Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Is that in addition (or should I say a further subtraction?) from the culling of the direct Swansea services which will be calling at Chippenham, Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads?  Or are the cancellations shown because there's another service a few minutes separated?

Looks like it's that latter case.  Expect them to be busy, but a 4 minute delay to Bristol and a 23 minute delay to South Wales "could be worse".

Sun, 20 October 12:33 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 14:38
20/10/24 12:33 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 14:38 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Sun, 20 October 12:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 15:58
20/10/24 12:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 15:58 will be diverted between Swindon and Bristol Parkway.
It will call additionally at Chippenham, Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 23 minutes late.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[IndustryInsider]

Why ... dunno.  I do know that my dad who spent his working life with HSBC as it became was paid on 20th of the month.  Perhaps back pay has just hit and the "Sundays optional" drivers are opting out tomorrow in significant numbers?

…and it’s half term and working an additional shifts on any day apart from Sunday offers an increased rate so there are less volunteers.

Then (finally?) there’s the imbalance of route knowledge.  Oxford depot has no uncovered shifts and a total of six standby drivers tomorrow.  I expect several other depots are the same.  

But they don’t sign the routes where they can help.

[Chris from Nailsea]

...  I do know that my dad who spent his working life with HSBC as it became was paid on 20th of the month...

Going off at something of a tangent: I worked for 20 years at NatWest, where we were all paid on the 18th (or earlier working day) and then 11 years at Standard Life, where we were all paid on the 15th (or earlier working day).  I won't even go into the wages payment schedule for my 11 years at Waitrose - they just make it up as they go. 

[Timmer]

For completeness, here’s the latest list with the up services that are cancelled added:

08:29 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 10:37
09:00 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 11:09
10:36 Paignton to London Paddington due 14:07
11:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 12:37
11:31 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 13:37
11:33 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 13:07
12:33 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 14:38
13:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 14:37
13:33 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 15:07
14:33 London Paddington to Taunton due 16:41
15:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 16:37
15:28 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 17:37
15:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 17:07
15:33 London Paddington to Taunton due 18:07
16:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 18:02
16:33 London Paddington to Plymouth due 20:34
16:58 Taunton to London Paddington due 19:37
17:32 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington due 20:37
17:35 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 19:44
18:05 London Paddington to Plymouth due 21:59
18:33 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 20:39
18:57 Taunton to London Paddington due 21:37
19:33 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 21:03
20:33 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 22:36
21:33 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 23:07
22:20 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 23:52
23:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 00:49

And here’s the list of South Wales services that are covering calling additionally at Bristol TM^‡(resolve), Bath Spa and Chippenham and will be best avoided:

08:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 12:10
09:28 London Paddington to Swansea due 12:58
09:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 13:09
10:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 14:00
10:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 14:09
11:36 London Paddington to Swansea due 14:58
11:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 15:09
12:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 15:58
12:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 16:09
13:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 16:58
13:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 17:09
14:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 17:58
14:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 18:09
15:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 19:05
15:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 19:11
16:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 19:57
16:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 20:09
17:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 20:57
17:55 Swansea to London Paddington due 21:19
18:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 21:59
19:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 22:57
20:37 London Paddington to Swansea due 23:58

[UstiImmigrunt]

Why ... dunno.  I do know that my dad who spent his working life with HSBC as it became was paid on 20th of the month.  Perhaps back pay has just hit and the "Sundays optional" drivers are opting out tomorrow in significant numbers?

…and it’s half term and working an additional shifts on any day apart from Sunday offers an increased rate so there are less volunteers.

Then (finally?) there’s the imbalance of route knowledge.  Oxford depot has no uncovered shifts and a total of six standby drivers tomorrow.  I expect several other depots are the same.  

But they don’t sign the routes where they can help.

The only possible way would be for Oxford crew to cover Paddington GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff who could then work to Bristol if its only uncovered drivers turns.

But that needs the necessary staff to organise it at Swindon and they've probably had plenty of other tasks to do.

[TaplowGreen]

The familiar weekend shambles on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).

A nice Customer Service touch from their Twitter/X team too - they post the details of the chaos on the GWR page.........and then switch off the facility to reply to it if you want more information.

The social media equivalent of the frequent mass disappearance/invisibility of station staff whenever there is serious disruption.

At least there is consistency in one area of their operation!!! 

[Timmer]

The familiar weekend shambles on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).

A nice Customer Service touch from their Twitter/X team too - they post the details of the chaos on the GWR page.........and then switch off the facility to reply to it if you want more information.

The social media equivalent of the frequent mass disappearance/invisibility of station staff whenever there is serious disruption.

At least there is consistency in one area of their operation!!! 

I think they switch it off to eliminate the ‘negative’ posts, but yes it does shut down anyone asking if there train from Newport to Paddington is still running. They’d rather you go to their journey check page and find out for yourself.

