Northern's Problems in the North West

[Bwlch y Groes]

If it is correct that Northern have failed to renew the RDW agreement, and if that is the basic reason why they do not have enough drivers, how are any of those other factors of any particular relevance ?

I don't know the circumstances but Northern failing to renew the RDW agreement clearly didn't happen in isolation. I can't imagine "management" just decided "OK, we'll not have a RDW agreement tomorrow, that's fine - it won't cause any problems". There will have been a reason, and I suspect it comes down to negotiations with ASLEF not being completed. To speculate, if ASLEF were making entirely unreasonable demands for a new RDW agreement, knowing full well that they hold all the cards for DCO in the future, is it therefore Northern's fault to allow this to lapse?

And it's not like Northern can go out and recruit a load more staff at this point - even ignoring the training, the numbers of staff in the business are essentially regulated by the DfT as part of the franchise agreement. Staff numbers in other parts of the business seem to be being reduced to make up for recruiting more drivers and conductors in order to run more services. I'd suggest "Northern management" have their hands tied here. This is why all the threats from politicians like Burnham about investigations and having the franchise taken off them are totally lame, especially those coming from Tory MPs - Northern's poor service in the North West is a logical conclusion of the franchise agreement

Is a sense isn't that what will happen anyway for next Thursday and Saturday when the RMT members are on strike even if the emergency timetable contains more replacement buses than trains?

Well yeah, they're busy doing those timetables, which they have to do. You'll note they haven't been confirmed yet, and the strike was announced over a week ago. We can't just suddenly roll out an emergency timetable like that. My point is that they already have extra unplanned work on top of the huge amount of work they're already coping with, simply because Network Rail are trying to achieve so much and failing to achieve any of it - and then you want even more on top of that. I'm pretty sure it's not physically possible - by the time it would be sorted, we could have a new RDW agreement in place anyway and everything will be back to relative normality

 

[Jimmy Foster]

I don't know the circumstances but Northern failing to renew the RDW agreement clearly didn't happen in isolation. I can't imagine "management" just decided "OK, we'll not have a RDW agreement tomorrow, that's fine - it won't cause any problems". There will have been a reason, and I suspect it comes down to negotiations with ASLEF not being completed. To speculate, if ASLEF were making entirely unreasonable demands for a new RDW agreement, knowing full well that they hold all the cards for DCO in the future, is it therefore Northern's fault to allow this to lapse?

And it's not like Northern can go out and recruit a load more staff at this point - even ignoring the training, the numbers of staff in the business are essentially regulated by the DfT as part of the franchise agreement. Staff numbers in other parts of the business seem to be being reduced to make up for recruiting more drivers and conductors in order to run more services. I'd suggest "Northern management" have their hands tied here. This is why all the threats from politicians like Burnham about investigations and having the franchise taken off them are totally lame, especially those coming from Tory MPs - Northern's poor service in the North West is a logical conclusion of the franchise agreement



Well yeah, they're busy doing those timetables, which they have to do. You'll note they haven't been confirmed yet, and the strike was announced over a week ago. We can't just suddenly roll out an emergency timetable like that. My point is that they already have extra unplanned work on top of the huge amount of work they're already coping with, simply because Network Rail are trying to achieve so much and failing to achieve any of it - and then you want even more on top of that. I'm pretty sure it's not physically possible - by the time it would be sorted, we could have a new RDW agreement in place anyway and everything will be back to relative normality

The RDW agreement exists between the company and ASLEF so the fact that it wasn't renewed is down to both sides. Both ASLEF and Northern want a RDW agreement but obviously both want it on their own terms - my understanding is that ALSEF demanded a truck load of cash for nothing in return and the company decided to take a stand hoping that drivers would push their reps for RDW to be reinstated, forcing ASLEF back to the table where the company could then negotiate more sensible terms. The colossal cock up that the management in Blackpool made in failing to plan for the reopening of the line properly is causing all of these cancellations at the moment and forcing the company to beg ASLEF for a deal. Ultimately, even if RDW is reinstated and cancellations drop, it is passengers and taxpayers who will end up paying the cost of this deal.

