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Title: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: Chris from Nailsea on May 09, 2010, 12:33:15 From FGW live updates (http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/LiveUpdateList.aspx):
Quote Service incidents 09:35 London Paddington to Hereford due 12:55 This train has been delayed and is now 45 minutes late from Moreton-In-Marsh. This train will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill. It will no longer call at: Worcester Foregate Street, Malvern Link, Great Malvern, Colwall, Ledbury and Hereford. This is due to a member of train crew being unavailable. Last Updated: 09/05/2010 11:45 11:00 Penzance to London Paddington due 16:29 This train has been revised. This is due to a member of train crew being unavailable. The following catering alteration will apply: No catering service available between Penzance and Plymouth. Last Updated: 09/05/2010 09:40 12:57 London Paddington to Penzance due 18:31 This train has been revised. This is due to a member of train crew being unavailable. The following catering alteration will apply: No catering service available between Plymouth and Penzance. Last Updated: 09/05/2010 11:14 13:28 Hereford to London Paddington due 16:59 This train will be started from Worcester Foregate Street. It will no longer call at: Hereford, Ledbury, Colwall, Great Malvern and Malvern Link. This is due to train crew having been unavailable earlier. Last Updated: 09/05/2010 11:58 Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: brompton rail on May 09, 2010, 15:05:19 At least on FGW it is mainly the catering staff that "miss" the train, on CrossCountry it is the driver who is "missing" which makes the passengers journey impossible rather than the passenger just going hungry. Mind you there were only a small number of XC services cancelled this Saturday compared with at least 23 last Saturday.
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: smithy on May 09, 2010, 18:23:19 At least on FGW it is mainly the catering staff that "miss" the train, on CrossCountry it is the driver who is "missing" which makes the passengers journey impossible rather than the passenger just going hungry. Mind you there were only a small number of XC services cancelled this Saturday compared with at least 23 last Saturday. crew may not just "miss" the train it could have been staff sickness or poor rostering it does not have to be a train crew error as you indicated in your post Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: JayMac on May 09, 2010, 19:41:46 Can't see anything in brompton rail's post that indicates train crew error. The use of quotation marks around "miss" and "missed" suggest a bit of dry humour to me.
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: thetrout on May 09, 2010, 20:16:36 Reminds me of being sat on a Southern Service at Brighton going to Newhaven... Driver refused to drive the train until he'd finished his coffee... some 10 minutes later :D
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: brompton rail on May 09, 2010, 20:51:15 Thanks bignosemac, I was indeed attempting to bring a smile!
FGW do seem to regularly post problems with on train catering though mostly it seems to be a trolley replacing an advertised Buffet Car. It must be said too that FGW give the passenger notice of the alterations to the service, not something that all TOCs do. For example I have never seen East Coast's service alterations mention catering changes, nor have I seen XC mention catering, though XC do sometimes mention a reduction or an increase in the number of carriages on particular services. This is something FGW do regularly. I promise, no more jokes. Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: John R on May 09, 2010, 21:31:25 Shouldn't have trolleys replacing buffet cars on HSS any more, as the refurb and conversion program is, I believe, now finished.
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: readytostart on May 10, 2010, 05:15:50 XC drivers seem to have come to an agreement with the company now with regard to several matters that had led to a refusal to work on their rest days so you should see a marked improvement on the end of the line services, PLY-PNZ, EDB-ADB/GLC and SOU-BMH. Might make the TMs job a little easier not having to appease the baying crowds.
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: Nemesis on May 31, 2010, 06:42:38 Often, it is not the 'fault' of train-crew at all. If a crew is booked to travel to a certain point via a connecting service and that service is delayed, there is an inevitable knock on. FGW will sometimes use taxis for crew delayed in this manner, but even that is not always an effective solution...or so I have heard.
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: JayMac on May 31, 2010, 09:32:09 ....or so I have heard. Wot no guard or driver? Was it catering staff you overheard this time? :o ::) :P ;D Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: Henry on June 02, 2010, 09:08:38 I think regular user's of these services, especailly between Penzance and Plymouth at weekends, are used to no buffet facilities on a regular basis. I do not know if their are staff retention issues, surprising for Devon/Cornwall considering the lack of employment opportunities. Manpower agency I believe were supplying some customer host staff. Personally I would have thought that a reliable, catering service would have supplied a decent revenue stream for a business. Moreso when you consider the investment on the buffet cars. Perhaps if FGW 'franchised' it out to a 'proffesional catering company' then perhaps it would be more reliable. Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: devon_metro on June 02, 2010, 10:13:03 And far more expensive!
