Commuting has changed, accelerating a trend that was also happening before covid - but people are well and truly back. Full and standing trains all last week for me. At the coal face things are increasingly indistinguishable from 2019.
It’s only on here that people seem to think we are carting around fresh air. Very clearly the railway will continue to be funded by the government as an essential service - that might not meet with your approval, but it is what it is.
I know in my part of the world some services are well and truly packed, but this seems to be as much down to reduced timetables and more cancellations than you can waive a Delay Repay claim at than a return to pre-covid levels. Things are still not back to where they were, and once again a prolonged run of industrial action ain't going to make things better. However interestingly the roads are as busy as they were back in 2019, if not busier. In time people will adjust away from the railways, in much the same way they have from buses if they are forced to through strikes and working to rule. Its just how it plays out.
And unlike the railway it doesn’t bring in revenue of its own.
Well HMRC might beg to differ....
Incredibly ignorant to imagine that the railway is expected to be some kind of commercially viable going concern? It’s also a public service and requires subsidy
to operate “unprofitable” parts of the network. Again, most people understand this perfectly well, including the current right wing government.
I'm not actually in dispute with you over subsidies, I would much prefer the railways to be a fully publicly owned and run service for the punters. But it isn't, it is expected to try to turn a profit. That's not my decision, but that of the government.
Not sure what your accusing me of exactly? My bit of it is running perfectly well. And I’m regularly working at times of the day you barely even know exist, thanks very much. With all due respect, you’re a work from home IT bod for the civil service, I’m a railway shift worker. I think I know which of us spends more time idling in our living room!
Don't be so sure folk in IT don't know the wee small hours. Strangely enough a lot of work takes place when the rest of the workforce are in bo-bo-land. Oh and I know you have a beef about people working from home, I still only do two days a week at home because there is no longer the capacity in our office because we have had to employ more people to deliver front-line services. But this is the reality of the situation, and never labour under the impression that we all like it because I for one don't. It has actually caused me more grief than it could ever solve, both financially & emotionally and even pushed my marriage over the edge. So think on before you start slagging people off for having to do such things, most of us had no choice.
Shock horror that isn’t what’s happening here. The fact you suggest it is only shows your own naïvety. Most RMT and ASLEF members I know simply want to defend their standard and living and are voting accordingly. The government are doing a fairly shocking job of things and seem to be bringing themselves down…
You might want to keep a closer eye on the top table, because I've seen it happen in CPSA / PCS where the top brass become more politically motivated than motivated by the best interests of the membership.
Not necessarily. Conservatism of the sensible variety is about small government and empowerment of the individual. It isn’t in any way incompatible with the concept of trade unionism.
Show me a Tory government that has actively encouraged trade unions.
You keep the insults coming, it’s water off a duck’s back. Based on the vitriol directed at the railway by the civil service contingent on here, I’m increasingly enjoying watching the government getting properly stuck in. It helps nobody, having that attitude, but clearly you view my industry and colleagues with utter contempt so there’s an element of schadenfreude.
So let me get this right, you enjoy watching the "government get stuck in", by which I assume you mean the cutbacks to 2016 levels demanded by the government. Good to know you revel in people potentially losing their jobs, but try to remember that the decision makers behind that are also looking for cutbacks elsewhere. And whilst your industry continues to rely on heavy subsidies, sooner or later that big eye of the Treasury Mordor is going to be looking your industry's way. And you call me naive....
What? I wasn’t implying anything other than what I said? Simply that my personality isn’t one for backing down. You are reading far too much into it.
Fair enough.
I’m there to drink tea and drive trains - in no particular order. Unlike my guard colleagues I’m not “customer facing”.
No you are not. You are there to drive trains, and you wonder why people have a go at the industry. Judging by your & other member's comments here the railway industry really is stuck in another era, and one that the travelling public don't look back at with any fond memories.
One of the great things about my job is that we tend not to bow and scrape and do the smarmy “customer service” bit. That might irritate the split-my-ticket-five-ways-expect-the-moon-on-a-stick breed of rivet counting passenger that frequents this forum, but it suits me very well indeed. It won’t be changing!
You mean the people that use your company's services, and keep the need for people to drive the trains? Maybe we should turn up at the stations banging pots & drawing rainbows for you. Would that make you less condescending?
Again, not sure what this is meant to mean? You appear to be projecting your dissatisfaction with the railway network onto me.
Well that is frankly your own fault, coming across as a grumpy, passenger loathing so & so what else do you expect?
Here we go again with the fear mongering… On current evidence the axe appears to be swinging in your direction!
Yep, some 90K+ jobs to go, to get back to 2016 levels even though workloads are much higher, certainly in my little grubby corner of the civil service. Now I know you believe your industry is bullet-proof, but it really isn't. Just look at all the big ticket projects that have been cancelled. What do you suppose will happen when the bigwig civil servants have no more projects to axe, but ministers need more savings from the railways. You see its a bit like creeping death, you might think you are miles from it but sooner or later it will come after you.
If you really don't like being tied to government decisions then you are going to have to find (or form) a company that is willing to p*** good money after bad. Because from where I'm standing the railway industry does not look in good shape, and is hardly having the investors chasing after it.
So what’s your solution, exactly? Cowering in fear is for the birds (and the civil service) and it isn’t what we will be doing on the railway!
Wait until there isn't a economic crisis, or at least until a general election is looming. Chasing the big prize when the government is only halfway through it's term, and now looking for some big hits to restore confidence within its membership is crazy. Quietly they will be looking at the rail unions and thanking their blessings they will potentially have a scapegoat to go after. I know you don't believe it, perhaps through some misguided belief that the Tories you vote for wouldn't dare come after your industry, but I would bet that deep in the corridors of power plans & perhaps even legalisation are being drawn up to hammer the industry, and the unions with. Hell we even know that a "minimum service level" bill is being considered for the industry.
Now is the time to stand our ground. If we fail, at least we will have tried.
Stand it all you want, I just think its bad timing. Which has been my point all along, because this is exactly why unions like mine have become toothless. The RMT, ASLEF et al all risk becoming the same.
And if the government would only leave well alone the railway (especially the TPE and cross country bits of it) would be running a hell of a lot better than it currently is…
And why are the government having to intervene exactly? Because nobody can make it work, and the industry seems hugely reluctant to adapt to make it do so. We used to be the same in the civil service, and if I'm honest many parts still are. But the bits that do adapt, that do change to become more efficient (and I'm sure you won't be arguing that public services shouldn't strive to be more efficient) are usually the bits that avoid the axe when it comes a-swinging.
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