 

[TrW]

I'll largely refrain from my own opinions, but it's worth pointing out that planning are absolutely swamped with work at the moment and it's not necessarily the fault of Northern. Obviously they have had to rewrite the entire timetable in the last few weeks due to the electrification work overrunning, which took up a huge amount of time. The same electrification work has led to most weekends requiring a replacement timetable for services through Bolton and Atherton, and this will continue into the summer. You've also got major engineering work at Lime Street in June and July with multiple stages of work and service availability, and emergency timetables have been needed for Blackpool too. On top of that, there's two or three strike days a month, the next two days being done on a very short turn-around based on the new timetables and so requiring a complete rewrite of previous plans. And some of you are expecting an emergency timetable to be created for the entirety of the North West at short notice?

To me, that's where the real impact of the strikes is. Yes, the front line services get scaled back for a day, which is pretty significant, but things usually run smoothly. The biggest effect is on the behind-the-scenes functions. You've got managers who have had to take time out to become emergency conductors. You've got work being put off for days or weeks to prepare for strikes, as well as the additional workload of preparing for strike days. And it squeezes the budgets too, which means departments have less time and resources to work with

Customers recognise that the strikes are happening, and they recognise that Northern are appearing incompetent and not presenting themselves well, but they don't seem to be putting two and two together. All they see is the direct impact of the strikes to their service on a strike day

It's easy to blame one body at this stage, whether it be that broad sweeping generalisation of "management", the unions, "Arriva", or Network Rail. It's a lot more complicated than that and I don't think anyone truly knows exactly where the source of it is, if there even is one source. Certainly Chinese whispers through customers have led to some really outlandish theories about what's going on, but aside from the company, no one is really making any effort to provide any explanations or tackle these urban myths - the media are just riding the hostility to sell papers and get clicks, and it also really isn't helping having politicians in the region stoking up ill feeling in the public with vague threats. A lot of the more ridiculous theories go unchallenged and some of them have grown roots - some are still convinced there are no new trains on the way. I'm not one for the whole "fake news" thing, but as someone pointed out earlier, people only want to hear what they want to hear with the railways at the moment; in my job I'm routinely called a liar for providing factual explanations, and it makes you feel entirely powerless in challenging absurd theories and assertions

It's making for a very uncomfortable, emotionally-charged atmosphere on the frontline - while I appreciate the disruption is enormously frustrating and inconvenient, the anger is directly falling on the wrong people, and I'm worried it's going to boil over and something serious could happen

I feel bad that your managers have to sully themselves a few days a month outside their gilded offices; and you receive anger for routinely failing to deliver a service you have charged for but as someone directly affected by these issues I would say it is a lot more than inconvenient and frustrating.

 

[Eccles1983]

The RDW agreement exists between the company and ASLEF so the fact that it wasn't renewed is down to both sides. Both ASLEF and Northern want a RDW agreement but obviously both want it on their own terms - my understanding is that ALSEF demanded a truck load of cash for nothing in return and the company decided to take a stand hoping that drivers would push their reps for RDW to be reinstated, forcing ASLEF back to the table where the company could then negotiate more sensible terms. The colossal cock up that the management in Blackpool made in failing to plan for the reopening of the line properly is causing all of these cancellations at the moment and forcing the company to beg ASLEF for a deal. Ultimately, even if RDW is reinstated and cancellations drop, it is passengers and taxpayers who will end up paying the cost of this deal.

Utter rubbish.

A truck load of cash? Rubbish.

What was demanded was an existing promise to work out a new establishment calculator and a retention package. Both of which were promised in the last pay deal.

Northern refused to do this, and even got an extention in order to sort it out. It refused.

 

[driver_m]

Thing is, when Northern did have a rest day agreement, did they get the logjam of drivers who didn't sign whatever routes and traction sorted out? Was told many a time, of tension due to the newer drivers only signing core routes and sat twiddling their thumbs whilst the more experienced drivers were constantly out on these other routes? In other words, fixing the roof whilst the sun shone?

 

[Bletchleyite]

FWIW even if they aren't in a position to change things they would garner more respect from passengers if they would honestly and openly;

1. State what the problem actually is;
2. Explain what steps they are taking to solve the problem;
(2a. If necessary, outline some intermediate steps such as a move to plan the cancellations more in advance so people know where they are);
3. Explain the planned timescales for those steps to be completed.

The fact that they don't suggests to me that they are simply floundering and incompetent.

 

[Starmill]

I'm no clearer on the technical causes of the problem now than I was at the start of this thread, frankly.

