GWR - Rail Business of the Year

[whole diary]

[Visoflex]

And it's not even 1st April!

[Andy]

What are the chances of the award presentation ceremony being cancelled due to shortage of white collar crew to receive it?

[chuffed]

Sometimes it seems that the more derisory we are of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), the more contemptuous
they are, of us !

[grahame]

Sometimes it seems that the more derisory we are of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), the more contemptuous
they are, of us !

And I really can't blame them for that ... works the other way too.  The more respect and constructive feedback and help we give them, the more respect and constructive help they give us.  Not saying we couldn't do with more constructive help - far too often they can be very frustrating to deal with ... but there are some real gems of feedback and the odd tiny change that can make a big difference.

[TaplowGreen]

Sometimes it seems that the more derisory we are of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), the more contemptuous
they are, of us !

And I really can't blame them for that ... works the other way too.  The more respect and constructive feedback and help we give them, the more respect and constructive help they give us.  Not saying we couldn't do with more constructive help - far too often they can be very frustrating to deal with ... but there are some real gems of feedback and the odd tiny change that can make a big difference.

Respect is earned, not given.

[broadgage]

OK folks ... point made. 

I note that we're far from alone in having problems at the moment - looking at Southern and Northern groups that fulfil some of the functions of our Western one, and even in Scotland ...

Were a problem to be purely in one franchise, logic would be to blame it mostly on something specific to that franchise. But where problems exist in so many places, and with different franchise operators, much more we should look at common factors such as their common suppliers and / or the system and environment they work in, including customer expectations.

Yes, infrastructure faults are generally down to network rail as are the electrification delays.
The new trains are not proving a complete success, but were largely specified by DaFt.
Industrial disputes are arguable either way.

So a fair bit of the problems are not the fault of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), and broadly similar arguments apply to other franchises.

However some of the problems do seem to me to be the fault of GWR. Failure to reply in a timely fashion to correspondence for example.
I also blame GWR for failing to recruit and retain enough staff, despite the statement by a respected member that GWR have met their franchise requirements in this respect.
I certainly blame GWR for a costly advertising campagain that raises customer expectations even further beyond what is actually delivered.

And finally I don't mind GWR taking a bit of reputational damage for things are not in fact their fault, because they have routinely implied that THEY are funding the new trains and the electrification works.

[devonexpress]

OK folks ... point made. 

I note that we're far from alone in having problems at the moment - looking at Southern and Northern groups that fulfil some of the functions of our Western one, and even in Scotland ...

Were a problem to be purely in one franchise, logic would be to blame it mostly on something specific to that franchise. But where problems exist in so many places, and with different franchise operators, much more we should look at common factors such as their common suppliers and / or the system and environment they work in, including customer expectations.

Yes, infrastructure faults are generally down to network rail as are the electrification delays.
The new trains are not proving a complete success, but were largely specified by DaFt.
Industrial disputes are arguable either way.

So a fair bit of the problems are not the fault of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), and broadly similar arguments apply to other franchises.

However some of the problems do seem to me to be the fault of GWR. Failure to reply in a timely fashion to correspondence for example.
I also blame GWR for failing to recruit and retain enough staff, despite the statement by a respected member that GWR have met their franchise requirements in this respect.
I certainly blame GWR for a costly advertising campagain that raises customer expectations even further beyond what is actually delivered.

And finally I don't mind GWR taking a bit of reputational damage for things are not in fact their fault, because they have routinely implied that THEY are funding the new trains and the electrification works.

Track/signal issues are down to Network Rail's poor management. IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)/HST^▸ (High Speed Train) short formed trains is due to more trains being sent off lease when we really need them, GWR have lost quite a few 150/1 and 2 or 3 HST sets recently, all down to the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) who seems to be throwing every resource at Northern Rail to shut them up(apart from the HSTs). We then have the IET's which are slowly being introduced and lack of staff familiarity being the main issue(don't forget most drivers are having to update themselves from trains built 41 years ago where there was very little electronics)

We also have the fact that most of the 150s/165/166s are knackered and could either do with brand new engines or in some cases ideally complete replacement, things take time to bed in but my only surprise is that the Severn Beach branch is still having issues.

[martyjon]

OK folks ... point made. 

I note that we're far from alone in having problems at the moment - looking at Southern and Northern groups that fulfil some of the functions of our Western one, and even in Scotland ...

Were a problem to be purely in one franchise, logic would be to blame it mostly on something specific to that franchise. But where problems exist in so many places, and with different franchise operators, much more we should look at common factors such as their common suppliers and / or the system and environment they work in, including customer expectations.

