Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

So, nothing to do with poor basic workforce management allowing too many people to have leave because they want to watch a football match, or is it just a coincidence?

Nothing at all.  There’s agreements on how many train crew can be granted leave per day and that depends obviously on the size of the depot. These leave arrangements are built into the depot establishments.  This is why nearly all our annual leave is actually rostered over a year in advance.

What you’ll probably find is that crew who are rostered today off will be less likely to volunteer to work overtime.

We’ve tried to explain this many times before of course.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Looks like it's a moving target today which really shows the nightmare for customers.   I was at Melksham Station dropping someone off for the 12:33 to Swindon but it showed "Delayed". Open Train Times showed the train waiting in the platform at Westbury and it eventually left there about 20 minutes late - just after the delayed arrival of a train from London and I strongly suspect that the delay was because there was no crew available at Westbury.     No information at Melksham Station for quite a long time as to how long the delay would be, and no information at any point as to why.

Erm ... I was that 'someone' being dropped off at Melksham station. 

Graham was absolutely brilliant: he had his past experience, as well as modern technology, to draw upon, and he kept all of us (15 or so potential passengers) informed.

As it turned out, I got the 12:33 Melksham to Chippenham (delayed 20 minutes) and then, rather bizarrely, another 12:33 Chippenham to Bristol Temple Meads (delayed 44 minutes due to a road vehicle striking a bridge between Slough and Paddington earlier in the day.  Arriving at Bristol Temple Meads on platform 8, I saw that the next train for Nailsea & Backwell was due to depart from platform 6 in three minutes.  I made it, with my three heavy bags - just in time. 

[TaplowGreen]

......and after watching that load of cr*p, I bet they all wish they'd gone to work instead! 

[GBM]

Rearing it's head today.
Many Cornwall - Paddington (and v.v) terminating short today.
Most branch lines affected by return trip cancellations.
Looking dire.

Wondering if GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) making today a 'fall guy' day midweek rather than making the weekend service even worse.

[Wizard]

Yesterday really wasn’t sickness or leave. It was down to staff not doing overtime. Not co ordinated, just choosing not to because of the football. This is how reliant the railway is on staff working overtime every single day. Which is why when the weather is nice the cancellations always go up, because people want to spend their days off with friends and family rather than at work.

If you want to work every single day (excluding hidden restrictions), you can, and earn an absolute fortune. There is always overtime available. There have never been and probably will never be enough staff to run the railway, because it’s cheaper that way.

[IndustryInsider]

And of course the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Rest Day Working agreement includes a higher premium for working an additional day from next month.  We’ll see what effect that has.

[Worcester_Passenger]

As of 04:20, there are 72 cancellations listed on JourneyCheck.

[grahame]

As of 04:20, there are 72 cancellations listed on JourneyCheck.

And 56 services only running part of their route

Cancellations to services on all routes

Due to a shortage of train crew:
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

Owing to a shortage of train crew train services on routes across our entire Network are subject to delay, cancellation and alteration.

This is likely to have most effect on routes West of Reading and Newbury. Long distance services are expected to be very busy as a result. Please allow extra time for your journey.

Our Control Teams are making every effort to cover for these shortages and keep alterations to a minimum. However, in a couple of isolated instances consecutive services along the same route have been adversely affected. These instances will be advertised separately in a timely manner in order to focus attention on the affected areas as appropriate.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that you experience as a result of these alterations. Intending customers are strongly advised to check their journey using https://www.nationalrail.co.uk just prior to commencement of it.

Further Information

If you arrive at your destination 15 or more minutes late because your GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) train was delayed or cancelled, you can claim Delay Repay compensation. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR.com/DelayRepay

The question that has to be asked is ... "WHY is there a shortage of train crews?".   Here on the forum, that's a little rhetorical - it has been discussed before.  But has it been flagged enough with the general user base and population, especially in the context of whether the government has done a good job, and what "we" should be asking a new government to do about it?

[grahame]

Our Control Teams are making every effort to cover for these shortages ....

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that you experience as a result of these alterations. Intending customers are strongly advised to check their journey using https://www.nationalrail.co.uk just prior to commencement of it

I'm going to thank GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s team for their honesty in describing the problem.   But

1. I'm going to ask how on earth people with leisure plans are expected to be fluid enough to be able to change their plans without serious inconvenience just prior to commencement.   Great Aunt Maud at Morchard Road is really looking forward to having her nephew and his brats for lunch and has the specially purchase joint of venison marinading on the counter as I write.   They need to arrive in time for dinner, and be despatched again before they start reaking with Great Uncle Albert's afternoon sleep pattern in mid afternoon ...