 

[Starmill]

The fact that they don't suggests to me that they are simply floundering and incompetent.

Even GTR, who were widely regarded as having far bigger issues with performance and with industrial relations, came up with an emergency timetable.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Even GTR, who were widely regarded as having far bigger issues with performance and with industrial relations, came up with an emergency timetable.

Indeed, and communicated about it.

 

[scrapy]

The RDW agreement exists between the company and ASLEF so the fact that it wasn't renewed is down to both sides. Both ASLEF and Northern want a RDW agreement but obviously both want it on their own terms - my understanding is that ALSEF demanded a truck load of cash for nothing in return and the company decided to take a stand hoping that drivers would push their reps for RDW to be reinstated, forcing ASLEF back to the table where the company could then negotiate more sensible terms. The colossal cock up that the management in Blackpool made in failing to plan for the reopening of the line properly is causing all of these cancellations at the moment and forcing the company to beg ASLEF for a deal. Ultimately, even if RDW is reinstated and cancellations drop, it is passengers and taxpayers who will end up paying the cost of this deal.

The general feeling amongst Northern staff I've spoken to is that the electrification delays which Northern have encountered a bit of a smokescreen. Had electrification of Bolton been completed now and Northern need to implement it's full franchise required timetables there is no way they would be able to staff it.

ASLEF reps say that the rest day agreement was allowed to expire by the company website the company wanted to renegotiate it not the other way round. The agreement was dependant on rest day work only being used to cover training and to allow annual leave to be taken. However it was unlikely to be renewed anyway as Northern were simply using it to cover for not having enough drivers and Northern have repeatedly failed to address this.

 

[northwichcat]

The general feeling amongst Northern staff I've spoken to is that the electrification delays which Northern have encountered a bit of a smokescreen. Had electrification of Bolton been completed now and Northern need to implement it's full franchise required timetables there is no way they would be able to staff it.

Indeed. Northern should be complaining that due to Network Rail delays they have employed a load of drivers and guards who'll be sitting around doing nothing next week, not complaining that due to Network Rail delays they are behind schedule with driver training. I suspect the reason you suggest is why Northern are holding back on some Sunday improvements, despite having sufficient rolling stock to run the additional services.

 

[northwichcat]

Andy Burnham on Granada Reports just now saying he's received an email from a whistle blower which says about the rest day agreement and also that drivers are made aware of cancellations the day before they actually happen, despite passengers not knowing until the actual day.

 

[scrapy]

Indeed. Northern should be complaining that due to Network Rail delays they have employed a load of drivers and guards who'll be sitting around doing nothing next week, not complaining that due to Network Rail delays they are behind schedule with driver training. I suspect the reason you suggest is why Northern are holding back on some Sunday improvements, despite having sufficient rolling stock to run the additional services.

When Arriva took over the franchise ASLEF offered Northern a proposal to include Sundays as part of the working week. Northern said they couldn't afford this (more because it would mean taking on extra drivers than ASLEF asking for pay rises, in return the extra days worked would have been banked and a week of rest days given back every so many weeks).
Unlike guards on the west side drivers have to work their Sundays unless they could be covered.

Northern simply covered additional Sunday turns by forcing them into the rostas and under the drivers contracts they had to work them. However because of how the rostas work they can only do this so much (for example they can't force in a Sunday when a driver is late on the Saturday and early on the Monday).

They are now struggling to put more Sundays into rostas so unless more drivers are recruited (which could have been done 2 years ago) they struggle to cover franchise requirements such as hourly to Stoke and Chester. When Blackburn drivers are fully trained this will allow a bit more flexibility although I'm not sure how they intended to cover everything.

 

[scrapy]

Andy Burnham on Granada Reports just now saying he's received an email from a whistle blower which says about the rest day agreement and also that drivers are made aware of cancellations the day before they actually happen, despite passengers not knowing until the actual day.

Drivers are aware which turns are uncovered 72 hours before but are probably unaware how spare turns will be used by managers until the day. At smaller depots such as Barrow and Buxton drivers will be able to have a good guess which trains will be cancelled well in advance.

 

[northernchris]

FWIW even if they aren't in a position to change things they would garner more respect from passengers if they would honestly and openly;

1. State what the problem actually is;
2. Explain what steps they are taking to solve the problem;
(2a. If necessary, outline some intermediate steps such as a move to plan the cancellations more in advance so people know where they are);
3. Explain the planned timescales for those steps to be completed.

