Why Does Cross Country Keep Having "Issues With Train Crew” on Nottingham to Cardiff?

[Envoy]

I see that Cross Country have cancelled yet again a service between Birmingham and Cardiff - on today - of all days - when Taylor Swift is in the Principality Stadium. RTT states that this is due to an “issue with Train Crew”. What are these issues that seem to crop up on a regular occurrence on this route?

Realtime Trains | 1V04 0704 Nottingham to Cardiff Central | 18/06/2024

Real-time train running information for 1V04 0704 departure from Nottingham to Cardiff Central on 18/06/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I also note that this would have been the only 4 coach service to Cardiff by XC today and no attempt appears to have been made to allocate any extra rolling stock to this route today apart from the normal 3 coach 170’s. Goodness knows how crowded these trains will be with all the fans plus normal travellers? Presumably XC were aware of this concert in Cardiff today (18 June 2014)? I thought that they now had extra Voyagers. Could they not have been allocated to the route?

Roll on the day when Grand Union start their services on the Cardiff > Gloucester >Birmingham > York > Newcastle > Edinburgh route.

 

[NewarkRed]

XC are short of Drivers.

 

[Spartacus]

I see that Cross Country have cancelled yet again a service between Birmingham and Cardiff - on today - of all days - when Taylor Swift is in the Principality Stadium. RTT states that this is due to an “issue with Train Crew”. What are these issues that seem to crop up on a regular occurrence on this route?

Realtime Trains | 1V04 0704 Nottingham to Cardiff Central | 18/06/2024

Real-time train running information for 1V04 0704 departure from Nottingham to Cardiff Central on 18/06/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I also note that this would have been the only 4 coach service to Cardiff by XC today and no attempt appears to have been made to allocate any extra rolling stock to this route today apart from the normal 3 coach 170’s. Goodness knows how crowded these trains will be with all the fans plus normal travellers? Presumably XC were aware of this concert in Cardiff today (18 June 2014)? I thought that they now had extra Voyagers. Could they not have been allocated to the route?

Roll on the day when Grand Union start their services on the Cardiff > Gloucester >Birmingham > York > Newcastle > Edinburgh route.

Simple shortage of crews.

I notice the stock's gone to form 1M00 and 1L98 which both started from BHM (again driver shortage) but presumably might not have run at all had there not been stock to form them at New Street. Those extra Voyagers will already be spoken for on the NE/SWs, which have been crowded pretty sell since the things were introduced.

If Grand Union's anything like Grand Central you can expect little in the way of spare traincrew or rolling stock; it something happens with either it's usually cancellations & fingers crossed if there's any ticket acceptance.

 

[Envoy]

I thought that Cross Country had the highest paid drivers in the land? Surely plenty of people would like that job? Are they just reluctant to train people or what?

 

[Weekender]

There has been a shortage of traincrew on this route since well before Covid. Probably nearly 10 years now. Cross Country doesn’t appear to have any interest in running this service at all.

 

[Rikki Lamb]

There has been a shortage of traincrew on this route since well before Covid. Probably nearly 10 years now. Cross Country doesn’t appear to have any interest in running this service at all.

Could say the same.for all their services. They are appalling but then again anything Arriva tends to be in one way or another.

 

[RailWonderer]

I've always found it odd how Avanti and even TPE get far more DfT scrutiny than XC. How can a key long distance regional and IC operator be so forgotten? There's lack of funding, and there's operational incompetance. XC's woes can't all be put down to funding but organisation and training as well.

 

[ValleyLines142]

I see that Cross Country have cancelled yet again a service between Birmingham and Cardiff - on today - of all days - when Taylor Swift is in the Principality Stadium. RTT states that this is due to an “issue with Train Crew”. What are these issues that seem to crop up on a regular occurrence on this route?

Realtime Trains | 1V04 0704 Nottingham to Cardiff Central | 18/06/2024

Real-time train running information for 1V04 0704 departure from Nottingham to Cardiff Central on 18/06/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I also note that this would have been the only 4 coach service to Cardiff by XC today and no attempt appears to have been made to allocate any extra rolling stock to this route today apart from the normal 3 coach 170’s. Goodness knows how crowded these trains will be with all the fans plus normal travellers? Presumably XC were aware of this concert in Cardiff today (18 June 2014)? I thought that they now had extra Voyagers. Could they not have been allocated to the route?

Roll on the day when Grand Union start their services on the Cardiff > Gloucester >Birmingham > York > Newcastle > Edinburgh route.

TfW now hourly between Gloucester and Cardiff anyway so they will pick up the pieces (and in fairness, between 1000 and 1600 in this direction there is only one cancellation).

Coming back from Cardiff might be a different story.

 

[Royston Vasey]

There has been a shortage of traincrew on this route since well before Covid. Probably nearly 10 years now. Cross Country doesn’t appear to have any interest in running this service at all.

