Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Only 9 cancellations listed for crew shortage this morning (and 4 of them on the Looe branch), so it seems to be more of a good old fashioned weekend issue than a COVID issue............unless there's a new variant which only strikes down rail crew at weekends? 

[grahame]

Only 9 cancellations listed for crew shortage this morning (and 4 of them on the Looe branch), so it seems to be more of a good old fashioned weekend issue than a COVID issue............unless there's a new variant which only strikes down rail crew at weekends? 

Ah - the Beta Beta Koppa variant.

[TaplowGreen]

Only 9 cancellations listed for crew shortage this morning (and 4 of them on the Looe branch), so it seems to be more of a good old fashioned weekend issue than a COVID issue............unless there's a new variant which only strikes down rail crew at weekends? 

Ah - the Beta Beta Koppa variant.

Beta Beta Quebec I think?

[a-driver]

The maximum number of drivers granted leave is the same for the weekend as they are a weekday.
 
You have more drivers rostered and more services on a weekday so it’s easier to cut and paste diagrams to cover the work.  You also have a number of rostered “training turns” during the week which the company can cancel if they’re not required and use the driver on uncovered work.

[plymothian]

You also have more people being vaccinated and having side effect reactions that mean having to have several days off.

[TonyK]

Ah - the Beta Beta Koppa variant.

Beta Beta Quebec I think?


Bravo Bravo Quebec, surely? Or Beta Beta Kappa - there isn't really a Q in the Greek alphabet. But that last would be South Africa South Africa India (not the delta - India has two variants so far) according to the WHO nomenclature.

[TaplowGreen]

A lot of crew shortage problems again today - these are the cancellations listed so far and there are also a lot of foreshortenings too;

06:11 Taunton to Cardiff Central due 08:23
06:18 Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach due 06:57
06:48 Exeter St Davids to Exmouth due 07:20
06:55 Bath Spa to Bristol Temple Meads due 07:13
07:01 Bristol Temple Meads to Taunton due 08:10
07:14 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads due 07:53
07:40 Plymouth to Penzance due 09:40
09:00 Cardiff Central to Taunton due 10:53
09:50 Penzance to Plymouth due 11:50
10:27 Plymouth to Gunnislake due 11:13
11:12 Taunton to Cardiff Central due 13:27
11:16 Gunnislake to Plymouth due 12:01
13:00 Cardiff Central to Penzance due 18:40
18:56 Exmouth to Exeter St Davids due 19:31
19:15 Penzance to Bristol Temple Meads due 23:50
19:58 Redhill to Reading due 21:29
21:16 Exeter St Davids to Bristol Temple Meads due 22:31
21:30 Taunton to Cardiff Central due 23:34
21:47 Exeter St Davids to Bristol Temple Meads due 23:04
22:25 Plymouth to Exeter St Davids due 23:32
23:05 Bristol Temple Meads to Exeter St Davids due 00:41

[IndustryInsider]

Several of those are no longer listed, as the cancellation list now lists only nine trains.  Others presumably reinstated?  The 10:27 Plymouth to Gunnislake is certainly running.

[broadgage]

It must sometimes happen that a train is cancelled due to lack of staff, AND due to lack of rolling stock.

In such circumstances how do they decide if the reason is "staff shortage" or "more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time"
A good argument could be made for either reason no doubt.

[grahame]

It must sometimes happen that a train is cancelled due to lack of staff, AND due to lack of rolling stock.

In such circumstances how do they decide if the reason is "staff shortage" or "more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time"
A good argument could be made for either reason no doubt.

If you are short of staff AND working trains, it makes sense to co-ordinate and I'm sure they do when possible. In other words, if a train needs repair, transfer the driver and train manager to another train which is otherwise short of its operational crew.

[ellendune]

With a number of sectors now reporting difficulties in recruiting staff posts that are unpopular due to low wages unsocial hours or poor working conditions will become more difficult to fill. For example food shortages are predicted due to shortages of low paid staff on farms and in food processing plants and of HGV drivers to deliver the food. This is likely to lead to two trends driven by market pressure (because otherwise the it will be impossible to recruit sufficient people).

