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1006
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway since September 2017 - ongoing discussion
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on: October 27, 2018, 17:15:55
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the world is changing very quickly!
And sometimes for the better as well. Though without wishing to come across as venomous, I must admit I find articles like the one Phil linked for us pretty pathetic. That's not in defence of the railway - it can equally be applied to other news genres such as politics, health, education, showbiz etc. It increasingly seems to be a world where we get fed stories using very little other than Twitter quotes, dubious facts, and 'click bait' headlines - even from some of the more 'serious' news outlets. That's not a change for the better IMHO▸ . A measured reply as always II, but I don't think there's anything too dubious or pathetic about the story, and I'd respectfully suggest that the fact that customers have been delayed for almost half an hour, inconvenienced and will quite possibly miss connections or other commitments as a result as well as being treated flippantly by GWR▸ staff is more important than any subjective reservations about the source from which the information comes........so often this seems to be overlooked. - Play the ball, not the man!  One of the reasons I posted the link with the comment 'Make of this what you will' was simply because there were so many inaccuracies in an article that was supposed to highlight the problem of a shortage of train crews. The simple fact that the train arrived at Exeter at 14:56, already 6 minutes late and then left at 15:16 ( NOT ' shortly before 3.30pm' as the article suggests) just 21 minutes late. Hardly a major problem in the grand scheme of things. |
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1010
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway since September 2017 - ongoing discussion
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on: October 27, 2018, 10:02:55
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Make of this what you will.......... From Devon Live (apologies for the click bait) Train stranded at Exeter St Davids after driver 'goes missing'Confused passengers took to social media in a bid to find the missing driver  Exeter St Davids station (Image: Rom Preston-Ellis) Passengers have reportedly been left stranded on a train at Exeter St Davids after the driver apparently went missing. A flurry of tweets from angry passengers on the Penzance to London Paddington train flagged up the problem shortly after 3pm on Friday. The GWR▸ service eventually got moving shortly before 3.30pm following a short delay. One passenger said: "Currently on a train at Exeter Station without a driver. How can you provide a Penzance to Paddington service without the foresight to have a driver for the whole journey? Another passenger, Stephen Thomson, wrote on Twitter: "Apparently the driver of my train from Exeter to London has gone missing. Can I have a go please? I'll be really careful!!!" Meanwhile Sheila O'Connor did not see the funny side. She wrote: "Currently on the 12.04 from Penzance now at Exeter St David’s and we appear to have no driver!!! Who is responsible for planning the staff rota? Hope I don’t miss my onward train to Leeds..... GWRHelp poor job again." The person manning the GWR twitter account tried to laugh off the incident, telling Stephen that they could see the train was moving once more, although seemed mildly concerned that he may have carried out his threat to drive the train himself. Jo from GWR tweeted: "Hi Stephen. I can see you are on your way now. Its not you driving the train, is it??? - Jo." Jo was a bit more sympathetic with Mary, writing: "Really sorry for the delay to your journey today Mary. I can see you are now moving but I appreciate how frustrating this has been - Jo." A spokesperson for GWR said: "There is a scheduled driver swap at Exeter St Davids on this service, however due to a short notice staff absence we had to source a replacement driver. "The train was unfortunately delayed by 20 minutes as a result." |
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1015
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Journey by Journey / London to the West / Re: Class 802s
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on: October 18, 2018, 17:28:14
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I guess this subject has been done to death over multiple threads, but I accompanied the Good Lady Wife up to the Big Smoke from Exeter today on the Armada (1A72 0553 Plymouth to London Paddington). As it has been for a while now, it was formed of 2x5 Class 802s (802003/005). We sat in the middle coach of the rear set. It was our first long-distance journey by 802. Without any prompting, this is the GLW's opinion............ Good......... plenty of leg room (she suffers from Restless Leg Syndrome and regularly needs to get up and walk around), so she was able to sit for longer; Quieter engines; Good acceleration; A 'pleasant experience using the toilet"!;
Bad........... Too much under-floor vibration (she wondered why it disappeared after Reading until I told her we were running on leccy then); Seats a little too hard; Too many loud Safety announcements; Manual announcements from the Guard could not be heard; "WHERE'S THE BUFFET?" she enquired, shortly after leaving Taunton as she wanted her usual cup of tea. "WAIT FOR THE TROLLEY TO COME TO YOU" says I. Well, we waited and we waited and we waited for the non-existent Trolley - which was apparently in the front set;
Asked to rate the experience out of 10 - her response......... 6 |
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1016
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Journey by Journey / Shorter journeys in Devon / Re: Devon Metro
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on: October 16, 2018, 16:36:38
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Consequently options for increasing trains-per-hour are limited, and would presumably need a passing loop at Lympstone Village and a passing loop (or even full redoubling) between Digby and Exmouth Junction. There is room for a second track on the viaduct at Lympstone Village station but squeezing in a second platform might be the (expensive) challenge.
That's how I see it, anyway. What do others think? Sounds a good proposal that would work, but for timetable robustness I would go with your double track section idea. However, such a sensible proposal would, of course, get entirely bogged down in the NR» GRIP▸ process and never see the light of day  Is there any mileage in persuading Exeter Chiefs to part-fund a loop/turn-back between Digby and Sowton and Newcourt? |
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1018
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Great Western Railway: on-board catering, buffets, Travelling Chef, Pullman - ongoing discussion
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on: October 07, 2018, 09:49:06
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Whilst I am glad to say that my cynical prediction regarding the end of Pullman dining was nor realised..............
A few of weeks ago, I was chatting to a couple of chaps who had independently booked First Class Advance tickets (for November) for Newton Abbot to Paddington and return, specifically to sample the delights of the Pullman. Both had tickets for the Up Golden Hind and the 12:03 back from Paddington the following day. In one case, the Up reservation was in Coach E, whilst the Down was in coach L. The other chap had reservations for coach L (Up) and coach E (return). Logic tells me that the reservations system indicates an expected 2x5 IET▸ formation for both services. If that is the case, one of these two is going to miss out on his Pullman dining unless an High Speed Trains ( HST▸ ) turns up  Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym |
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1020
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: 1970 excursions - Percy Danks and the Merrymaker program
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on: September 30, 2018, 16:33:53
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Of course if the Mystery Ex turned up behind a pair of Class 25's destination was Aberystwyth.  I remember participating in several from Exeter - one to Aberystwyth, which was 'Western' hauled as far as Shrewsbury (via Hereford), with a pair of 24s taking over through mid-Wales. We were held somewhere west of Newtown for 30 minutes whilst a heifer calved right beside the railway. The others were to Clacton-on-sea, Canterbury and Lincoln. |
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) but you've probably seen it anyway
