Signalling staff shortages at Paddington

[mrmartin]

This has been going on for weeks and apparently will continue for months. They are about 10 signallers short at TVSC. Will take ages to train that many people n the routes they need to know.

Absolutely crazy that left being short ~10 staff (total cost of £1-2million a year with NI, benefits etc taken into account) is shutting down one of Europe's busiest railways, that was recently upgraded at the cost of £billions and probably ruining trips for tens/hundreds of thousands of ppl. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[matt_world2004]

I'm surprised NR approved the tfl rail extension to Heathrow if they are 10 signallers short that apparently required the Heathrow branch to have a dedicated signaller

 

[TheBigD]

Absolutely crazy that left being short ~10 staff (total cost of £1-2million a year with NI, benefits etc taken into account) is shutting down one of Europe's busiest railways, that was recently upgraded at the cost of £billions and probably ruining trips for tens/hundreds of thousands of ppl. Absolutely ridiculous.

Fairly easy to get a high number of vacancies.
The notice period is 4 weeks plus a week for each year of service. My guess is that for a grade 9 the training for a replacement off the street will be a year or so, plus the recruitment process itself.
There's a training backlog in many areas following nearly 2 years of covid hysteria, a reluctance of many existing signallers to train up new people, and other issues like the fact that TVSC recruited a number of people from the airline industry when covid kicked off and many have returned now that the airline industry is quickly recovering. Add to that the current industrial relations issues and you can see why some areas are struggling.

 

[t_packer]

That’s really i

This has been going on since Covid sporadically but is very acute right now. Most days there are not enough staff in TVSC for Link 1 (Paddington - West Drayton), Link 2 (Slough - Reading) or Link 3 (Newbury / Didcot / Oxford) [feel free to correct the link locations]. Normally there’s no meal break available which means 30 minute closure all at once than different desks shutting 30 mins at a time. The preferred times on nights are 0200-0230 but occasionally it’s 2200-2230 and in the day it’s usually around 1000-1030 but obviously there’s no ideal time and in the day that sort of closure will knock on for ~2 hours and trains are cancelled / held down the line in a platform or terminated short.

They are desperately short or signallers this is due to sickness, vacancies (both ongoing and repeat due to people starting and leaving); they’re looking for Grade 7/8/9 signallers right now which correspond to Link 3/2/1 respectively I believe).

I believe it is being explained by “a shortage of signalling staff” but obviously on board it might be more sporadic - no doubt because if the driver hasn’t been informed beforehand there’s no signaller to call to ask why delayed! There’s only so much GWR/TfL Rail can do other than plan for the disruption.

Thanks for your explanation, it’s really interesting and it’s amazing how some detail makes the whole thing feel a (little) less frustrating. I guess that’s all I’m asking of GWR/TfL Rail. Acknowledge that it’s a recurring problem, that they know it’s inconvenient, and what they’re doing about it.

There’s more disruption tonight due to a “broken rail(?)” turning my usual turn-up-and-go commute out of Paddington into a long wait nightmare again…

 

[FGW_DID]

I guess that’s all I’m asking of GWR/TfL Rail. Acknowledge that it’s a recurring problem, that they know it’s inconvenient, and what they’re doing about it.

I think you need to be asking that question to Network Rail, they employ the Signallers. There’s not a lot GWR/TfL can do about it.

 

[matt_world2004]

MTR must be pissed they get fined £10000-£50000 per cancellation regardless of reason

 

[Towers]

MTR must be pissed they get fined £10000-£50000 per cancellation regardless of reason

Even if it's due to infrastructure issues that they cannot conceivably have any control over whatsoever?!

If they signed up to that then it would seem a reasonable price for foolishness!

 

[matt_world2004]

Even if it's due to infrastructure issues that they cannot conceivably have any control over whatsoever?!

If they signed up to that then it would seem a reasonable price for foolishness!