When TfW have such extensive routes into England as Birmingham/International, Crewe and Manchester, and have invested in a load of new and refurbished rolling stock (even if lots of it doesn't work), it's perhaps surprising that it hasn't made it into TfW hands by now for political reasons. It does make most sense to live at XC though as part of the 170 operations centred around the BHM hub.

Is there any interworking of Cardiff-Birmingham-Nottingham diagrams with Birmingham-Leicester-Birmingham-Stansted diagrams? I suppose the units cycling through Birmingham through the day gives some options when things go wrong even if not.

 

[Spartacus]

When TfW have such extensive routes into England as Birmingham/International, Crewe and Manchester, and have invested in a load of new and refurbished rolling stock (even if lots of it doesn't work), it's perhaps surprising that it hasn't made it into TfW hands by now for political reasons. It does make most sense to live at XC though as part of the 170 operations centred around the BHM hub.

Is there any interworking of Cardiff-Birmingham-Nottingham diagrams with Birmingham-Leicester-Birmingham-Stansted diagrams? I suppose the units cycling through Birmingham through the day gives some options when things go wrong even if not.

I suppose something akin to the old Scotrail/Northern split through Carlisle might be workable, though perhaps may not exactly be desirable by either.

 

[Mugby]

I seem to remember that in the early days of privatisation, the Birmingham to Cardiff route was operated as a 'Joint Service'

Was it Alphaline and Central Trains, or something like that?

 

[1D54]

I had this problem a few weeks ago with the first train out of Birmingham cancelled for the usual reason, just did the XC to Bristol Parkway and changed for a GWR service to Cardiff and it didn't really cost me much time at all.

 

[dk1]

I seem to remember that in the early days of privatisation, the Birmingham to Cardiff route was operated as a 'Joint Service'

Was it Alphaline and Central Trains, or something like that?

Alphaline was just a name given to class 158s routes that offered onboard phone, catering & air-conditioning. It was a Central Trains route.

 

[Envoy]

Alphaline was just a name given to class 158s routes that offered onboard phone, catering & air-conditioning. It was a Central Trains route.

Nope - it was a shared route between Central and Wales & Borders Trains.

 

[Farigiraf]

I've always found it odd how Avanti and even TPE get far more DfT scrutiny than XC. How can a key long distance regional and IC operator be so forgotten? There's lack of funding, and there's operational incompetance. XC's woes can't all be put down to funding but organisation and training as well.

Easy: they don't run to London

 

[Starmill]

Easy: they don't run to London

Neither for TPE...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2024 ==

I see that Cross Country have cancelled yet again a service between Birmingham and Cardiff - on today - of all days - when Taylor Swift is in the Principality Stadium. RTT states that this is due to an “issue with Train Crew”. What are these issues that seem to crop up on a regular occurrence on this route?

Realtime Trains | 1V04 0704 Nottingham to Cardiff Central | 18/06/2024

Real-time train running information for 1V04 0704 departure from Nottingham to Cardiff Central on 18/06/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I also note that this would have been the only 4 coach service to Cardiff by XC today and no attempt appears to have been made to allocate any extra rolling stock to this route today apart from the normal 3 coach 170’s. Goodness knows how crowded these trains will be with all the fans plus normal travellers? Presumably XC were aware of this concert in Cardiff today (18 June 2014)? I thought that they now had extra Voyagers. Could they not have been allocated to the route?

Roll on the day when Grand Union start their services on the Cardiff > Gloucester >Birmingham > York > Newcastle > Edinburgh route.

How many Swifties were you expecting to be departing from Cheltenham Spa at 0915? The 0945, a three car 197, and the 1015, a three car 170, will have covered them adequately. Sure it's inconvenience for some and it shouldn't be happening, and it could have caused those following two services to be busy, but nothing more.

 

[Farigiraf]

Neither for TPE...

TPE however had pretty much an entire scandal over cancellations, resulting in DfT takeover. Makes me think, is it time for DfT takeover of XC? Arriva clearly does not seem too interested in improving the frequency or reliability of its trains...

 

[dk1]

Nope - it was a shared route between Central and Wales & Borders Trains.

Was it? I don’t remember that. I know like now they operated in from the Wolverhampton direction but thought they didn’t go north of Cheltenham.

 

[Starmill]

TPE however had pretty much an entire scandal over cancellations, resulting in DfT takeover. Makes me think, is it time for DfT takeover of XC? Arriva clearly does not seem too interested in improving the frequency or reliability of its trains...

Reality of experience at the other operators is that takeovers cost money in one-off mobilisation costs and bring a benefit of zero. All of the money that would've been "spent" on Arriva's margin just gets transferred to the OLR providers' margins. It can also create disruption because if you TUPE your staff you cannot oblige them to remain in your employ, so you risk some leaving without working their standard notice (as there would be no notice to work).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2024 ==

I thought that Cross Country had the highest paid drivers in the land? Surely plenty of people would like that job? Are they just reluctant to train people or what?