2. And I'm going to ask what is being done about rail replacement services?.  This is not inclement weather that makes travel by road dangerous / impractical.  It is not industrial action where there is a "let out" clause.  It is not a new pandemic in which case we (potential passengers) would be understanding. So where are the bus and taxi plans?

However, in a couple of isolated instances consecutive services along the same route have been adversely affected. These instances will be advertised separately in a timely manner in order to focus attention on the affected areas as appropriate.

I will be posting a separate "Melksham Weekend days" thread and look forward to seeing the plans in a timely manner - except it's already too late for them to be timely ...

[TaplowGreen]

Our Control Teams are making every effort to cover for these shortages ....

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that you experience as a result of these alterations. Intending customers are strongly advised to check their journey using https://www.nationalrail.co.uk just prior to commencement of it

I'm going to thank GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s team for their honesty in describing the problem.   But

1. I'm going to ask how on earth people with leisure plans are expected to be fluid enough to be able to change their plans without serious inconvenience just prior to commencement.   Great Aunt Maud at Morchard Road is really looking forward to having her nephew and his brats for lunch and has the specially purchase joint of venison marinading on the counter as I write.   They need to arrive in time for dinner, and be despatched again before they start reaking with Great Uncle Albert's afternoon sleep pattern in mid afternoon ...

2. And I'm going to ask what is being done about rail replacement services?.  This is not inclement weather that makes travel by road dangerous / impractical.  It is not industrial action where there is a "let out" clause.  It is not a new pandemic in which case we (potential passengers) would be understanding. So where are the bus and taxi plans?

However, in a couple of isolated instances consecutive services along the same route have been adversely affected. These instances will be advertised separately in a timely manner in order to focus attention on the affected areas as appropriate.

I will be posting a separate "Melksham Weekend days" thread and look forward to seeing the plans in a timely manner - except it's already too late for them to be timely ...

If you are going to approach GWR, can I suggest you add (3) What representations are GWR senior management making/have made to DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), and what plans/proposals have they presented by way of resolving the situation whereby particularly on Sundays, but increasingly on Saturdays and on weekdays, the service collapses due to crew shortages? If plans/proposals have been submitted, what responses have been received from DfT?

This may go some way to understanding what (if any) attempts are being made by the service provider to address the root cause of the problem.

[grahame]

I will be posting a separate "Melksham Weekend days" thread and look forward to seeing the plans in a timely manner - except it's already too late for them to be timely ...

Added at http://www.passenger.chat/28855

Our Control Teams are making every effort to cover for these shortages and keep alterations to a minimum. However, in a couple of isolated instances consecutive services along the same route have been adversely affected. These instances will be advertised separately in a timely manner in order to focus attention on the affected areas as appropriate.

Only 2 in 8 services running at Melksham and I'm looking in vain for an update on this "isolated incident".

[grahame]

If you are going to approach GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), can I suggest you add (3) What representations are GWR senior management making/have made to DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), and what plans/proposals have they presented by way of resolving the situation whereby particularly on Sundays, but increasingly on Saturdays and on weekdays, the service collapses due to crew shortages? If plans/proposals have been submitted, what responses have been received from DfT?

This may go some way to understanding what (if any) attempts are being made by the service provider to address the root cause of the problem.

Now there's a thought, thank you.  And I do wonder if that question could be tackled by asking the DfT what approaches that have had too, with a carefully worded FOI^▸ (Freedom of Information) request.

[IndustryInsider]

And I do wonder if that question could be tackled by asking the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) what approaches that have had too, with a carefully worded FOI^▸ (Freedom of Information) request.

I think that's the best way to try and get some official answers.  I was thinking along the same lines myself.

[Wizard]

I’d be amazed if it’s even on the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)’s radar. They’re not going to pay for it to be sorted.

[a-driver]

I can’t see Sunday’s ever becoming part of the working week.  

TfW have managed to get Sunday’s inside the working week. They reportedly had to increase the number of drivers by a third, around an extra 300 drivers alone with an increase in salary to £71000. Even with my level of mathematical ability you can see what the major stumbling block is!  Your best is enhancing the hourly rate.