Maundy Thursday - 29 March 2018

[whole diary]

[Adelante_CCT]

The usual pre-Easter crush is almost upon us and the following alterations will occur, seems similar to previous years:

• Additional 14:33 from Paddington to Plymouth calling at Reading (pick up only), Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton, Exeter & Newton Abbot
  
• The 17:07 from Paddington to Frome terminates at Newbury which then returns to form the....
• Additional 19:32 from Paddington to Penzance calling at Reading (pick up only), Newbury (pick up only), Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot and Plymouth before then departing at 22:56 calling at stations to Penzance (replacing the usual 22:42 from Plymouth)
• Additional 19:12 from Paddington to Swansea calling at Didcot, Swindon and usual stations to Swansea

Available drivers pending of course!

[Timmer]

With Bristol TM^‡(resolve) being closed over the Easter weekend, I’d expect Bristol services may be busier than usual as well on Maundy Thursday.

[TaplowGreen]

The usual pre-Easter crush is almost upon us and the following alterations will occur, seems similar to previous years:

• Additional 14:33 from Paddington to Plymouth calling at Reading (pick up only), Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton, Exeter & Newton Abbot
  
• The 17:07 from Paddington to Frome terminates at Newbury which then returns to form the....
• Additional 19:32 from Paddington to Penzance calling at Reading (pick up only), Newbury (pick up only), Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot and Plymouth before then departing at 22:56 calling at stations to Penzance (replacing the usual 22:42 from Plymouth)
• Additional 19:12 from Paddington to Swansea calling at Didcot, Swindon and usual stations to Swansea

Available drivers pending of course!

Your final point is of course moot judging by current performance!

How is the Reading/Newbury pick up only going to be enforced on the 1932?

[Thatcham Crossing]

How is the Reading/Newbury pick up only going to be enforced on the 1932?

Not shown as stopping at those points on the PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) departure boards?

[ChrisB]

An additional unusual train that ony those researching properly will tealise that those stops are being made

[PhilWakely]

How is the Reading/Newbury pick up only going to be enforced on the 1932?

Not shown as stopping at those points on the PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) departure boards?

Simple solution is to advertise at Reading for those pax waiting for the 1932 ex-PAD to get the next train to Reading West, where the 1932 will stop having passed through Reading station. An army of RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) will be waiting at Reading West to penalise any person from PAD stupid enough to assume the Reading stop.

[IndustryInsider]

I can’t see how we’ll be able to muster up enough staff for Maundy Thursday and Easter Monday based on recent crew availability levels, so I would get ready for several cancellations again!

[bobm]

I may have to travel on Easter Sunday and I'm not too confident about staffing levels that day either....

[TaplowGreen]

I can’t see how we’ll be able to muster up enough staff for Maundy Thursday and Easter Monday based on recent crew availability levels, so I would get ready for several cancellations again!

Surely it's imperative for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to assess this in advance & construct a firm timetable of trains which they know they can operate, rather than a repeat of last Sundays chaos & risking ruining people's Easter breaks?

I appreciate that this may involve being customer focused, which is against the organisations culture, but we can live in hope I guess?

[IndustryInsider]

A very slim hope based on recent events I would suggest?  Perhaps I'll be wrong and everything will be fine.

It is somewhat of a paradox that in terms of the company being customer focussed, significant money was spent on the GEM's (Great Experience Makers) courses which nearly all front line staff have been on, and after which, in my opinion, the customer service now offered on the front line has never been better.  Yet on the flip side having the infrastructure and processes in place to provide the service in the first place, and the ability to acknowledge how bad it is, has been so incredibly poor recently.

[TaplowGreen]

A very slim hope based on recent events I would suggest?  Perhaps I'll be wrong and everything will be fine.

It is somewhat of a paradox that in terms of the company being customer focussed, significant money was spent on the GEM's (Great Experience Makers) courses which nearly all front line staff have been on, and after which, in my opinion, the customer service now offered on the front line has never been better.  Yet on the flip side having the infrastructure and processes in place to provide the service in the first place, and the ability to acknowledge how bad it is, has been so incredibly poor recently.

Managing expectations in advance and giving people options would be a far, far better customer experience than passengers turning up at stations to find row upon row of "cancelled" showing on the display boards and being left, literally & figuratively out in the cold.

Same goes for Sundays. Work out what can be achieved with the available driver resource and run an "emergency" timetable on that basis. Hopes managed are always better than hopes dashed.

All of this to be accompanied by a full and Frank explanation from Hopwood as to what the problems are, what is being done to mitigate them, and when they will be resolved.

Surely not beyond the "Rail Business of the year "? 🙈

[IndustryInsider]

No posts this year, regarding the big Maundy Thursday getaway and usual overcrowding issues?  I assume it went reasonably well?  Certainly very few shortforms listed on HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) services despite the air leak in the Cotswolds this morning reducing the fleet availability. 

I made a trip from South Wales this afternoon and there was plenty of room on our 9-car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) throughout - though staff shortages led to the all too common 'static trolley' situation.  The IET was also on diesel throughout but easily kept to time.

[bobm]

I was in the West Country, largely travelling against the flow admittedly, but the trains did not seem unusually busy.

I did have some concerns catching the 10:00 from Penzance to London Paddington when I learned the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Country service half an hour earlier had been cancelled, but it didn't seem to cause any issues.

Similarly when I learned my train from Newton Abbot to Paignton was only going to be two coaches and offering a connection out of two trains (one from London and the other from the North) but again there was plenty of room.

[bobm]

If the trains were not busy, it might explain the empty beach too!

[TaplowGreen]

I was in the West Country, largely travelling against the flow admittedly, but the trains did not seem unusually busy.

I did have some concerns catching the 10:00 from Penzance to London Paddington when I learned the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Country service half an hour earlier had been cancelled, but it didn't seem to cause any issues.

Similarly when I learned my train from Newton Abbot to Paignton was only going to be two coaches and offering a connection out of two trains (one from London and the other from the North) but again there was plenty of room.

Given the experience of previous years, I suspect a lot more people went by road.