Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[a-driver]

.......given the chaos which was going on last night with the flooding near Totnes, and the meltdown which they could foresee this morning, I thought this was a nice customer service touch from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)! 

(The Twitter page proudly states "We are GWR. Here to help between 06:00 and 23:00, 7 days a week.
Let's get back on track!") Irony!

I don’t quite understand the “flooding” issue.  It hasn’t posed a problem in 30 years but in the last 2 or 3 months it’s caused several closures. Maybe NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have changed some procedures following Stonehaven. 

[Electric train]

.......given the chaos which was going on last night with the flooding near Totnes, and the meltdown which they could foresee this morning, I thought this was a nice customer service touch from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)! 

(The Twitter page proudly states "We are GWR. Here to help between 06:00 and 23:00, 7 days a week.
Let's get back on track!") Irony!

I don’t quite understand the “flooding” issue.  It hasn’t posed a problem in 30 years but in the last 2 or 3 months it’s caused several closures. Maybe NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have changed some procedures following Stonehaven. 

That is correct since Stonehaven NR Geotec have changed the procedures, updated site risk registers etc. 

[IndustryInsider]

In previous years when ‘big’ dates such as New Year’s Day have fallen on a Sunday, an enhanced rate of pay was offered. I imagine the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) put a stop to that this year, and as many traincrew have the option to not work it, they have decided not to bother this time.

Yes, as far as I know there is no additional payment being offered across the Christmas and New Year period at all, except for double pay on the 27th December Christmas Day Bank Holiday in lieu.

i can see this unfortunately going on for at least another year.  If the government aren’t prepared to sit down with NHS staff then us rail staff haven’t got a hope at present.
What I think also hampers progress is the government and RDG^‡(resolve) are negotiating with the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) covering all TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company). You would probably find progress would be a lot quicker if the individual TOCs were free to negotiate with the RMT. If you dropped some of the conditions, namely DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)), a blanket closure of all tickets offices and the Sunday working proposals, you would probably find a 5% pay rise would be accepted.
It does need sorting urgently though. Morale is rock bottom, once that’s gone goodwill quickly vanishes well.

I personally can't see this going on for another year. 

The RMT have escalated their action recently, and you may well find ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about)/TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) will do the same. 

That was a step that had to be taken by the RMT, as the limited amount of action they were taking wasn't really getting them anywhere.  IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) it will force a resolution within a couple of months if situations like next week, where the whole week is wiped out with action, continue on a more frequent basis than they did in the first six months.

That resolution might be the strike collapsing, or it might be a negotiated settlement.  If it's the latter I expect it to be a settlement based on the offers to RMT members that are already on the table, perhaps slightly tweaked so that the RMT and DfT/TOC's can all claim some kind of victory.

Then it remains to be seen what the longer term damage to the industry will be.  I would say probably no line closures as that will look too bad for the Government, but certainly reductions in the number of services and length of trains.  For example, you could see services running once per hour where they currently run every 30 minutes, more shuttle services replacing through trains (North and South Cotswolds might be obvious candidates for that) or the TransWilts going back to its pre-December 2013 timetable.

[a-driver]

In previous years when ‘big’ dates such as New Year’s Day have fallen on a Sunday, an enhanced rate of pay was offered. I imagine the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) put a stop to that this year, and as many traincrew have the option to not work it, they have decided not to bother this time.

Yes, as far as I know there is no additional payment being offered across the Christmas and New Year period at all, except for double pay on the 27th December Christmas Day Bank Holiday in lieu.

i can see this unfortunately going on for at least another year.  If the government aren’t prepared to sit down with NHS staff then us rail staff haven’t got a hope at present.
What I think also hampers progress is the government and RDG^‡(resolve) are negotiating with the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) covering all TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company). You would probably find progress would be a lot quicker if the individual TOCs were free to negotiate with the RMT. If you dropped some of the conditions, namely DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)), a blanket closure of all tickets offices and the Sunday working proposals, you would probably find a 5% pay rise would be accepted.
It does need sorting urgently though. Morale is rock bottom, once that’s gone goodwill quickly vanishes well.

I personally can't see this going on for another year. 

The RMT have escalated their action recently, and you may well find ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about)/TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) will do the same. 

That was a step that had to be taken by the RMT, as the limited amount of action they were taking wasn't really getting them anywhere.  IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) it will force a resolution within a couple of months if situations like next week, where the whole week is wiped out with action, continue on a more frequent basis than they did in the first six months.

That resolution might be the strike collapsing, or it might be a negotiated settlement.  If it's the latter I expect it to be a settlement based on the offers to RMT members that are already on the table, perhaps slightly tweaked so that the RMT and DfT/TOC's can all claim some kind of victory.

Then it remains to be seen what the longer term damage to the industry will be.  I would say probably no line closures as that will look too bad for the Government, but certainly reductions in the number of services and length of trains.  For example, you could see services running once per hour where they currently run every 30 minutes, more shuttle services replacing through trains (North and South Cotswolds might be obvious candidates for that) or the TransWilts going back to its pre-December 2013 timetable.