They're not permitted to increase the number of driving roles available precisely because it's more expensive for them to do so than others.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2024 ==

I suppose something akin to the old Scotrail/Northern split through Carlisle might be workable, though perhaps may not exactly be desirable by either.

TfW have instead opted to use their expanded train crew to just run a full hourly service to at least Gloucester. This makes good sense given the circumstances.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2024 ==

TfW now hourly between Gloucester and Cardiff anyway so they will pick up the pieces (and in fairness, between 1000 and 1600 in this direction there is only one cancellation).

Coming back from Cardiff might be a different story.

Indeed. Luckily the 2312 is again expected to be a three car 197, and a relief service at 0005 has been provided tonight.

 

[riceuten]

I suppose it’s entirely possible that XC may be generous employers in terms of pay, but they may be unwilling to train and employ sufficient drivers to meet the timetable needs. Elsewhere, I have read about their lack of appropriate stock, but that’s for another thread. The reality is - as with many other services - that there is insufficient incentive on them - and by that, I mean senior management - to deliver.

 

[vicbury]

TfW now hourly between Gloucester and Cardiff anyway so they will pick up the pieces (and in fairness, between 1000 and 1600 in this direction there is only one cancellation).

Coming back from Cardiff might be a different story.

Except they aren't - for example there is no southbound TfW service getting into Cardiff at a reasonable time in the morning peak, leaving commuters reliant on CrossCountry.

TfW don't seem to care about the route at all. Yesterday I was at Cardiff Central, service to Cheltenham arrived slightly late, we all got on, and ten minutes later were all turfed off so it could go to Maesteg instead, delaying everyone by over an hour. Unbelievable.

TfW are also planning to cut their services and get more of the CrossCountry services to call at all stops.

It seems neither operator gives two hoots about the route.

 

[Sly Old Fox]

Basically, the railway doesn’t have enough staff and it continues to aggravate the ones they do have.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Except they aren't - for example there is no southbound TfW service getting into Cardiff at a reasonable time in the morning peak, leaving commuters reliant on CrossCountry.

There is a 0746 from Cheltenham getting into Cardiff at just after 9am.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Was it? I don’t remember that. I know like now they operated in from the Wolverhampton direction but thought they didn’t go north of Cheltenham.

Wales & Borders (branded as Alphaline) ran between Birmingham and Cardiff, and Central Trains ran between Nottingham and Cardiff.

 

[Snow1964]

I see that Cross Country have cancelled yet again a service between Birmingham and Cardiff - on today - RTT states that this is due to an “issue with Train Crew”. What are these issues that seem to crop up on a regular occurrence on this route?

XC are short of Drivers.

Pedant mode, the cancelled train didn't have issue with train crew, there wasn't one, so the crew couldn't be cause of issue.

Should be lack of crew, not the crew that were there caused an issue, which is what the reason implies.

 

[dk1]

Wales & Borders (branded as Alphaline) ran between Birmingham and Cardiff, and Central Trains ran between Nottingham and Cardiff.

Cheers. I must’ve missed those years.

 

[Envoy]

According to RTT, Cross Country have already cancelled the 11.45 from Cardiff to Nottingham due to the “late arrival of an in bound service”. How can you have the late arrival of an in bound service in late morning when it is only 8am (present time)? Does this mean that this train will be turned around at Newport and will passengers in Cardiff be informed of this & make their way to Newport on another carrier? (I saw this happen last year with no information given to passengers to head to Newport. This left some people stuck in Cardiff for an hour waiting for the next XC service).

I also note that some of the trains on this route are only 2 coaches today.

 

[800001]

According to RTT, Cross Country have already cancelled the 11.45 from Cardiff to Nottingham due to the “late arrival of an in bound service”. How can you have the late arrival of an in bound service in late morning when it is only 8am (present time)? Does this mean that this train will be turned around at Newport and will passengers in Cardiff be informed of this & make their way to Newport on another carrier? (I saw this happen last year with no information given to passengers to head to Newport. This left some people stuck in Cardiff for an hour waiting for the next XC service).

I also note that some of the trains on this route are only 2 coaches today.

I would hazard a guess, the wrong delay code has been input, or a mistake, as the service to form this train has just departed Nottingham.

5 services each way all day are 2 car trains, with majority being 3/4 coach services.

 

[Spartacus]

According to RTT, Cross Country have already cancelled the 11.45 from Cardiff to Nottingham due to the “late arrival of an in bound service”. How can you have the late arrival of an in bound service in late morning when it is only 8am (present time)?

It's just RTT being RTT, as usual with this sort of thing. I really wish people didn't take it so literally. Cancelled due to inward stock being terminated at BHM.

 

[LowLevel]

Cheers. I must’ve missed those years.

2004 or so I think it moved to being an hourly Central service. I remember catching an uncomfortably busy 158 on a Bridgend to Birmingham direct train shortly before then.