Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[grahame]

In short the blunt message I am starting to think we may be going back to only travel by train if your journey is essential. 

That might be the case - and it could be the right message.  I noticed in my travels yesterday that everyone was / is spacing as best they can - though perhaps not through scientific knowledge but because of what we have been taught - and I was mighty glad to bail at Bath Spa faced with

[Timmer]

Look at all those people boarding a train that won’t exist next week putting more pressure on the existing GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) services, particularly if the train is short formed.

[grahame]

Look at all those people boarding a train that won’t exist next week putting more pressure on the existing GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) services, particularly if the train is short formed.

This is the ONLY extra train of the day that GWR *are* "replacing" in part, by extending a Cardiff - Bristol service to Frome - and hopefully that will be longer that 2 carriages (* edit - train to be extended was 4 carriages last night).    This was the 22:40 last night from Bath to Salisbury.  GWR's 23:11 to Westbury was cancelled, leaving the next train at 00:03 to Frome.

From Monday, late departures from Bath to West Wilts:
22:41 (ex Cardiff) to Frome
23:22 (ex Great Malvern) to Westbury
00:04 (ex Bristol Temple Meads) to Frome

The last through train to Warminster and Salisbury will now be at 22:03, though a connection run by SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) (yes, really!) will be available at Westbury, where passengers will have 6 minutes to change.   This depends on:
* GWR running their train
* The GWR train being more or less on time (or Westbury holding the train, something that isn't done on other trains even when it looks blindingly obvious it should be done)
* SWR running the their train
* Inebriated regular customers realising they now need to change and not getting carried away to Frome
What could possibly go wrong??

[stuving]

Just as people will be thinking of using the train to travel at Christmas.......all these cancelled & 30+ (mostly) short runs........not a good message to send out.

Well, it could be worse. An hour ago GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) listed 36 cancellations, while at SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) it was 148. And most of those were on the Windsor Lines or the Exeter line east of Basingstoke (and Lymington). None on the SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line) or the main suburban routes. Just now that had dropped to 126, while GWR's was still 36.

SWR's explanation identifies this as a long-term issue, not some kind of pingdemic:

What's going on
We're sorry, but due to a shortage of traincrew we have had to make alterations and cancellations to services across our network today.

What we're doing about it
The underlying cause of these issues is a shortage of available drivers, due to the extensive disruption Covid-19 restrictions have caused to our new driver training programme over the past year.

[Mark A]

Thursday's 16:20 from Waterloo, being cheerfully half full on leaving Salisbury, picked up a *lot* of people at stations to Bath on arrival at Bath 1854 ish many left the train there. Enough for enough of a queue to form on the stairs from the platform that I missed the rather tight bus-up-the-hill connection.

[IndustryInsider]

Just as people will be thinking of using the train to travel at Christmas.......all these cancelled & 30+ (mostly) short runs........not a good message to send out.

Well I did warn of a bruising Christmas for staff availability. 

We had storm ‘Barra’ last week.  Now there’s a four pronged perfect storm approaching called ‘Crew Shortage’…

[TaplowGreen]

Actually it might be a very good message to send out! If you are not going to be able to provide a service then say so!

Perhaps, but say it more than an hour or two before said service is going to depart, or you simply force more and more people onto later/other services which then become more and more overcrowded, and in the COVID context, more and more dangerous as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are not managing boarding.

If the message is to be "we can't operate the advertised timetable because of staff shortages" and this is going to persist over Christmas as II suggests, come up with a restricted timetable that CAN be resourced and run safely in order that customers can plan around it accordingly.

[broadgage]

But dont we already have a reduced "covid mode" timetable ? with the short notice cancellations being in addition.

Whilst the pandemic is a new excuse, let us remember that FGW^▸ (First Great Western), later GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), had a miserable record regarding staffing since long before the pandemic.

And after Christmas comes Easter, when cancelled trains and short trains are now an established tradition. And then Summer holidays, when people tend to travel to holiday destinations, often with luggage, cycles, dogs and children, back in the good old days even surfboards could be carried.

[IndustryInsider]

But dont we already have a reduced "covid mode" timetable ? with the short notice cancellations being in addition.

