Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway since September 2017 - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Hard luck, England.  No shame in losing on penalties.  Wishing a safe and incident free journey home to the fans of both sides, and shame on those ‘fans’ who broke through security and into the ground.  I was able to watch most of the match in the end.

Finally, let’s spare a thought for Lee who must’ve put a lot of effort into his poem with only two ‘likes’ so far.

No worries there - I'm sure I will survive 

Interesting you should word it that way, though. I remember having an interesting conversation with the admin team on the subject of "likes" a while back.

[grahame]

Early trains this morning cancelled ...

05:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Taunton due 06:05
05:04 London Paddington to Oxford due 06:05
05:35 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill due 07:59
05:40 Plymouth to Penzance due 07:38
05:41 London Paddington to Greenford due 06:04
06:01 Bedwyn to London Paddington due 07:09
06:12 Greenford to West Ealing due 06:23
06:27 West Ealing to Greenford due 06:39
06:32 Taunton to Bristol Temple Meads due 07:43
06:42 Greenford to West Ealing due 06:53
06:46 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 08:22
06:57 West Ealing to Greenford due 07:09
07:04 London Paddington to Paignton due 10:17
07:07 Oxford to London Paddington due 08:06
07:12 Greenford to West Ealing due 07:24
08:13 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington due 10:24
08:32 Gatwick Airport to Reading due 09:54
08:41 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads due 09:31
08:50 Penzance to Exeter St Davids due 11:55

Though NOT all crew related - for example:

06:01 Bedwyn to London Paddington due 07:09 will be cancelled.
This is due to overcrowding because of a sporting event.

06:12 Greenford to West Ealing due 06:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a passenger being taken ill on this train.

[grahame]

20:30 London Paddington to Weston-super-Mare will be cancelled

Interestingly they stuck the Chippenham and Bath Spa stops into the 2043 to Swansea instead.

Noting 1Z30 - an extra train at 20:29, Paddington to Swindon, pathed at 110 mph, so a 387 (or several thereof!)

Good call with the Swanse - as far as I can see - no Paddington to Bristol or beyond services running.  18 minutes late into Swansea as a result.

[TaplowGreen]

Hard luck, England.  No shame in losing on penalties.  Wishing a safe and incident free journey home to the fans of both sides, and shame on those ‘fans’ who broke through security and into the ground.  I was able to watch most of the match in the end.

Finally, let’s spare a thought for Lee who must’ve put a lot of effort into his poem with only two ‘likes’ so far.

No worries there - I'm sure I will survive 

Interesting you should word it that way, though. I remember having an interesting conversation with the admin team on the subject of "likes" a while back.

Ignore the bitchy comments Lee, I thought your songs were witty and amusing and clearly you'd put a lot of thought into them!

Next week however you will have some competition, Industry Insider and his colleagues will be releasing their reworking of the old Boomtown Rats classic "I don't like Sundays" 

[grahame]

Ignore the bitchy comments Lee, I thought your songs were witty and amusing and clearly you'd put a lot of thought into them!

I didn't see any bitchy comments onto Lee's post - did I miss something or do I have the hide of a Rhino these days? 

In the moderator area, we keep a vague eye on what are popular threads and posts and what areas are less so, and we have noted that long and detailed posts - posts that have taken a great deal of work on the part of the author - often "underperform", but then a one-liner comment on those posts will take off, with lots of people like-ing it. Those of us who write the longer posts take a degree of solace from the fact that we provided the hook onto which the like-able response was hung.

I am delighted that members are generous with their likes of new, nervous and occasional posters - it takes some courage to post here for the first time (or the first time in ages) and that skew of likes indicates a care and thoughtfulness in our membership that I am proud of.

[TaplowGreen]

Ignore the bitchy comments Lee, I thought your songs were witty and amusing and clearly you'd put a lot of thought into them!

I didn't see any bitchy comments onto Lee's post - did I miss something or do I have the hide of a Rhino these days? 

In the moderator area, we keep a vague eye on what are popular threads and posts and what areas are less so, and we have noted that long and detailed posts - posts that have taken a great deal of work on the part of the author - often "underperform", but then a one-liner comment on those posts will take off, with lots of people like-ing it. Those of us who write the longer posts take a degree of solace from the fact that we provided the hook onto which the like-able response was hung.

I am delighted that members are generous with their likes of new, nervous and occasional posters - it takes some courage to post here for the first time (or the first time in ages) and that skew of likes indicates a care and thoughtfulness in our membership that I am proud of.

"Finally, let’s spare a thought for Lee who must’ve put a lot of effort into his poem with only two ‘likes’ so far."

Maybe catty would have been a better word than bitchy, but don't overthink it Graham, it's only a bit of fun amongst us divas! 

[TaplowGreen]

From GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).com

Changes to train services Sunday 11 July
An amended timetable will be in operation on Sunday 11 July due to a significant number of staff having to self-isolate following notification from test and trace.

Where possible customers will be contacted and advised of cancellations affecting their journey.

Customers wishing to travel can choose to travel on alternative services immediately before or after their booked service or claim a full refund with no admin fee if their service is affected.

Find out more about claiming a refund or rebooking your journey.

Where services can operate, they are expected to be busier than normal. Please check before you travel.