The fact that they don't suggests to me that they are simply floundering and incompetent.

Indeed, Northern are being very quiet about the mess they are in. It's also concerning to read crew will be booking on at the current timetable times from next week, as not only will this presumably be depot wide, but goes against the copy+paste response on their Twitter feed that cancellations will reduce.

PPM is beyond poor, and someone needs to acknowledge this and explain what is being done to get things back to where they were 12 months ago. It's also concerning that as well as the delays and cancellations there's also frequent short forms, strikes, backlogs for complaints and a Twitter team that's so swamped they are taking 2-3 hours to respond - so in most cases aren't able to help. Then there's the debate over whether PTE products are covered by delay repay......

The current mess has gone way beyond RDW and will take a lot more than a bit of overtime to resolve

 

[Bungle965]

Latest letter from the Mayor.
Sam

 

[Bwlch y Groes]

If this is just going to devolve into a slanging match via the media, no one will win from this

 

[Bovverboy]

Andy Burnham seems to be as good as repeating what I said nearly three days ago.

Have I got this right? Northern drivers can't work rest days (except on Sundays) because there isn't an RDW (Rest Day Working) agreement in place between themselves and Northern, and Northern don't want an RDW agreement because it's more profitable to run half a train service than a full one.
As for the strikes, I do get the impression that Northern, and, probably, all the other affected TOCs, want them more than the crews.

 

[Bovverboy]

You probably won't be impressed by this...

​

18 May 2018


Northern Update May 18
As you may be aware our plans for modernisation are not all being delivered in the way we want. This is hugely frustrating for everyone that works at Northern and I know that this is causing some customers significant disruption and inconvenience and I’d like to apologise for this.

Sadly, Network Rail has not delivered all the improvements to the railway that they were supposed to and the biggest improvement project is now two years late. We are working hard with them to fix this as quickly as possible.

This work is essential so that we can start running our new £500m fleet of trains and so that we can phase out very old trains like the Pacers. This will mean that we will be able to deliver the extra and better services our customers deserve and expect. We are doing everything we can to get things back on track as quickly as possible for our customers across the North.

Northern’s modernisation plan

Northern is committed to modernising rail travel across the north with new or refurbished trains, removal of Pacer trains, better stations and 2,200 extra train services a week by 2020. These modernisation plans depend upon the on-time delivery of new or upgraded rail infrastructure by Network Rail. The increase in these train services are delivered each year during May and December when national timetables change across the UK. For Northern, the May 2018 timetable change was planned to be a key milestone in delivering more services.

Service improvement delays

Frustratingly, Network Rail announced in January 2018, a further delay to the biggest infrastructure project necessary for Northern’s modernisation, the electrification of the Manchester to Preston route via Bolton. This brings the delay to completion of this project to two years and, in the short-term, severely impacts our plans to increase services and capacity across the network. This is because we are unable to run electric trains along the Bolton corridor (until electrification is completed) and therefore we are having to reallocate diesel trains from elsewhere to continue to be able run these services, rather than them being available to enhance services elsewhere. As a result, whilst we will be delivering an increase of 1,300 new services a week from May 18, disappointingly for customers, 900 new services a week will not be delivered until December 2018.

For Northern’s train planners, the electrification delay was also a major set-back, leaving them less than four months to fully re-plan our May 18 timetable, less than half the normal time required. Unfortunately, due to this condensed planning time some routes will see a deterioration in timetabled services. This also means that opportunities for resolving last-minute train scheduling problems have not been available. Therefore, we are not able to make even minor changes to train times for several months, whereas a normal timetable process would have allowed for this.

May 18 timetable change will see around 90% of our services change and an extra 1,300 train services introduced across our network, the biggest change to local rail for many years. This is a significant operational challenge, and given the late nature of the planning for this, we do expect some localised service disruption, which could happen at very short-notice whilst the new timetable beds in. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure we minimise any service disruption and keep customers informed. Over the last four weeks we have been focused on ensuring our customers know that timetables are changing with a ‘check before you travel’ message across stations, trains and online channels.