[TaplowGreen]

Jay Rayner's turn for the celebrity GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Sunday experience today! (Hopefully he wasn't expecting catering!)

https://x.com/jayrayner1/status/1847974358087549234?t=VjzhJ0gHeGRVP9qK6FhMkg&s=19

[JayMac]

Jay Rayner is not alone across social media today. An absolute shambles of a 'service' being provided by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) today.

Management heads should roll. Totally unnaceptable.

[grahame]

Jay Rayner is not alone across social media today. An absolute shambles of a 'service' being provided by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) today.

Management heads should roll. Totally unnaceptable.

Nor sure which management - problems like this are rife across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and if you see a pattern, shouldn't you be looking at the commonality and from there the common system or the people who come together at the point of the system.  Which to me suggests the way the individual TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) are regulate or instructed.

And not helped by

Delays to services between Bristol Parkway and Newport South Wales

Following a train hitting an obstruction on the line earlier today the line has now reopened. Disruption is expected until 18:30 20/10.

Train services between Bristol Parkway and Newport South Wales are returning to normal but some services may still be delayed.

Not sure how long that went on for

[ChrisB]

The familiar weekend shambles on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).

A nice Customer Service touch from their Twitter/X team too - they post the details of the chaos on the GWR page.........and then switch off the facility to reply to it if you want more information.

You can quote reply your response query....very easy

[grahame]

From GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) yesterday by email - quoted in full as it's a request to let [my] contacts know:

Dear Graham

I’m getting in touch as we are anticipating disruption to our services – primarily on our long-distance high-speed routes to and from London Paddington – this Sunday 27 October due to train crew availability. This has been the case for recent Sundays too and I thought it would be helpful to explain why this has become an ongoing issue, and what we are doing to support our customers.

You may be aware that we are reliant on volunteer overtime from our drivers and other on-board crew when it comes to working on Sundays. This isn’t a case of not having enough drivers, guards and other colleagues employed, but rather the terms and conditions contained in their contracts means we are reliant on a number of colleagues volunteering to work overtime to cover our timetable on Sundays.

All new drivers who have joined the business in recent years have a Sunday commitment however the majority of high-speed drivers still do not. Without a change in terms and conditions we will remain reliant on volunteer overtime to cover Sundays. I should say too that this issue affects essentially all train operators and isn’t restricted to GWR. We’re also looking at what interim measures we could take to help improve colleague availability on Sundays and are talking to the Department for Transport about what may be possible as any changes require their approval. Mark Hopwood, our MD, is clear that the current situation is unsustainable, this is a top priority for the business to look to resolve and that most importantly our customers should expect us to run the advertised timetable.

In terms of what we’re doing ahead of this Sunday, our Rosters & Resourcing team are working extremely hard to maximise the number of colleagues available to work and limit any potential disruption; we are however anticipating a number of cancellations particularly on our high-speed services from London to Bristol, South Wales, and the South West. The team’s work continues throughout today and the weekend so we are not yet in the position to confirm our train plan for Sunday. Any updates including on which services are cancelled, ticket acceptance for travelling on other services and days, and alternative travel arrangements will be shared at www.gwr.com/check and through our social media accounts at www.x.com/gwrhelp and www.facebook.com/gwruk.

As I said there aren’t easy answers to resolving this issue, we are working with our trade unions, colleagues and the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to look at potential solutions, and we will be sure to keep you updated on progress.

 Best wishes

Tom

Thomas Lydon | Public Affairs Manager | Great Western Railway

[grahame]

Is it just me or do I find ...

we are working with our trade unions, colleagues and the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to look at potential solutions,

... to be woolly and noncommittal.  One might have preferred "to solve this issue" rather that merely to "look at potential solutions" which does not include any plan or promise to actually fix the acknowledged problems.

[TaplowGreen]

"Mark Hopwood, our MD, is clear that the current situation is unsustainable, this is a top priority for the business to look to resolve and that most importantly our customers should expect us to run the advertised timetable".

........so what did he do about it when he had the opportunity?

[Timmer]

Is it just me or do I find ...

we are working with our trade unions, colleagues and the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to look at potential solutions,

... to be woolly and noncommittal.  One might have preferred "to solve this issue" rather that merely to "look at potential solutions" which does not include any plan or promise to actually fix the acknowledged problems.

Good of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to finally fess up and admit they’ve got a problem, one that’s not going away and is getting worse not better which doesn’t fill you with any confidence that it’s going to be fixed any time soon.

GWR cannot fix this. The previous and current governments don’t want to fix it, why? because it will involve a huge sum of money and would have done so by now if it didn’t.

If I was travelling by rail this Christmas/New Year I’d be very concerned; especially to/from London.

The only short term solution (yes, I’m playing my stuck record again!) is to introduce a new Sunday timetable based on what GWR can run not what they hope they can run.

And please GWR, it’s not too late to look at your Christmas/New Year timetable and make changes to make it more robust. Don’t ruin people’s Christmas with a timetable you have no hope of being able to operate.