1) A reduction in the number of jobs that have unsocial working hours;
2) An increase in wages generally for the low paid and those working unsocial hours.

With increasing control by government on the rail sector I would anticipate strong pressure to resist these moves, especially as government seems unable to read the market and still thinks that its easy to go down to the labour exchange and employ anybody from a cleaner to a cardiologist. They pay lip service to training but seem to think it is really cheap and can be done in 5 minutes.  They also believe that employers always have the power to dictate even when the market says otherwise. (Because 'we hold all the trump cards') That is why politicians are the worst business owners. 

On the up side (for rail) a shortage of HGV drivers could drive a move towards more rail freight. 

The ultimate example of the market dictating a change in the labour market was the Black Death when the resulting labour shortages brought about an almost immediate end to the feudal system. I am not sure our politicians know what they have created.

I fear therefore that the future will see more cancellations due to staff shortages and more strikes over pay and working conditions in the rail sector. 

[Electric train]

With increasing control by government on the rail sector I would anticipate strong pressure to resist these moves, especially as government seems unable to read the market and still thinks that its easy to go down to the labour exchange and employ anybody from a cleaner to a cardiologist. They pay lip service to training but seem to think it is really cheap and can be done in 5 minutes.  They also believe that employers always have the power to dictate even when the market says otherwise. (Because 'we hold all the trump cards') That is why politicians are the worst business owners. 

Behind public announcement of GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) and how that will run /  manage the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) railways in the future and the impact of Covid-19 on passenger revenues is an across industry frame work agreement between the Employers (NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and FOC^▸ (Freight Operating Company)'s n TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s) and the Trade Unions of redundancies in the industry.   Letters offering VS are due to be sent out very soon, compulsory redundancies has not been totally ruled out. 

On the up side (for rail) a shortage of HGV drivers could drive a move towards more rail freight. 

Although the FOC's are not part of the GBR control over operator award and revenue collection, the unification of the UK railways under a single leadership should hopefully make it more reactive picking up more freight business

I fear therefore that the future will see more cancellations due to staff shortages and more strikes over pay and working conditions in the rail sector. 

The last major 'reshaping' of UK railways. privatisation, saw many experienced railway women / men retire which left quite a void in the industry 20 plus years later some of that void has been filled, with the impending changes that GBR and restructuring due to Covid-19 reduction in revenue there are many of use who went through the the last 20 are saying time to take my pension this again may well cause a void that the industry my struggle to recover from quickly.

[TaplowGreen]

I fear therefore that the future will see more cancellations due to staff shortages and more strikes over pay and working conditions in the rail sector. 

As the average train driver salary tops 50k per year, with excellent pension arrangements etc I don't think there will be a great deal of sympathy for strikes - with lower demand for rail services, it could well be turkeys voting for Christmas.

You are right however re other driving jobs such as bus drivers, HGV drivers who are not at all well paid in comparison, particularly with the Brexit "dividend" shrinking the pool of those suitably qualified, however I expect most of them would happily swap their pay, terms and conditions for a driving job on the railway.

[ellendune]

As the average train driver salary tops 50k per year, with excellent pension arrangements etc I don't think there will be a great deal of sympathy for strikes - with lower demand for rail services, it could well be turkeys voting for Christmas.

You are right however re other driving jobs such as bus drivers, HGV drivers who are not at all well paid in comparison, particularly with the Brexit "dividend" shrinking the pool of those suitably qualified, however I expect most of them would happily swap their pay, terms and conditions for a driving job on the railway.

I was not thinking about drivers so much as other train crew. 

There are other shortages as well.  Shortage of technical staff and construction workers may hit the infrastructure side of railway operations.  Why work all those nights and weekends on a railway job if you can get a standard 8 till 4 construction job? Faster broadband rollout might also put pressure on signal technicians. 

[IndustryInsider]

It must sometimes happen that a train is cancelled due to lack of staff, AND due to lack of rolling stock.

In such circumstances how do they decide if the reason is "staff shortage" or "more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time"
A good argument could be made for either reason no doubt.

That’s when the internal squabbling starts!