I can see it going on for another year or at least until inflation drops to around 2% mark. Personally I think that’s why the government aren’t taking negotiations seriously. 
The problem with ASLEF is they haven’t really had an offer made to them, and their dispute is mainly pay related. The ASLEF dispute will be resolved sooner than the RMT.

I can see a reduction in service on some lines but you’d hope that the summer tourism trade will prevent that from happening in the West Country, I can see CrossCountry going no further West than Exeter though.
Leisure traffic will recover quickly once the disputes are resolved.

[ChrisB]

Leisure travel will recover just as soon as the action resolves.

[JayMac]

Leisure travel will recover just as soon as the action resolves.

I admire your optimism. Leisure travel will recover when people can once again afford to make elective journeys. It ain't just strike action that is the deciding factor in whether someone choses rail for leisure travel.

[grahame]

Leisure travel will recover just as soon as the action resolves.

I admire your optimism. Leisure travel will recover when people can once again afford to make elective journeys. It ain't just strike action that is the deciding factor in whether someone choses rail for leisure travel.

Indeed.   We find that leisure traffic gets a bit peeved when a service is cancelled or a connection fails even when there's no industrial action.

[Electric train]

I can see it going on for another year or at least until inflation drops to around 2% mark. Personally I think that’s why the government aren’t taking negotiations seriously. 
The problem with ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) is they haven’t really had an offer made to them, and their dispute is mainly pay related. The ASLEF dispute will be resolved sooner than the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers).

I can see a reduction in service on some lines but you’d hope that the summer tourism trade will prevent that from happening in the West Country, I can see CrossCountry going no further West than Exeter though.
Leisure traffic will recover quickly once the disputes are resolved.

On top of the current Rail, Postal, NHS, Boarder Force it is likely the Fire Services potentially Teachers and there are rumblings within the PCSO's (they are not covered by the same Law as Police Officers) will be hit by strikes in a few weeks.    All this Industrial action in the public sector will be feeding into the Tory party's next manifesto, they will put draconian Trade Union legislation into the manifesto for the next General Election on top of the kneejerk legislation they are planning to bring in the next few weeks. 

In the longer term being a direct employee in the Public sector will not be seen as an attractive career with more and more being Agency because it pays more with better choice of hours .................. who pays .............. us with higher taxes and degraded services

[Timmer]

3 out of the first five early morning Plymouth to Paddington trains cancelled. Thereafter, not looking too bad.

[TaplowGreen]

Leisure travel will recover just as soon as the action resolves.

I admire your optimism. Leisure travel will recover when people can once again afford to make elective journeys. It ain't just strike action that is the deciding factor in whether someone choses rail for leisure travel.

I wouldn't worry - these new fangled motor cars will never catch on.

[grahame]

3 out of the first five early morning Plymouth to Paddington trains cancelled. Thereafter, not looking too bad.

Indeed.  People can still make most (? stopping patterns) journeys and I would not expect there to be a capacity issue

Do I dare contrast this?

1 out of one early morning Swindon to Westbury trains cancelled

People who wished to take the 06:11 will find there is nothing for a further 2.5 hours.    GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s journey planner for passengers going to Southampton Central where that train was supposed to terminate at 08:09 are recommending the 08:48 from Swindon with 2 changes at a cost of £72.60 (versus £33.40) and an arrival time of 10:55 (yeah, I could do better than the GWR planner on timing and price!).

[a-driver]

3 out of the first five early morning Plymouth to Paddington trains cancelled. Thereafter, not looking too bad.

Lack of sets at Plymouth to form the services.

[grahame]

3 out of the first five early morning Plymouth to Paddington trains cancelled. Thereafter, not looking too bad.

Lack of sets at Plymouth to form the services.

Hmmm ... should I believe you, or JourneyCheck

04:54 Plymouth to London Paddington due 08:35

04:54 Plymouth to London Paddington due 08:35 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Actually ... I believe you!

[TaplowGreen]

3 out of the first five early morning Plymouth to Paddington trains cancelled. Thereafter, not looking too bad.

Lack of sets at Plymouth to form the services.

Hmmm ... should I believe you, or JourneyCheck

04:54 Plymouth to London Paddington due 08:35

04:54 Plymouth to London Paddington due 08:35 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Actually ... I believe you!

Quite possibly shortage of trains and crew?

[Bob_Blakey]

.....If you dropped some of the conditions, namely DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)), a blanket closure of all tickets offices and the Sunday working proposals, .....

The apparent proposals for more DOO and closure of all ticket offices are, in my opinion, completely bonkers and inappropriate but it really is about time that railway staff accepted their world of work has changed and they accepted being contracted, on a rota basis, to turn out for some weekends & public holidays.

Do we know what the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has proposed in terms of new weekend/public holiday working and why, apparently, the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) (and at least one driver!) are opposed?