Driver availability

Northern has 1,529 trained drivers, 180 more than when we started the franchise in April 2016. However, availability of drivers to operate timetabled services has been an issue over the last few weeks in some locations for two unexpected reasons.

Firstly, the completion of the electrification of the Blackpool to Preston line by Network Rail was delayed at the last minute, by three weeks, which meant that driver training became a real challenge. Before trains can operate on new lines, drivers have to undergo essential safety related route training, and for Blackpool this meant training 400+ drivers from all depots who operate this route. This means that some drivers are unavailable for their normal train driving duties whilst they are undergoing this training.

Secondly, we have been unable to ask our drivers to work on their Rest Days for the last three months. Rest Day Working is a normal industry practice adopted when there are short-term training requirements, which enables us to absorb those exceptional or last-minute training needs, and provide additional flexibility for train driver rosters.

The combination of these two factors has meant that we have faced a shortage of available drivers in a number of locations which has, unfortunately, led to a far higher level of delays and cancellations to train services. We’re sorry for these delays and cancellations and we are working hard to complete our driver training. We are also working with our colleagues and ASLEF with a view to getting Rest Day Working reinstated, which in turn will further help improve driver availability.

I hope this update provides you with a good overview of our current position.

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[Carlisle]

Andy Burnham on Granada Reports just now saying he's received an email from a whistle blower which says about the rest day agreement and also that drivers are made aware of cancellations the day before they actually happen, despite passengers not knowing until the actual day.

Maybe so, but I doubt there’ll be too many folk aside from fellow train drivers that really sympathise with or accept the idea that it’s their unions right to instruct them whether they can or can’t work overtime in the absence of an official ballot/ dispute. Most emplpyees are informed of overtime rates on taking a job and it’s then a personal decision if they wish to work it or not .

 

[Loop & Link]

Maybe so, but I doubt there’ll be too many folk aside from fellow train drivers that really sympathise with or accept the idea that it’s their unions right to instruct them whether they can or can’t work overtime in the absence of an official ballot/ dispute. Most emplpyees are informed of overtime rates on taking a job and it’s then a personal decision if they wish to work it or not .

You still don’t get it

 

[Carlisle]

You still don’t get it

Doesn’t really matter if I do or don’t, this weeks government decisions to nationalise VTEC and limit the maximum stake on FOBTEs to £2 suggests at least some members of the current administration vaguely see the bigger picture on what working class life is really about these days, rather than simply appeasing a few minority interest groups trying to outmanoeuvr certain policies in order to enjoy a slightly easier working life

 

[B&I]

Doesn’t really matter if I do or don’t, this weeks government decisions to nationalise VTEC and limit the maximum stake on FOBTEs to £2 suggests at least some members of the current administration vaguely see the bigger picture on what working class life is really about these days, not just a few minority interest groups trying to outmanoeuvr certain policies for a slightly easier life

For the third time, can you produce any evidence at all that ASLEF are responsible for the RDW agreement being withdrawn ?

You were already making yourself look partisan with your fanatical hatred of trade unions. Now your suggestion that the current government is interested in any way in the lives of working people confirms the impression

 

[Bletchleyite]

Secondly, we have been unable to ask our drivers to work on their Rest Days for the last three months.

THREE MONTHS

That's enough time to decide on a plan of regular cancellations and publish it, is it not? That is, an emergency timetable?

Wilful incompetence.

 

[B&I]

If this is just going to devolve into a slanging match via the media, no one will win from this

So what do you expect everyone to do ? Sit nicely with their mouths zipped while Northern get round to actually running a rail service ? If what Burnham says is correct, it is in Northern's financial interest to go on running a poor service. If politicians intervening might lead to some change to that, then intervene away, politicians

 

[Bwlch y Groes]

THREE MONTHS

That's enough time to decide on a plan of regular cancellations and publish it, is it not? That is, an emergency timetable?

Wilful incompetence.

