Signalling Failure Taunton to Westbury, Wagon on side at Taunton

[whole diary]

[thetrout]

Slightly off topic, But I travelled on a Bridgwater - Taunton Service which had arrived 25 minutes late from Cardiff Central. I politely enquired to the delay. My response was:

"Believe it or not, a 5 minute late start from Cardiff, and it was all Arriva's fault!"

A part of my feels I wished I hadn't asked as a bad workmen always blames his tools! No disrespect to the TM^‡(resolve) though as I only know FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s side of the story!

[bemmy]

Do First really think that they will enhance their corporate image by making it their first priority to blame another company whenever there is a problem? Such childish behaviour seems to me to be another excellent way of convincing their customers that the railways must be renationalised.

Meanwhile the poor guards having to implement this policy of blame on the frontline find that whatever they say, most passengers don't believe them. If they ever admitted when it is their company's fault they might have a little credibility, but of course all delays are caused by one of the following:
1) Something outside the railways control (eg passengers, trespassers, a bit of weather)
2) Network Rail
3) Another train company
4) "Operational difficulties"

Of course (4) is never FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s fault, unlike other train companies they can't help it if one of their trains breaks down or there aren't enough crew.   

[eightf48544]

Rivalry between different parts of the railway has existed since the Grand Trunk first connected with the Liverpool and Manchester. I remember going round the Sheffield area in the 60 s and there it wasn't even LMS^▸ (London Midland Scottish - 1923 to 1948) and LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) it was still Midland and GC^» (Great Central Railway - link to heritage line).

The Southern Railway/Region was and still is SW, Brighton/Central, and SE.

But if push came to shove rivalry was put aside and it was  BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) against the world.

Such childish behaviour seems to me to be another excellent way of convincing their customers that the railways must be renationalised.

Meanwhile the poor guards having to implement this policy of blame on the frontline find that whatever they say, most passengers don't believe them. If they ever admitted when it is their company's fault they might have a little credibility, but of course all delays are caused by one of the following:
1) Something outside the railways control (eg passengers, trespassers, a bit of weather)
2) Network Rail
3) Another train company
4) "Operational difficulties"

Of course (4) is never FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s fault, unlike other train companies they can't help it if one of their trains breaks down or there aren't enough crew.   

Bemmy has hit the nail on the head, in BR days there were only two excuses.

External
Internal

You can see why TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) try for one of the first 3 rather than put their hands up to No 4 especialy as they get compensation if it's someone elses fault. Agreed that going for one of the first 3 excuses is a Management problem but it's also a systemic problem due to the current structure of the railway.

The systemic problem is that the "Railway" as an entity no longer exists, it was broken up into 100s of parts some of whom should co-operate TOCs and Networkrail and some of whom were set up to compete with each other, TOCS and open access operators.

The current system is set up to "Pass the Buck"  the problem is there is no one place for it to stop unless it's the Minister of Transport. 

Having met Mark Hopwood MD FGW he is not a buck passer he is  as hard on his own staff as on non FGW organisations, if they cause delays. Equally he is quick to praise staff who go out of way to get things moving and on time. 

[bemmy]

Having met Mark Hopwood MD FGW^▸ (First Great Western) he is not a buck passer he is  as hard on his own staff as on non FGW organisations, if they cause delays. Equally he is quick to praise staff who go out of way to get things moving and on time. 

Fair enough, but to my knowledge not many of the problems affecting the railways are the fault of the staff.

I've got a suggestion: why not get Digital Doris to record a single message for all late trains: "We are very sorry for the delay to this service, which has been caused by six decades of under-investment and a disastrous privatisation". 

[eightf48544]

I've got a suggestion: why not get Digital Doris to record a single message for all late trains: "We are very sorry for the delay to this service, which has been caused by six decades of under-investment and a disastrous privatisation". 

Excellent idea, it will place the blame where it truly lies.

[dog box]

Does it matter whose actual fault it is??..surely at the time of delay its the help and information you receive from staff that matters, are previous posts trying to suggest that if its not an FGW^▸ (First Great Western) fault then the staff dont give a monkeys?

[Super Guard]

Does it matter whose actual fault it is??..surely at the time of delay its the help and information you receive from staff that matters, are previous posts trying to suggest that if its not an FGW^▸ (First Great Western) fault then the staff dont give a monkeys?

I don't get TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) or NR^» (Network Rail - home page) specific, but as has been pointed out previous, it doesn't matter what the cause is, it is what the staff do to get everyone on their way.

I'll admit though, it is hard not to get defensive of FGW when you know where the fault of the incident lies and yet you have members of the public F'ing at you that FGW cannot run a railway.  I've learnt to accept it and just get on with things, but some people take it personally, and is probably why there is an automatic "not FGW fault" response from some staff.