Recent content by manmikey

Maybe it's time for GA to expand the 745/0 fleet, but I can't see the DFT/treasury funding new stock any time soon, if only there was a way to get new stock built and paid for on a lease basis, perhaps by a private company, Starmer could even stand outside the factory for the PR shots?

I've been a driver for 20 years and I've never been offered a "large pay rise" never mind rejecting one. Pay rises are typically just on or over inflation, if they are a bit more then that is because of some productivity agreement. The 14.8% 3 year pay rise last year was well below inflation...

It won't make any difference if there are fewer services on a Sunday, the 14% of new train crew will be on the same 35 hour week (contract) as the existing staff. Don't forget some of the new train crew will be covering mostly week day shifts as well as Sundays.

There are many differing opinions and arguments over finer points on this debate but the only thing that will make Sunday service as reliable as then other days is to make sundays part of the working week, to do this you need to employ one days worth of extra train crew, around 14% more. That...

It is entirely possible to be following a slower train but leaving enough headway for the signals to be green, we are taught not to "chase signals" if your 100mph train is following a 75mph freight on a 100mph line then you reduce your speed to drop back enough to be on green signals and match...

Whilst I don't know the specifics of the branch you talk about a token is very literally the permission to go on to the branch and so nothing else can be allowed onto the branch until the token is returned. There will be some kind of lock in the signal box that issues the token to physically...

The article is behind a pay wall with no option to view for free unless agreeing to tracking and intrusive non essential cookies and the media accuse rail staff of dodgy practices!

Walking time....if you have a 30 minute break with no walking time allowance in an 08h:59m diagram and your mess room is a 10 minute walk from the platforms, you would end up with a 10 minute walk a 10 minute break and then another 10 minute walk. Is that really acceptable when you may have been...

As long away as today seemed when they said last week that there would be an offer "next Wednesday"

Ah. How very Grant Shapps......

If the as ordered turn is part of your roster you can not be moved from that turn, you can volunteer to move from it if asked but you can not affect a third party in doing so. The resource manager simply can not swap shifts around as you suggest.... certainly not iny TOC.

At my TOC our "as ordered" turns are just another diagram along with spare and running turns. They are just part of your roster and there is no certainly no giving these turns to whomever the resource manager (?) decides to. Oh and they are not "stay at home" shifts (where did you get that idea...

Agreed, but this example is to highlight why ASDO can sometimes not give the correct information

No, ASDO on 745 and 755s is a GPS based system it only knows that you have stopped in the location of the stationary what station it should be, if you stop at a signal just outside the station the ASDO system will engage and give you the option to release the doors, sometimes it doesn't know...

There's a lot to check and get right before opening the doors to avoid door release incidents. Is the train stopped at the correct stop board? Has the ASDO identifed the location correctly? Has the ASDO correctly deselected doors if applicable? Are you about to release the doors on the correct...