due 21:38
21:46 Brighton to Portsmouth Harbour due 23:07
22:01 Cheltenham Spa to Gloucester due 22:11

[TaplowGreen]

Today's cancellation collection for neatness - with thanks to Graham - possibly the worst yet, interestingly GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s website suggests that there is "generally a good service across the network" - so clearly we are just being ungrateful.


08:27 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 10:43
08:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 10:10
09:00 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 11:18
10:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 12:10
10:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 12:20
10:34 London Paddington to Hereford due 14:07
11:18 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 13:30
11:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 13:15
11:54 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 14:24
12:00 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 14:37
12:23 Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach due 12:58
12:27 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 14:46
12:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 14:20
13:12 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads due 13:54
13:20 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 15:54
13:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 15:15
13:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 15:15
14:22 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 16:47
14:32 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:09
15:00 London Paddington to Taunton due 18:01
15:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:54
15:00 Penzance to London Paddington due 20:28
15:27 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 17:18
15:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 17:15
15:33 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 17:45
15:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 17:20
15:47 Brighton to Bristol Temple Meads due 19:09
16:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 17:58
16:22 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 18:45
16:27 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 18:18
16:28 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 19:07
16:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 18:15
16:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 18:20
17:23 Exmouth to Paignton due 18:49
17:27 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 19:57
17:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 19:15
17:33 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 19:45
17:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 19:10
17:50 Paignton to Exmouth due 19:18
18:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 19:56
18:22 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 20:45
18:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 20:15
18:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 20:10
18:38 Hereford to London Paddington due 22:07
18:54 Paignton to Exmouth due 20:24
18:56 Taunton to London Paddington due 21:53
19:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 20:51
19:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 21:25
19:32 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 21:45
19:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 21:10
19:53 Paignton to Exmouth due 21:25
20:09 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads due 22:37
20:22 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 22:35
20:26 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 23:03
20:28 Exmouth to Paignton due 21:49
20:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 22:10
20:34 Bristol Parkway to London Paddington due 22:13
20:53 Bristol Temple Meads to Clifton Down due 21:06
21:23 Clifton Down to Bristol Temple Meads due 21:38
21:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 23:10
21:30 Exmouth to Paignton due 22:56
21:53 Paignton to Exmouth due 23:20
22:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 23:57
22:05 Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads due 22:21
23:00 Paignton to Exeter St Davids due 23:52
23:03 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 01:06
23:10 Bristol Temple Meads to Weston-Super-Mare due 23:43
23:29 Exmouth to Exeter St Davids due 00:04
23:47 Weston-Super-Mare to Bristol Temple Meads due 00:20

[Timmer]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) acknowledging there’s a problem again today.

From Journey Check:

Cancellations to services on all routes

Due to a shortage of train crew between London Paddington and Weston-super-Mare fewer trains are able to run.
Train services running across the whole Great Western Railway network may be cancelled or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice
Customers travelling between London Paddington and Cheltenham Spa/Gloucester are advised to travel via Bristol Temple Meads or Bristol Parkway. Customers for Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse should change at Swindon or Gloucester for replacement road transport.
CrossCountry are conveying passengers between Cheltenham Spa and Bristol Temple Meads via Gloucester in both directions until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.

Gloucester and Chetenham passengers encouraged to use XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services. Trains already packed on a weekend. Hmmm.

[grahame]

Today's cancellation collection for neatness - with thanks to Graham - possibly the worst yet, interestingly GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s website suggests that there is "generally a good service across the network" - so clearly we are just being ungrateful.

One of the great difficulties I have when I see a list like this is understanding what's running and how to plan my journey.

May I recommend the TransWilts App (from your iPhone or Android store, or online at https://transwilts.org/app ) to set the picture in context for your Wiltshire station or for other favourites such as Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads and Oxford

[TaplowGreen]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) acknowledging there’s a problem again today.

From Journey Check:

Cancellations to services on all routes

Due to a shortage of train crew between London Paddington and Weston-super-Mare fewer trains are able to run.
Train services running across the whole Great Western Railway network may be cancelled or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice
Customers travelling between London Paddington and Cheltenham Spa/Gloucester are advised to travel via Bristol Temple Meads or Bristol Parkway. Customers for Kemble, Stroud and Stonehouse should change at Swindon or Gloucester for replacement road transport.
CrossCountry are conveying passengers between Cheltenham Spa and Bristol Temple Meads via Gloucester in both directions until further notice. Arrangements have been made for Great Western Railway rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.

Gloucester and Chetenham passengers encouraged to use XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services. Trains already packed on a weekend. Hmmm.

GWR need to bite the bullet (rather than directing it at their collective feet) and introduce a workable temporary weekend timetable until they sort out this crew availability farce once and for all.

Only someone brave, foolish, totally unaware of the state of GWR, or with no other choice would take a chance on relying on a long distance weekend journey on the regions railways at the moment, especially on Sundays.

Probably better off staying at home and firing up the BBQ...………………….like the train drivers!  

[CMRail]

I refuse to travel Sundays now because I used to most Sundays travel to Swindon from Gloucester, but they cancel every possible service. I drive now and until the drivers get back from their weekly Sunday Spa I can not be bothered to use a service that will be cancelled...

[Adelante_CCT]

I have a small feeling that may not quite be Bristol Temple Meads