Recent content by Domeyhead

I haven't checked this but is the TGV fare the turn up and go price, and the airline price is the advance price? The media love telling their readers how cheap flying is by finding some advance fare of £60 or whatever, and comparing it to the on-station price quoted on National Rail or...

Possibly because it's the railway that is so anachronistic compared to those other industries. Remember it's the people who have come from other industries who bring the necessary vitality and innovation to old practices. THose who have been inside the rail industry for decades (and most of them...

Apologies, because I'm sure this has been covered in other threads, but over on Faccebook there has been some "heated" but uninformed discussion about whether or not the diesel at the read of a steam railtour is actually providing traction power as well as hotel power. I expressed doubt that the...

Everything is a "wild assertion" to someone else who is uninformed and no I won't waste my time running around on your behalf. WHen I see something in a forum I disagree with I do my own research to satisfy myself whether it is true or not and I suggest you do likewise. Google is your friend and...

Suggest away. It was covered in Modern Railways a whie ago, regarding Southern Raiway drivers and guards. Perhaps it is more prevalent at some depots than others. In any event it's not a "wild assertion" just because you don't happen to have heard it, or because you don't happen to like it.

No, not annual leave, but I don't think the OP meant that as you probably know anyway. If staff members at specific locations show evidence of "tactical absenteeism" it needs to be dealt with, and yes it does happen more on the Railways than in other industries.

Well I'll tell you what then, you list some of these attributable lies - not hearsay or Media headlines but actual Government (and/or DFT) statements about the strike and the dispute. Forget obfuscation into Brexit, Rwanda or whatever and tweets by the Honourable Member for Little Beeching -...

Your first point is naiive, so please don't bandy the word around. The Treasury is not the same as The Government. There is always a queue of Cabinet Ministers lined up to get more money for their particular briefs and almost all are disappointed, and in this case when there are calls for...

All you are doing is illustrating the point WBB. I have worked in several industry sectors and the constant sense of grievance that you are illustrating is not typical in other sectors - it is increasingly out of step and in some ways it is now unique. The Ticket Office closure issue has been...

I would happily support the current RMT pay demands if after it was granted we moved into an era of collaboration and constructive behaviour towards a better railway. I would look forward to more worker involvment and even representation on committees discussing not just operational matters but...

I heard a lot of factually inaccurate nonsense on BBC's PM the other day, when (I think) Mr Lynch re-stated the tired anachronistic trope about £3bn of "Profits" leaving the rail industry. As it happens, Roger Ford did a forensic TOC by TOC, year by year analysis of this nonsense 3 months ago...

Are you seriously suggesting that Care WOrkers would walk out of a Nursing Home and leave the old people to die? Or are you suggesting that they can carry on working and the RMT will act as Proxy for other sectors and strike on their behalf? I am not sure which scenario is more disturbing or...

But mainly the current crisis is about shortages. In a global market it doesn't matter where the goods come from. You still pay the same price - look at the price of Brent Crude or North Sea Gas? Why is it now more than double what it was 18 months ago? There's no war in the North Sea. It is...

Signal checks or slow running are always a pain for regular users so when a driver (or guard) updates the passengers with what the problem is and how long a delay might be it's greatly appreciated, and I always make a point of thanking them for it. Not sure if it's TOC policy to keep passengers...

Having worked (and managed) quite a few projects in my time I know exactly why it is fatal to plan for the latest date possible! You can almost smell the complacency when the pressure is taken off.