What a surprise. Only GTR could realise with around 3 weeks to go that TL didn't have anywhere near enough drivers to fulfil the new timetable and have to desperately try to recruit drivers from Southern. But, it's all the staff's fault of course.
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Southern Rail STRIKE details
- Thread starter Ernest
- Start date
What a surprise. Only GTR could realise with around 3 weeks to go that TL didn't have anywhere near enough drivers to fulfil the new timetable and have to desperately try to recruit drivers from Southern. But, it's all the staff's fault of course.
Sorrel
Well-known member
My commute to London via Southern has been the best its been for years this week. They've added trains on my route and as they don't all stop at Gatwick they've not been packed.
The Large One
Who's Next?
"Me, me, me...". Thank you Peter Wilkinson.
The fact is, the unions and staff went on strike to try and prevent the very thing which is now happening - in short, they wre right the whole time. This is nothing to do with 'power games' and everything to do with health, safety and accessibility to all. Which is what the staff were saying from day one. Highlighting your own wanton ignorance doesn't help anyone - least of all you.
I'll let those who are being refused access to the trains (those in wheelchairs, the lederly, the ill, pregnant women etc.), or being left abandoned on the trains after it has stopped at their stop, or those who have been told that their journey will be completed in an unsuitable private van, that there are those like you who don't give a shit about them. It would show YOU are part of the problem as well. But no, you carry on and create your own narrative, based on not giving a toss about those around you.
As for Simster's meaningless twaddle (Christ, if anyone's in an ivory tower, it's him), it doesn't matter whether I have a £4,000 commuter season ticket or use the trains every day (which I do) for a shorter journey, the fact is - he hasn't got to the nub of what's going on, except with his own experiences, which is typical of him. The reality is - there is a bigger issue at play here, one neither he nor you 'give a shit' about. As long as you're OK...
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,014
i thought they went on strike over a change to job role. i dont think i've been on a train that didnt have an OBS, except once when there was some massive stuff up on the network so the train ran instead of cancelled. dont recall the strike being over future train service changes.
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The mornings this week into London Bridge were great - more trains, 10-15 mins faster and not crowded.
The evening returns were dogshite. Every other Thameslink train seemed to be cancelled, slow running, overcrowded etc.
Only bit I disagree with. If there is, as TLO says, a handbook that is promoting the poor treatment of the disabled then I think that should be thoroughly investigated and publicised. If it's as he says then that's a disgrace. However....
I think we ALL did didn't we? The unions may have been saying it but so were commuters, as evidenced by posts on ABC from both pro and anti union posters and you can bet that management have known but have had to keep quiet.
Absolutely spot on the money. You only have to look at ASLEF. They organised their strikes to inflict maximum discomfort on the travelling public but just as they had GTR on the ropes they gave it up for a few extra quid in the paypacket.
Indeed. It's a vicious circle. Maybe staff intransigence begat management action or maybe the move to the private sector brought in clueless graduate managers who lowered staff morale or maybe it's a bit of both but the overall experience for the PAYING CUSTOMER is absolutely appalling. Frontline staff are not given the right info but pass this frustration on to the passengers. Guards who claim they are safety critical on late night services used to hide in the back carriages and ignore disputes (the amount of unchallenged anti social behavour I've seen on late night services over the years would fill a small Channel 5 documentary). Under pressure drivers give out sarky announcements or stop at different patterns to those advertised. I don't want an intellectual or political argument over whose fault it is, I want a train that runs regularly from A to B at a reasonable cost mostly on time. The Swiss can manage it despite snowy winters. The Japanese can manage it despite regular earthquakes and a huge weekday population in Tokyo going to work on aging infrastructure with a partially privatised service. The whole system in the UK, particularly in the South East is rotten from the CEO to the cleaner.
Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 72,321
Only a matter of time before some bright spark in Accounts suggests the On Board Supervisor could pass down the aisles with a bin bag, same as as all the budget/charter airlines do nowadays.
The Large One
Who's Next?
If you follow ABC on Twitter, you'll see they've posted the staff pages online.
They include...
- telling staff not to allow PRMs (People with Reduced Mobility) on or off the train if it will make the train late(r).
- telling PRM passengers that they may not board the train if their destination station is not manned, as no-one will allow them off (this bit is key - the OBS is NOT allowed to help with the ramp - even if they are qualified. Some do, but risk disciplinary action by the company if they do).
- telling PRM passengers that if they still wish to travel to an unmanned station, they can get off at a manned station, and arrange for a private van to take them to their unmanned station destination. The private van does not need to be licensed to carry passengers
- PRMs should book 24 hours in advance it they wish to travel. This is not a guarantee of access to the train - merely advisory for GTR that a PRM wishes to board the train. They offer no obligation to have someone there to help them board. If that passenger is not there 20 minutes before train arrival, they will not be allowed on to the train. If the train is late, they will not be allowed on to the train (see above).
- telling staff (today) to expect major cancellation, but without informing passengers
The Equality and Human Rights Commision (EHRC) is considering legal action against the Department for Transport on the above and other accessibility issues.
Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 72,321
I just find it shocking that the privatised rail industry is so decrepit that it is given carte blanche by government to opt out of all applicable Disability Discrimination laws in a doomed attempt to make their crummy trains run on time. It's a state of affairs unworthy of a so-called civilised society. Total ****s
Sorrel
Well-known member
I think I spot a pattern there, with the word "Thameslink". I've been coming back on a London Bridge Southern one that - unlike the Victoria service - doesn't stop at Gatwick. There's hardly been anyone standing on it and so I fully expect Southern to say it's under-utilised and to cancel it in a few weeks.
Spiros
Well-known member
You really don't get it do you. I do give a shit about the service and how it impacts everyone, though everyone does happen to include me. My point , which you appear to be deliberately ignoring as you seem to have an agenda, is that regardless of handbooks or whatever none of those involved in the running of the railways seems to have anything other than contempt for the travelling public. This concern for the disabled seems to be conveniently new. I remember back in the 'good old days' being in the guards van with my bike when the train pulled into Lancing. There was a guy waiting there in a wheelchair. Despite there being plenty of room the guard refused to let him on saying 'sorry but I'm full with bikes' , a barefaced lie. I asked him why he didn't let the guy on. His response '****ing wheelchairs, always make us late'.
But if it makes you happy to feel that all staff are fantastic and everything is management's fault then that's your right.
Spiros
Well-known member
Despite my disagreement with some of the other stuff you've posted, I agree that this disregard for those with reduced mobility is shocking. It would just be better if they bought trains with built in ramps then this wouldn't even be an issue. I don't get why they can build them into buses but not trains
Postman Pat
Well-known member
Can't even man a Twitter account.....
[Tweet]1000400293648130048[/tweet]
[Tweet]1000400293648130048[/tweet]
Yoda
English & European
Flying Scotsman steam sets off London Victoria fire alarm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44324691
Sum's up GTR' incompetence perfectly.
"The BBC understands fire alarms are normally switched off when the steam engine pays a visit to the central London terminus.
But station staff told Mr Monk that on Thursday the warning was not given and the locomotive's huge cloud of steam sparked an alert."
So, the Scotsman just turned up at LV out of the blue did it?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44324691
Sum's up GTR' incompetence perfectly.
"The BBC understands fire alarms are normally switched off when the steam engine pays a visit to the central London terminus.
But station staff told Mr Monk that on Thursday the warning was not given and the locomotive's huge cloud of steam sparked an alert."
So, the Scotsman just turned up at LV out of the blue did it?
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
Charles Horton has resigned