But there haven't been frequent cancellations (to the extent we've seen in the last couple of weeks) in the last three months, have there? Why would there be any need for an emergency timetable with only a small number of related cancellations? What's tipped this over the edge is clearly the Blackpool-Preston training - yes, there's an element of not being prepared for that, of course, but the timescales being changed as a result of the work overrunning has clearly had an impact

As other posters have pointed out, you need to look at why the RDW agreement wasn't renewed. It didn't just happen because "Northern management" felt like it

So what do you expect everyone to do ? Sit nicely with their mouths zipped while Northern get round to actually running a rail service ? If what Burnham says is correct, it is in Northern's financial interest to go on running a poor service. If politicians intervening might lead to some change to that, then intervene away, politicians

Andy Burnham has no interest in this other than strengthening the position of Andy Burnham. He's exploiting the legitimate frustrations of Northern passengers with wilfully misleading letters like this, knowing full well how this will be reported by the media. Northern are being thrown under the bus here - there are far bigger issues that are creating this crisis, and absolutely nothing can be resolved by dragging this into the open

Seriously, what's going to be your panacea? Nationalisation? A nationalised Northern still would have to deal with ASLEF, RMT and DCO, it still would have to deal with Pacers and Sprinters, it would still have to deal with Network Rail's poor work, and it would still have to deal with new timetables and TPE getting priority with their enhancements. Most importantly, it would still be controlled by the DfT

There's no magic wand solution here. If Burnham wants this problem to go away, then he should get TfGM to increase their subsidies to give us some resources to work with. But he won't, because that doesn't win votes

 

[Red Devil]

For the umpteenth time. The RDW agreement wasn't withdrawn, it finished and wasn't renewed.
The fact that drivers RDW is decided by the union is idiosyncratic to the railway. ASLEF have tried to prevent the industry being run on overtime. It harks back to the days of drivers working 13 days 12hrs a day to make a decent wage. It is also shown that drivers working every rest day are more prone to operational incidents. Complacency sets in. That's why they try if they can to restrict rdw towards training and recruitment

 

[Robertj21a]

You probably won't be impressed by this...

​

18 May 2018


Northern Update May 18
As you may be aware our plans for modernisation are not all being delivered in the way we want. This is hugely frustrating for everyone that works at Northern and I know that this is causing some customers significant disruption and inconvenience and I’d like to apologise for this.

Sadly, Network Rail has not delivered all the improvements to the railway that they were supposed to and the biggest improvement project is now two years late. We are working hard with them to fix this as quickly as possible.

This work is essential so that we can start running our new £500m fleet of trains and so that we can phase out very old trains like the Pacers. This will mean that we will be able to deliver the extra and better services our customers deserve and expect. We are doing everything we can to get things back on track as quickly as possible for our customers across the North.

Northern’s modernisation plan

Northern is committed to modernising rail travel across the north with new or refurbished trains, removal of Pacer trains, better stations and 2,200 extra train services a week by 2020. These modernisation plans depend upon the on-time delivery of new or upgraded rail infrastructure by Network Rail. The increase in these train services are delivered each year during May and December when national timetables change across the UK. For Northern, the May 2018 timetable change was planned to be a key milestone in delivering more services.

Service improvement delays

Frustratingly, Network Rail announced in January 2018, a further delay to the biggest infrastructure project necessary for Northern’s modernisation, the electrification of the Manchester to Preston route via Bolton. This brings the delay to completion of this project to two years and, in the short-term, severely impacts our plans to increase services and capacity across the network. This is because we are unable to run electric trains along the Bolton corridor (until electrification is completed) and therefore we are having to reallocate diesel trains from elsewhere to continue to be able run these services, rather than them being available to enhance services elsewhere. As a result, whilst we will be delivering an increase of 1,300 new services a week from May 18, disappointingly for customers, 900 new services a week will not be delivered until December 2018.

For Northern’s train planners, the electrification delay was also a major set-back, leaving them less than four months to fully re-plan our May 18 timetable, less than half the normal time required. Unfortunately, due to this condensed planning time some routes will see a deterioration in timetabled services. This also means that opportunities for resolving last-minute train scheduling problems have not been available. Therefore, we are not able to make even minor changes to train times for several months, whereas a normal timetable process would have allowed for this.

May 18 timetable change will see around 90% of our services change and an extra 1,300 train services introduced across our network, the biggest change to local rail for many years. This is a significant operational challenge, and given the late nature of the planning for this, we do expect some localised service disruption, which could happen at very short-notice whilst the new timetable beds in. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure we minimise any service disruption and keep customers informed. Over the last four weeks we have been focused on ensuring our customers know that timetables are changing with a ‘check before you travel’ message across stations, trains and online channels.