Whilst the pandemic is a new excuse, let us remember that FGW^▸ (First Great Western), later GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), had a miserable record regarding staffing since long before the pandemic.

That’s one of the four prongs of the storm…we always don’t have enough staff available over Christmas anyway.

The other prongs are:

2) The remaining large back log of training of new drivers and route knowledge of existing drivers for the many months that couldn’t take place.  The ‘jam tomorrow’ is that those who had just commenced their training are now starting to pass out quite quickly, but there remains a large staff and knowledge deficit.

3) From tomorrow more trains are running again.  Great time to reintroduce more of the timetable just before Christmas and when you still have stock shortages.

and 4) Uncertainty over the new Covid variant.  Cases are rising and who knows where they’ll be in a weeks time, but if we start to see daily cases approaching 100000 as some are predicting, then you will see more staff off sick/isolating as a result of a positive test.

—-

I think most will cut the railways a little slack over the situation if it’s properly explained to them, just as I’m cutting a little slack with certain services and suppliers I use that are struggling in different ways.  But you will be seeing plenty more cancellations I’m afraid.

[TaplowGreen]

But dont we already have a reduced "covid mode" timetable ? with the short notice cancellations being in addition.

Whilst the pandemic is a new excuse, let us remember that FGW^▸ (First Great Western), later GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), had a miserable record regarding staffing since long before the pandemic.

That’s one of the four prongs of the storm…we always don’t have enough staff available over Christmas anyway.

The other prongs are:

2) The remaining large back log of training of new drivers and route knowledge of existing drivers for the many months that couldn’t take place.  The ‘jam tomorrow’ is that those who had just commenced their training are now starting to pass out quite quickly, but there remains a large staff and knowledge deficit.

3) From tomorrow more trains are running again.  Great time to reintroduce more of the timetable just before Christmas and when you still have stock shortages.

and 4) Uncertainty over the new Covid variant.  Cases are rising and who knows where they’ll be in a weeks time, but if we start to see daily cases approaching 100000 as some are predicting, then you will see more staff off sick/isolating as a result of a positive test.

—-

I think most will cut the railways a little slack over the situation if it’s properly explained to them, just as I’m cutting a little slack with certain services and suppliers I use that are struggling in different ways.  But you will be seeing plenty more cancellations I’m afraid.

A proper, full & honest explanation along the lines you've given is indeed the minimum the railways customers deserve.

Given we've less than a fortnight to go I would hope it's imminent.

Given the amount of slack the railways have been cut over many years now on this issue, for the railway's sake I hope it's adequate.

[ellendune]

Given the amount of slack the railways have been cut over many years now on this issue, for the railway's sake I hope it's adequate.

It is as if in your mind GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) etc (TOCS) are like modern day Canute's (Cnut) who have power over everything, but somehow can't be bothered to use it. 

It is almost as if you think that they actually control the railways?  We all know that DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) micromanage the railways these days and tell the TOCS and NR^» (Network Rail - home page) what to do. 

You also seem to assume that they (TOCS) have total control over the Covid-19, the weather and everything else.

You also seem to assume that they could muster whole fleets of trains and staff them as and when necessary if only they could be bothered. 

Like people who want NR to improve and maintain the railway without impinging on service provision by doing it in short slots in the middle of the night, but then complain they are expensive. At the same time we know that Highways England is able to shut a motorway at a similar time without criticism. 

[TonyK]

It is as if in your mind GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) etc (TOCS) are like modern day Canute's (Cnut) who have power over everything, but somehow can't be bothered to use it. 

There's no call for that.

[TaplowGreen]

It is as if in your mind GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) etc (TOCS) are like modern day Canute's (Cnut) who have power over everything, but somehow can't be bothered to use it. 

There's no call for that.

I must admit I was tempted, but resisted! 

[GBM]

Engineering works at Redruth most of this week, so bustitution between Penzance and Truro, but many services cancelled/short runs today with staff shortage.

[TaplowGreen]

Engineering works at Redruth most of this week, so bustitution between Penzance and Truro, but many services cancelled/short runs today with staff shortage.

Indeed.

Cancellations to services between Truro and Plymouth

Due to a shortage of train crew between Truro and Plymouth fewer trains are able to run.

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 11:40 13/12.