Accepted Grahame, but haven't the judges enough guts to make 'No Award' for this year rather than making a mockery of the award.

Thats my final comment on this subject.

Not quite, whilst travelling home yesterday from Taunton by car, rail travel too unreliable these days, the Beeb news broadcast was reporting the grovelling apology the promoters of the whole event were making for including a "tawdry sex comedy" and "a fake terrorist incident" scenes in the evenings entertainment. Mark Carne was reported as saying that Network Rail would be handing back their award to the organisers.

If Mark Hopwood had a conscience he too would be handing back GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s award saying, "We didn't deserve it".

[bobm]

From the Standard

Organisers of a major rail industry awards have been forced to apologise after the ceremony featured a mock terror attack that guests called "appalling".

The UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Rail Industry Awards, hosted by comedian Rufus Hound in Battersea, was held on the first anniversary of the Westminster Bridge terror attack.

Rail staff and other transport officials were on the frontline responding to terrorist attacks in the past year with the British Transport Police attending the aftermath of the Westminster atrocity.

Bosses issued a grovelling apology for the performance including spoof terror stunt as well as women dressed in provocative leather outfits.

Toby Rackliff, who attended, vented his outrage on Twitter writing: "Providing a fake terrorist attack as 'entertainment' in year following #LondonBridge & #MENArena tragedies, which saw huge acts of courage & compassion by @BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) & #railstaff, shows (at best) crass insensitivity & an appalling error of judgment by @UKRIAnews & @rtmnews."

A rail source meanwhile told the Times: "They had simulated terrorist attack with people coming down from the ceiling. The host made some crude jokes that were really derogatory towards women and other attendees."

According to the Times, Network Rail and Chiltern Railways returned awards in protest at the entertainment.

Simon Rennie, general manager at the National Training Academy for Rail (NTAR), which won the award for apprenticeship development, meanwhile wrote in Rail Technology Magazine: "Re-enacting terrorism allied to foul-mouthed hosting encapsulated violence, bullying, placing individuals under duress and crass gender-stereotyping."

On the night of the awards, as the show progressed, guests took to Twitter to call it "weird" and "ridiculous".

"Things just got weird," wrote one attendee while another said: "Ridiculous start of the show. Unnecessary gimmicks ... Not good."

Roy Rowlands, managing director of the event, wrote in a statement that he was "very sorry" for the "poor judgment" that led to the "inappropriate" entertainment.

We will live with the pain every day, Westminster attack survivors say

He said: "I can assure you that this content was most certainly not in the script and does not reflect the values and opinions of UKRIA, Rail Technology Magazine and its owners and employees of Cognitive Publishing Ltd.

"Formal complaints have been issued to both the host and the stunt performers expressing our deep concerns."

He added: "I’m saddened that we have unwillingly subjected our guests and ourselves with the views of 'tawdry performers' that neither you nor we believe in or condone."

The fee paid for the act will be returned and given to funds set up for the London Westminster Bridge attack, Manchester Arena attack and women's rights charity the Fawcett Society.

[Timmer]

You couldn’t make it up.

I fully expect GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) will return their award too.

What a disgraceful performance all round from the ceremony itself and the undeserving awards handed out.

[JayMac]

The apologies in full from the event organiser, Roy Rowlands, Managing Director at Cognitive Publishing, publishers of Rail Technology Magazine:

http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/ukria-2018-apology-statement

An MD taking full responsibility for his, and his company's failings. Perhaps the MD of the rail business of the year could learn a thing or two...

[TaplowGreen]

The apologies in full from organisers, Rail Technology Magazine:

http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/ukria-2018-apology-statement

Perhaps the most telling comment;

"How come no-one said anything at the time?"

...............amazing what a cheap gong & a few gallons of Corporate champagne can make some people overlook........

[IndustryInsider]

Rufus Hound is certainly not who you’d invite to host an awards ceremony if you wanted to play it safe.

[broadgage]

Does anyone know, how realistic was the "fake terrorist incident" ?
It would have been unfortunate if someone believed it to be an actual attack, and killed one of the "terrorists" perhaps by battering them with furniture or a fire extinguisher.
In an ACTUAL attack such actions would be considered heroic.

[TaplowGreen]

Rufus Hound is certainly not who you’d invite to host an awards ceremony if you wanted to play it safe.

He seems to spend his "career" issuing apologies which are almost as frequent as GWRs^▸ (Great Western Railway) and approaching the same level of sincerity.

Here's another little gem.............

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvR8JfBUakk