Driver availability

Northern has 1,529 trained drivers, 180 more than when we started the franchise in April 2016. However, availability of drivers to operate timetabled services has been an issue over the last few weeks in some locations for two unexpected reasons.

Firstly, the completion of the electrification of the Blackpool to Preston line by Network Rail was delayed at the last minute, by three weeks, which meant that driver training became a real challenge. Before trains can operate on new lines, drivers have to undergo essential safety related route training, and for Blackpool this meant training 400+ drivers from all depots who operate this route. This means that some drivers are unavailable for their normal train driving duties whilst they are undergoing this training.

Secondly, we have been unable to ask our drivers to work on their Rest Days for the last three months. Rest Day Working is a normal industry practice adopted when there are short-term training requirements, which enables us to absorb those exceptional or last-minute training needs, and provide additional flexibility for train driver rosters.

The combination of these two factors has meant that we have faced a shortage of available drivers in a number of locations which has, unfortunately, led to a far higher level of delays and cancellations to train services. We’re sorry for these delays and cancellations and we are working hard to complete our driver training. We are also working with our colleagues and ASLEF with a view to getting Rest Day Working reinstated, which in turn will further help improve driver availability.

I hope this update provides you with a good overview of our current position.

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At the risk of incurring the wrath of many on here, I'd have to say that it's good to see a clear, well-written, communication. I still don't understand why RDW can't be reinstated.

 

[philthetube]

But there haven't been frequent cancellations (to the extent we've seen in the last couple of weeks) in the last three months, have there? Why would there be any need for an emergency timetable with only a small number of related cancellations? What's tipped this over the edge is clearly the Blackpool-Preston training - yes, there's an element of not being prepared for that, of course, but the timescales being changed as a result of the work overrunning has clearly had an impact

As other posters have pointed out, you need to look at why the RDW agreement wasn't renewed. It didn't just happen because "Northern management" felt like it




Andy Burnham has no interest in this other than strengthening the position of Andy Burnham. He's exploiting the legitimate frustrations of Northern passengers with wilfully misleading letters like this, knowing full well how this will be reported by the media. Northern are being thrown under the bus here - there are far bigger issues that are creating this crisis, and absolutely nothing can be resolved by dragging this into the open

Seriously, what's going to be your panacea? Nationalisation? A nationalised Northern still would have to deal with ASLEF, RMT and DCO, it still would have to deal with Pacers and Sprinters, it would still have to deal with Network Rail's poor work, and it would still have to deal with new timetables and TPE getting priority with their enhancements. Most importantly, it would still be controlled by the DfT

There's no magic wand solution here. If Burnham wants this problem to go away, then he should get TfGM to increase their subsidies to give us some resources to work with. But he won't, because that doesn't win votes

I assume you;
a) work on the railways and
b) don't pay tax in Manchester

Mayors don't have unlimited funds with which to prop up companies incompetence, and it is their job to get involved in in issues which affect the residents of the town/city they represent.

He has written letters which will hopefully forct the dft to do something about the situation and bring the issues to the forefront, If the dft say nothing it will embarrass them, if they pass on the blame it will embarrass others, even a slanging match is better than everyone sitting and letting it happen as seems to be currently the case.
His complaint is with northern, if they have a complaint against dft or network rail then that is up to them. This is just the same principle as you buying a pair of Wrangler jeans and finding a fault, you complain the the shop you bought it from, not to Wrangler.

Most people don't card who's fault it is, they dust don't want constant incompetence and excuses from people who appear not to care or cannot be bothered to get off their bums and sort out the mess.

 

[jamesst]

Maybe so, but I doubt there’ll be too many folk aside from fellow train drivers that really sympathise with or accept the idea that it’s their unions right to instruct them whether they can or can’t work overtime in the absence of an official ballot/ dispute. Most emplpyees are informed of overtime rates on taking a job and it’s then a personal decision if they wish to work it or not .

Explained simply...
The company I work for has enough drivers to cover all services. We also have a rest day working agreement. If the agreement ran out then there would still be enough drivers to cover all services. More leave would probably be knocked back but the service wouldn't suffer because there are enough drivers to cover the basic timetable.

At Northern there aren't enough drivers to cover the basic timetable without relying on rest day working. If any company is willing to rely on rest day working instead of employing enough staff in the first place then that frankly is the companies own fault. And yes it's the passengers that suffer.