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: Tim on June 02, 2010, 10:16:23 Personally I would have thought that a reliable, catering service would have supplied a decent revenue stream for a business. Moreso when you consider the investment on the buffet cars. Perhaps if FGW 'franchised' it out to a 'proffesional catering company' then perhaps it would be more reliable. I would have thought that someone could make a decent profit out of train catering if FGW can't. Although profitability all depends on what "rent" is charged for the space used by the buffet. I am sure that in the days of BR, the transpennine express trolleys were run by a private contractor ("catering partners"??). The other option for on train catering on lightly used lines which I have never seen in the UK but which works well in Norway (on NSB class 93 for example) on lightly used but long distance routes is to provide vending machines for hot and cold drinks, crisps and snacks. They ought to take up no more space than the "trolley store" Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: caliwag on June 02, 2010, 11:59:18 FTP catering provided by Rail Gourmet now. Very impressive actually, and improving with porridge? and hot meal boxes in first. The 185 are damn reliable, and pretty comfortable. They are noisy from the outside but are a comfortable ride and not as noisy as vomitors IMHO...and no I have no connection with the builders or First...just praise where praise due. We could do with an expanded fleet of 185s nationally...perhaps 2025! ;D
Oh and sorry I have not overheard any juicy tidbits in the North...apologies to Nemisis ;) Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: brompton rail on June 02, 2010, 16:09:57 The only catering on Northern Rail's services is provided on the Settle / Carlisle line where (I believe) volunteers from the Settle - Carlisle Line supporters (wo)man a trolley on many services between those 2 stations. Very pleasant service of drinks and snacks etc.
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: caliwag on June 02, 2010, 16:34:10 ...and locally made ice cream sometimes...marvellous
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: JayMac on June 02, 2010, 16:34:19 Indeed. Last year I took a trip on the 'Settle and Carlisle'. The guy manning the trolley was a font of information regarding the line. He pointed out many of the features en route (as did the guard over the PA).
We came to a stand at Garsdale station with technical problems on the Class 158 we were on. The speedometer had apparently failed in the lead cab and we waited some 20 minutes while the driver attempted to get things working again. He had no sucess, and it appeared that we would have to crawl to Skipton at a snails pace. The driver resolved the problem by having the guard ride shotgun in the rear cab calling out the speed over the intercom between the cabs!! A neat, on the hoof solution, when stuck in the back of beyond. Not sure it would've be allowed if sticking to the rule book! To avoid delaying/cancelling the return service, we were caped at Skipton and transfered to an Airedale Line 333 EMU for the onward journey to Leeds. This allowed the delayed 158 to complete its return diagram over the S&C starting from Skipton. Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: IndustryInsider on June 02, 2010, 17:40:18 The 185 are damn reliable, and pretty comfortable. They are noisy from the outside but are a comfortable ride and not as noisy as vomitors IMHO...and no I have no connection with the builders or First...just praise where praise due. We could do with an expanded fleet of 185s nationally...perhaps 2025! ;D I've only had the one trip and was fairly impressed, though obvious drawbacks were the constant barrage of automated announcement, a lack of litter bins, and a shortage of seats - just two and a third coaches of standard seating soon fills up! Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: Nemesis on June 02, 2010, 20:44:10 ....or so I have heard. Wot no guard or driver? Was it catering staff you overheard this time? :o ::) :P ;D It may well have been a customer host Brother bignosemac So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word. ^ Romans 10:17 Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: TerminalJunkie on June 02, 2010, 22:25:13 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word. ^ Romans 10:17 "Mind your own business, you nosy bastard." - Dish and Dishonesty, Blackadder the Third Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: Chris from Nailsea on June 02, 2010, 23:20:54 Hmm.
I'm rather reluctantly going to step in here, with a polite request that certain members now desist from posting in rather provocative ways. The quoting of verses from the Bible, on a train discussion forum, has been acknowledged in the past as being inappropriate, and the originally amusing theme of 'overheard conversations' has probably now run its full course. May I ask that we now move on, please, before anyone takes offence? Thanks, Chris. ;) Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: JayMac on June 03, 2010, 06:24:35 I concur that we should move on, CfN, but I have to say that TJ's rejoinder is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on this forum.
Nursie? Can you stitch my sides back up? Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: Nemesis on June 03, 2010, 08:00:44 Yes, Brother Chris, I accept the reprimand. No offence intended, just though it was apposite as a one off. 8)
Title: Re: "You just can't get the staff these days ..." Post by: Chris from Nailsea on June 03, 2010, 18:56:08 Thank you for your very reasonable responses.
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