Purple Reign: How Crossrail Will Be Run

Building Crossrail is less than half the battle. What will really matter to passengers is how it will be run. We take a look at how it will operate.

www.londonreconnections.com

Yes although they will only pay 10% of the fine which is £1000-£3600 per cancellation 10% of the baseline figure.

 

[t_packer]

I think you need to be asking that question to Network Rail, they employ the Signallers. There’s not a lot GWR/TfL can do about it.

I guess GWR/TfL Rail still have an obligation to inform passengers, even if they’re not to blame. But point taken, I shall lay my frustrations at the door of Network Rail! I guess this is another example of the longstanding need to have one body which is responsible for the railway and accountable to passengers. Though there’s always going to be TfL/National Rail crossover.

 

[Craig1122]

I've known (and at times offered) enhancements over and above the official rate for the job in every role I've done where there's an absolute requirement for a 'bum on a seat'.

That's both inside and outside the railway so have no difficulty believing it goes on. Most people will keep what they've been given quiet so as not to upset others so there's the scope for amounts to get exaggerated on the rumour mill.

 

[TFN]

I saw a poster at Heathrow Central from TfL about this issue (around Easter).

I'm not sure about other stations but the publicity really should be better from TfL, GWR, NR and HEX.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

They can also now train themselves up on the recently released Slough Simulation [/plug]

Im still trying to get to grips with Swin-Did.

”I’m qualified but can we run the 2004 summer timetable please as that’s all I know?”

 

[londonboi]

Happened in Shrewsbury over Easter. Singnaller demanded £1000 a day to come in. I’m in the wrong job me!!

I very much doubt any truth in that. Will be the usual social media speculations

 

[duncananderson]

This is still an issue. I’m currently sitting at Paddington on 1C37, the 22:32 for Bristol, but we’ve been told it’s not going to leave until after 23:00 due to a lack of signallers, and nor is anything else.

A look at the open train times signalling map does indeed show every single train at a stand between Paddington and Reading. Seems quite a remarkable issue to have to deal with on such a major main line!

Can anyone with inside knowledge give an indication of how long it might take to resolve this staffing issue? I appreciate it takes months (years?) to train new signallers but even a “not before [date]” would be interesting to know.

 

[Class 170101]

Can anyone with inside knowledge give an indication of how long it might take to resolve this staffing issue? I appreciate it takes months (years?) to train new signallers but even a “not before [date]” would be interesting to know.

When the dispute between the RMT and NR (or perhaps more appropriately the DfT / Treasury) is resolved which I doubt will be quick.

 

[Basil Jet]

On Saturday night nothing was moving in or out of Paddington for some time, due to "lack of staff". Including the newly renamed Elizabeth Line (west).

 

[CyrusWuff]

Logic presumably being that a full closure for 30 minutes is less worse than spreading it out across several hours by closing one or two workstations at a time.

 

[duncananderson]

When the dispute between the RMT and NR (or perhaps more appropriately the DfT / Treasury) is resolved which I doubt will be quick.

Do feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but I was under the impression that the problem here is due to a large number of vacancies and higher than normal staff absence at TVSC, rather than industrial action that might arise from RMTs current ballot.

Is there already a work to rule taking place at TVSC? Or is there less willingness to volunteer for rest day working as a result of industrial bad feeling? Presumably the dispute doesn’t prevent NR from recruiting and training new staff, or does it?

It does however give a small glimpse of the torrid time we might have if signallers imposed a work to rule across the country. It would cripple the network.

 

[Class 170101]

Do feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but I was under the impression that the problem here is due to a large number of vacancies and higher than normal staff absence at TVSC, rather than industrial action that might arise from RMTs current ballot.

Currently not related to the industrial action - at least officially. However the second and third paragraphs below would be suggestive.

Is there already a work to rule taking place at TVSC? Or is there less willingness to volunteer for rest day working as a result of industrial bad feeling? Presumably the dispute doesn’t prevent NR from recruiting and training new staff, or does it?

It does however give a small glimpse of the torrid time we might have if signallers imposed a work to rule across the country. It would cripple the network.