.......despite the number of staff having to self isolate only two days ago, GWR are to be congratulated on a remarkable recovery over the last 48 hours with only two related cancellations listed this morning, and these due to a shortage of "on train" staff.

One wonders what could have caused this Lazarus-esque transformation since Sunday morning? Perhaps the secret could be shared with a grateful nation? Has it come home? 

[froome]

From GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).com

Changes to train services Sunday 11 July
An amended timetable will be in operation on Sunday 11 July due to a significant number of staff having to self-isolate following notification from test and trace.

Where possible customers will be contacted and advised of cancellations affecting their journey.

Customers wishing to travel can choose to travel on alternative services immediately before or after their booked service or claim a full refund with no admin fee if their service is affected.

Find out more about claiming a refund or rebooking your journey.

Where services can operate, they are expected to be busier than normal. Please check before you travel.

.......despite the number of staff having to self isolate only two days ago, GWR are to be congratulated on a remarkable recovery over the last 48 hours with only two related cancellations listed this morning, and these due to a shortage of "on train" staff.

One wonders what could have caused this Lazarus-esque transformation since Sunday morning? Perhaps the secret could be shared with a grateful nation? Has it come home? 

Arrivederci.

[IndustryInsider]

Six cancellations and one short run now listed as down to a shortage of train crew. 

I guess (very roughly and very crudely) that means a shortage of a couple of drivers from the bare minimum required today, versus a shortage of twenty or so on Sunday for the sixty or so cancellations then.  That would probably tie in with the additional numbers that would have made themselves unavailable to work/gone sick rather than the numbers still being required to self isolate of which there are quite a few still.

So, in summary, even without track and trace isolations I think there would still have been a fair few cancellations on Sunday, but not quite as many.  Even though the total tally wasn't as many as some feared/predicted/hoped for.   

[Red Squirrel]

Not limited to train crew!

A national driver shortage and the continued impacts of COVID-19 mean Bristol Waste have significantly fewer drivers than usual.

To maintain essential waste and recycling services, garden waste collections including sack collections have been suspended for ten weeks from 7 July 2021 and they won't be able to return for missed garden waste collections.

We'll send details of discounts and refunds as well as interim solutions directly to subscribers affected by the disruption.

You can:

• find tips on what to do with you garden waste on the Bristol Waste’s website
• buy a compost bin and turn some of your waste into compost

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through the issue.

Source: Bristol City Council

[GBM]

Bus runs also being badly cut back, or not not running at all with shortage of drivers & engineers

[IndustryInsider]

I noticed that Heathrow T5 was in the ‘papers’ for huge queues due to a shortage of check-in staff for the same reason.

[plymothian]

All these damned commies wanting national barbecues.

[GBM]

14:11 Penzance to London Paddington due 19:24
14:11 Penzance to London Paddington due 19:24 will be started from Plymouth.
It will no longer call at Penzance, St Erth, Camborne, Redruth, Truro, St Austell, Par, Bodmin Parkway and Liskeard.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

And to follow for Cornish passengers wanting that train -
14:50 Penzance to Plymouth due 16:45
Facilities on the 14:50 Penzance to Plymouth due 16:45.
This is due to overcrowding because of an earlier cancellation.
Service full and standing from Penzance.

OK, maybe wait for the next one
15:15 Penzance to Plymouth due 17:14
Facilities on the 15:15 Penzance to Plymouth due 17:14.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 4.

15:50 Penzance to Exeter St Davids due 19:04
15:50 Penzance to Exeter St Davids due 19:04 will be terminated at Par.
It will no longer call at Lostwithiel, Bodmin Parkway, Liskeard, St Germans, Saltash, Plymouth, Ivybridge, Totnes, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Dawlish Warren and Exeter St Davids.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

[TaplowGreen]

All cancelled so far today due to crew shortage - weekend seems to be worse for isolation?

Again, not great for attracting leisure travellers

Looking at the weather I expect we'll start seeing cancellations due to sunshine again before long........be careful out there!!!

07:08 Gloucester to Cardiff Central due 08:22
07:16 Gunnislake to Plymouth due 08:03
07:37 Westbury to Swindon due 08:24
07:38 Penzance to Exeter St Davids due 11:00
08:34 Swindon to Westbury due 09:18
09:00 Cardiff Central to Gloucester due 10:28
10:33 Westbury to Swindon due 11:17
10:50 Penzance to Exeter St Davids due 13:59
11:28 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 13:28
12:00 Cardiff Central to Great Malvern due 14:29
13:59 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 15:59
14:24 Plymouth to Gunnislake due 15:10
14:28 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 16:28
14:32 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 16:30
15:14 Gunnislake to Plymouth due 16:00
16:28 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 18:30
16:28 Exeter St Davids to Penzance due 19:40
16:59 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 18:59
17:02 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 19:06
17:28 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa due 19:30
17:39 Gloucester to Cardiff Central due 19:20
18:59 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 20:59
19:32 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare due 21:40
20:02 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington due 22:00
20:02 London Paddington to Bath Spa due 21:21
21:30 Plymouth to Gunnislake due 22:16
22:20 Gunnislake to Plymouth due 23:07
22:30 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway due 23:50
23:28 Bath Spa to Westbury due 23:57