Railway staff unions industrial and strike action - 2023

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Still nothing on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website giving details of services during this week's ASOS by ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) beyond advice that "short notice alterations and cancellations can be expected".............is this likely to be as specific as the advice will get or will revised journey planners be published (as the website suggests, but we're getting rather close to allow people to change their plans?

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) says at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66059122

Among the disruption expected:

South Western Railway says it will run a reduced timetable with some first and last trains cancelled. Its services are likely to be busier than usual, and customers heading to the Wimbledon tennis championships are being advised to allow extra time for their journeys

Northern is advising passengers to expect some services to start later and finish earlier than usual, as well as short-notice cancellations

Great Western Railway expects some short-notice alterations or cancellations, and says its Night Riviera Sleeper service will not run in either direction until Sunday

Chiltern Railways is warning customers only to travel if absolutely essential on Saturday. Its trains will not stop at the station by Wembley Stadium, which is hosting a concert by Blur.

It specifically says short notice and on that basis they seem to be saying that GWR are not giving customers timeous notice.

Very difficult for GWR to give any timely notice as this will vary daily, ie any uncovered jobs will vary every day as will your spare cover.

You can’t roster a Paddington driver to cover a Bristol turn but on the day, you can use that Paddington based driver to partially cover a Bristol turn. Basically you could provide a list of cancellations now, but come the day, it’ll all change.

Many thanks that's useful background information.

[Timmer]

From GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Journeycheck:

Cancellations to services on all routes

Due to industrial action fewer trains are able to run on all lines.

Train services running across the whole Great Western Railway network may be cancelled or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 08/07/23.

Customer Advice
There will be disruption from Monday 3 to Saturday 8 July due to industrial action short of a strike by the Aslef union. This action short of strike is likely to cause some short-notice alterations or cancellations. Please check your journey before setting out.

During action short of a strike and the days after strikes, services could also be affected by a limited number of short-notice cancellations and alterations. The Night Riviera Sleeper service will not run in either direction from Sunday 2 July until Friday 7 July, resuming on Sunday 9 July.

Online journey planners are being updated.

If you intend to travel where trains are running, please check before you travel. Trains that are operating will be busier than usual because we will not be able to offer the normal service frequency. Other train operators are also affected by this action, so onward travel could also be affected.

Where we are able to run services, they are expected to be extremely busy and we are not able to provide bus replacement services.

Customers who purchased tickets but did not travel can claim a full refund, or can amend their ticket; those who travelled and are delayed may be entitled to Delay Repay compensation if they are delayed by 15 minutes or more.

To help customers, tickets for strike days will be valid for travel on alternative days on GWR services, further details will to be provided soon.

Season-ticket holders can apply for compensation through the Delay Repay scheme.

Our Refund policy remains in place. If you hold a return ticket, you can claim a refund of your unused full fare, even if only one leg of your journey is affected.

[a-driver]

I can only see one cancellation so far as a result of “industrial action” and that’s the:

0540 Bristol TM^‡(resolve) to Penzance.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) really aren’t heavily reliant on overtime.

[grahame]

I can only see one cancellation so far as a result of “industrial action” and that’s the:

0540 Bristol TM^‡(resolve) to Penzance.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) really aren’t heavily reliant on overtime.

Take a look at the TransWilts thread - over 10% cancellations due to industrial action.  Of course, 10% of an already thin service is just a couple of trains,  And of course any cancellation leaves a long gap. Another story over the weekend of what this can mean to someone who struggles in the first place, and who's story I have permission to share:

That damage is going to take months, if not a year, to repair. I now have to build myself back up all over again, and it's because someone in an office somewhere decided "Yeah, cancel the Westbury service. Don't bother putting anything else on for the people stranded by that decision."

[IndustryInsider]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) really aren’t heavily reliant on overtime.

I would expect it to get worse as the week goes on.

[Wizard]

Journeycheck currently shows 20 cancellations and 27 part cancellations, the vast majority are due to ‘industrial action’.

[a-driver]

Journeycheck currently shows 20 cancellations and 27 part cancellations, the vast majority are due to ‘industrial action’.

Obviously the picture is changing as the day progresses.

Some will be cancelled, some amended and some will be reinstated.

[TaplowGreen]

Journeycheck currently shows 20 cancellations and 27 part cancellations, the vast majority are due to ‘industrial action’.

7 of the cancellations and a similar number of the part cancellations are Portsmouth/Cardiff if my maths are correct - long distance London to the Westcountry/Wales not looking too bad.

[a-driver]

7 of the cancellations and a similar number of the part cancellations are Portsmouth/Cardiff if my maths are correct - long distance London to the Westcountry/Wales not looking too bad.

And that may relate to just 1 or 2 depots that are short staffed

[Timmer]

Journeycheck currently shows 20 cancellations and 27 part cancellations, the vast majority are due to ‘industrial action’.

As at 10.50, 38 cancellations related to Industrial action.

[a-driver]

Journeycheck currently shows 20 cancellations and 27 part cancellations, the vast majority are due to ‘industrial action’.

As at 10.50, 38 cancellations related to Industrial action.

Looking at the bigger picture, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) isn’t fairing too badly compared against some of the other operators today. With more drivers currently in training I can only see todays cancellations reducing over the next 6 months.

[IndustryInsider]

Another week of an ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) non-contractual overtime ban now announced from 17th-22nd July inclusive.

[ChrisB]

Another week of an ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) non-contractual overtime ban now announced from 17th-22nd July inclusive.

Coinciding with RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) strike days on 20th & 22nd.

The latter of which will be very affected I suspect.

[ChrisB]

This has appeared on twitter from a driver's account

[a-driver]

The sad fact of that offer is that if they stopped at this:

The proposal comprises a two-year pay offer which provides for a 4% increase in year one (including retrospective pay) and a further increase of 4% in year two

This would have been settled a long time ago.  The changes to the terms and conditions aren’t, in my opinion, going to make any significant cost savings.
Significant cost savings can only be achieved by altering the structure of the franchising system, and that will never happen because that would be accepting privatisation has failed.