Cancellations on first day of the new timetable

[ThatBloke]

First day of the new timetable and browsing at a number of operators websites there appear to be many, many cancellations and prematurely terminated diagrams for driver/crew availability issues.

Is there a wider view on how normal this is for a Sunday?


(I'm not sure if this is the correct forum if it needs to be in 'General' or elsewhere, if a Mod'can relocate it please)

 

[westcoaster]

Quite a general comment, any service in particular.

 

[ThatBloke]

Quite a general comment, any service in particular.

As shown from the screen shot at 12.59 today. See attached: - 51 cancellations & 12 early cancellations
It's the underlying blame put to train crew availability that that is intriguing, when you dig into the cancellations on their website.

It is somewhat amusing to see the XC self described service summary as 'good service'. Hate to think what their threshold for it being 'poor' is. LOL

 

[800001]

As shown from the screen shot at 12.59 today. See attached: - 51 cancellations & 12 early cancellations
It's the underlying blame put to train crew availability that that is intriguing, when you dig into the cancellations on their website.

It is somewhat amusing to see the XC self described service summary as 'good service'. Hate to think what their threshold for it being 'poor' is. LOL

That's normal for XC on a weekend! I wouldn't say a new timetable has altered the cancellation figures much.

 

[ThatBloke]

That's normal for XC on a weekend! I wouldn't say a new timetable has altered the cancellation figures much.

Of course it could be driven by high levels of sickness absence.

 

[DelW]

Cancellations on Sundays in the run up to Christmas have always been widespread on those operators which rely on voluntary overtime to staff their Sunday timetable. Unfortunately neither DfT nor TOC management nor unions seem to have any desire to sort the situation out.

 

[Harpo]

Unfortunately neither DfT nor TOC management nor unions seem to have any desire to sort the situation out.

I’m not aware of any instances of ‘unions’ blocking the creation of the extra jobs that result from ‘Sundays inside’.

 

[DelW]

I’m not aware of any instances of ‘unions’ blocking the creation of the extra jobs that result from ‘Sundays inside’.

As an outsider I don't know the details, but it's been suggested on these forums that unions' financial demands for making that change have been deemed unaffordable by DfT.

As a user of the railway I don't know or really care whose fault it is, but it makes the railway unusable on too many Sundays, meaning I have to travel on a different day or take my car instead, either of which cause me annoyance.

 

[Horizon22]

Unfortunately neither DfT nor TOC management nor unions seem to have any desire to sort the situation out.

ASLEF have generally supported a 7-day working week. But it will need to be comepnsated accordingly to accomodate for the current Sunday payments, which is something the DfT believes is unaffordable.

 

[scrapy]

ASLEF have generally supported a 7-day working week. But it will need to be comepnsated accordingly to accomodate for the current Sunday payments, which is something the DfT believes is unaffordable.

Yes both ASLEF and RMT want a proper 7 day working week. The TOCs that dont have this would need to employ approx 1/6 more drivers/guards/revenue staff to facilitate this. This comes with associated training, pension, additional management costs etc, so it is cheaper for them to rely on overtime to cover. It is more the DFT that doesnt want to/can't fund this. For example Northern would need around 90-100 extra drivers for the west side, and around 80 extra guards. This would be around 10 million a year in wages alone. Probably 20 million a year when other costs are brought in.

 

[Harpo]

Northern would need around 90-100 extra drivers for the west side, and around 80 extra guards. This would be around 10 million a year in wages alone. Probably 20 million a year when other costs are brought in.

Only if Sundays are currently completely unpaid.

 

[Llandudno]

Only if Sundays are currently completely unpaid.

and no extra revenue was taken…