Widespread Ryanair cancellations from September 2017 until March 2018

[whole diary]

[chrisr_75]

If I remember rightly at the time, didn't Alison Forster let it be known she wasn't keen on taking over the local West services from Wessex Trains? It was the crazy decision to reduce the fleet size as recommended by a consultancy firm that was to be her downfall with the way it was all handled.

Hmmm, wasn't that consultancy firm in effect the DfT who specified and awarded a franchise based on service reductions, particularly on the branches and rural routes?  Andrew Haines did a good job in his short tenure in repairing some of that damage (Forster was pretty inexperienced and useless to be honest, and was shunted off to a much lower profile job at First Group!), but I would have been interested to see how he would have handled GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s recent problems had he stayed on for a decent period.  Some might say that's a true test of a manager - it certainly is in football, just ask Ranieri!

I'm not sure if it's quite the anticipated result, but the current crop of GWR issues seem to have made Mark Hopwood get very shy in public. Has anyone seen him out in the wild recently?

[JayMac]

He was at the OOC^▸ (Old Oak Common (depot)) Open Day on 2nd September. Drooling over the cavalcade of his favourite loco, the Class 50.

[TaplowGreen]

He was at the OOC^▸ (Old Oak Common (depot)) Open Day on 2nd September. Drooling over the cavalcade of his favourite loco, the Class 50.

I'd have to say that you don't paint a very attractive picture with that statement! 

[ChrisB]

Travellers who have accepted a refund must be offered a reimbursement of the difference with any higher fare.

And those who have been misled into accepting an unsatisfactory re-routing must be offered the option of changing it.

Yup, that's me....I've not yet received Ryanair's refund (it's in Eur, so I don't yet know what the GBP I'm getting is. The higher fare I've paid elsewhere was also in Eur too, so I guerss they're refunding in Eur.

It is an unsatisfactory rebooking, further away from my ultimate destination, but getting Ryanair to talk to the other airline to allow me to rebook (which might now be with a different airline at a higher fare!) will be very interesting, if nigh on impossible. I'd be interested in knowing the CAAs^» (Civil Aviation Authority - about) thoughts on how they go about it.

[grahame]

At FGW^▸ (First Great Western), Andrew Haines (a very competent MD) was preceded by the dire Alison Forster. Bad, good, bad for the last three MDs. If the cycle continues the next one should be an improvement over the current incumbant. 

Oh how we cheered when Andrew Haines took over from Alison Forster who quickly sorted things out following the total balls up after the merging of the three rail companies into one. Shame his tenure as MD was but a short one.

If I remember rightly at the time, didn't Alison Forster let it be known she wasn't keen on taking over the local West services from Wessex Trains? It was the crazy decision to reduce the fleet size as recommended by a consultancy firm that was to be her downfall with the way it was all handled.

To some extent, how all the MDs come across relates very much to the times and thus their mandates.   I sometimes wonder if Alison Forster followed by Andrew Haines was a deliberate "bad guy, good guy" plan.   With stage one seeing how far costs could be cut on lines that were unlikely to reach First's desired profit margins, and stage two to pull back depending on the strength of public protest.   

We're now into another act, and one in which an infrastructure and fleet change outside the immediate control of the First Group. Personally and on TransWilts, we have found Mark Hopwood and his fellow longstanding directors helpful within the constraints on them and in the circumstances. It does credit to them that I can still write that when last Sunday 12 out of 13 trains were cancelled last Sunday, and my trip to Dublin earlier this week both started and finished with a taxi ride to / from Chippenham, when it really should have started / finished on a train.   How much of the circumstance the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) team could have realistically been more effective in managing the effects of is open for discussion, though ... but it's a far different world to 2006, when the victor seemed intent on subjugating the vanquished as franchises merged.

May split this into a separate thread later - gone off RyanAir topic!

[ChrisB]

If I remember rightly at the time, didn't Alison Forster let it be known she wasn't keen on taking over the local West services from Wessex Trains?

More than that - she only wanted the High-Speed network & HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train).....wasn't interested in anything else at all.

I agree with Graham's comments above this post too.

[Timmer]

More than that - she only wanted the High-Speed network & HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train).....wasn't interested in anything else at all.

When it was just the High Speed network FGW^▸ (First Great Western) was a good TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company). Good train interiors, great value fares. How times have changed.

[IndustryInsider]

Times have indeed changed, the number of people wanting to travel has shot through the roof for starters, and that is only just starting to be properly addressed rather than the sticking plaster approach for the last ten years.

[didcotdean]

The more or less full mixture of service types is what makes the Great Western franchise one of the most complex to operate.

IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) Foster's background had been operations and safety director of the former GWT part, and it therefore it is not surprising that she felt more comfortable with the 'intercity' part rather than urban/sub-urban/regional. Her later career has been concentrated on safety at First and National Express.

One thing I can say in her favour, which relates to this thread, was she remained visible to the extent of travelling on trains with her name badge on.

[TaplowGreen]

Times have indeed changed, the number of people wanting to travel has shot through the roof for starters, and that is only just starting to be properly addressed rather than the sticking plaster approach for the last ten years.

I would imagine that  part of the issue being "properly addressed" would encompass GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ensuring that they have sufficient drivers and crew to operate the trains?

[IndustryInsider]

Yes of course.  And to be fair, current mini-crisis aside, crew availability has been pretty good over the last ten years since the 'Worst Great Western' and 'I Hate First Great Western' badge days when everything was in a right state.

The notable exception has been summer Sundays, where most years have seen far too many crew related cancellations.  I'm hearing that negotiations with the Unions on bringing Sundays into the working week are progressing, so that will be a big breakthrough if it goes through.

[ChrisB]

Yes of course.  And to be fair, current mini-crisis aside, crew availability has been pretty good over the last ten years since the 'Worst Great Western' and 'I Hate First Great Western' badge days when everything was in a right state.

For those that can remember - worse than currently? Discuss.

[IndustryInsider]

I certainly think so, especially for the West sector.  You also had campaign groups starting up in HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) and LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) sectors like Ox-Rail Action when the Oxford to London peak service capacity was reduced significantly.

[Timmer]

For those that can remember - worse than currently? Discuss.

Most definitely worse. People being left behind at stations, rolling stock that could be used left in sidings off lease, fare strikes. A trawl from posts from the early days of this forum will tell the story.

[didcotdean]

You also had campaign groups starting up in HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) and LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) sectors like Ox-Rail Action when the Oxford to London peak service capacity was reduced significantly.

Indeed the peak commuter time seating capacity from Oxford on fast trains was reduced by up to 80% (at least according to Ox-Rail's view), with the number of trains halved, and none of these starting from Oxford at all. The situation was so bad that the timetable had to be recast reintroducing services just over a month after the December 2006 timetable although this only brought the situation back to a 25% reduction. Unfortunately these 'squeezed in' trains had poor punctuality.

There was also a reduction at Didcot Parkway in Dec 2006, not quite so dramatic, but two trains had to be restored to stop in the 7:30-7:50 period.