Shortage of rolling stock since September 2017 - ongoing problems, and subsequent discussion

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

The one thing you can't delegate is accountability.

And there’s precious little of that in the management of the rail industry/Dft.

[TaplowGreen]

The one thing you can't delegate is accountability.

And there’s precious little of that in the management of the rail industry/Dft.

Well DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) Ministers are accountable to Parliament, and the electorate every few years.........as for Hopwood et al, first and foremost they answer to their Boards - very different set of dynamics and priorities.

It would be refreshing to see the likes of Hopwood dragged in front of a select committee and held to account for his organisation's poor performance..........but I guess they'd have to find him first!!!

[1st fan]

I did laugh at this update from JourneyCheck today:

14:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 15:41
Facilities on the 14:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 15:41.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
This train will now be formed of the usual number of coaches.

(my emphases)
Same on the 10:29 from Swansea.

[a-driver]

It would be refreshing to see the likes of Hopwood dragged in front of a select committee and held to account for his organisation's poor performance..........but I guess they'd have to find him first!!!

The like of Hopwood will never be bought in front a select committee because it will publically highlight just how much control the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) have over the Rail franchises. That’s why they have clauses in the contract that they can’t publically berate the DfT or the NR^» (Network Rail - home page)..... in fact, that same clause has recently been added to the staff social medial policy as well.

[ChrisB]

Hmmm, possibly unfair contract term, assuming staff don't identify themselves as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff in their handles. Freedom of Speech will trump that term.

[phile]

It would be refreshing to see the likes of Hopwood dragged in front of a select committee and held to account for his organisation's poor performance..........but I guess they'd have to find him first!!!

The like of Hopwood will never be bought in front a select committee because it will publically highlight just how much control the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) have over the Rail franchises. That’s why they have clauses in the contract that they can’t publically berate the DfT or the NR^» (Network Rail - home page)..... in fact, that same clause has recently been added to the staff social medial policy as well.

The TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) are left to take the flak for DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) and NR failings.

[Timmer]

The TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) are left to take the flak for DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) and NR^» (Network Rail - home page) failings.

And some would say they get well paid for doing so 

[1st fan]

It would be refreshing to see the likes of Hopwood dragged in front of a select committee and held to account for his organisation's poor performance..........but I guess they'd have to find him first!!!

The like of Hopwood will never be bought in front a select committee because it will publically highlight just how much control the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) have over the Rail franchises. That’s why they have clauses in the contract that they can’t publically berate the DfT or the NR^» (Network Rail - home page)..... in fact, that same clause has recently been added to the staff social medial policy as well.

Well it wasn't on social media but I did talk to a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff member last year about the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.). They said that the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) had in the last decade started to micromanage the franchises. This more often than not didn't really work very well and often ended up costing more as a result. (this was before the Virgin/Stagecoach bailout) They were pretty outspoken about how screwed the rail transport in this country was becoming as a result. They said if the DFT want to do this then they should just bite the bullet and renationalise the railways. Won't do that though because the franchisees and Network Rail are useful for taking the blame when something goes wrong. Whatever happens, it is never the fault of the DFT!

[Sixty3Closure]

Hmmm, possibly unfair contract term, assuming staff don't identify themselves as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff in their handles. Freedom of Speech will trump that term.

We don;t really have 'freedom of speech' as a right in this country unlike say the States. Most staff will have clauses in their contract about bringing the company into disrepute and there's been plenty of examples of staff being fired/disciplined for comments made on personal accounts. Where I work which is pretty light touch about these things we're still reminded about our 'responsibilities'.

[Tim]

Hmmm, possibly unfair contract term, assuming staff don't identify themselves as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff in their handles. Freedom of Speech will trump that term.

We don;t really have 'freedom of speech' as a right in this country unlike say the States. Most staff will have clauses in their contract about bringing the company into disrepute and there's been plenty of examples of staff being fired/disciplined for comments made on personal accounts. Where I work which is pretty light touch about these things we're still reminded about our 'responsibilities'.

Freedom of speech is not always the same as consequence-free speech. 

[stuving]

Recent full franchises include performance payments for Short Formation (and older ones something similar), but the current franchise agreement for GW^▸ (Great Western) does not. That may be because of its "coping with the upheavals" nature, though I don't have the previous one for comparison. If you're wondering what you've been missing...

The measure used is the percentage of trains shorter than specified, by any amount. There are let-outs for force majeure and other good excuses, as well as a back-up right for the SoS to write a note to teacher. That measure obviously depends on all trains in the required service having specified lengths, which isn't the case for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). The only stated capacity requirement is on total peak seats into or out of Paddington.

For each period the measure is compared, as a moving annual average, with breach and default levels. if it exceeds these it may trigger warning notices and demands for action plans and the like - but not franchise payments.

Annually, the year's average is used to compute a "performance sum". This is the same for each performance measure, based on cap, target, and floor levels that get tighter over the franchise. However, for short formation the target is zero. That makes the computation simpler, and also removes the bonus payment for beating the target (this does apply to minutes delay, cancellations and serious lateness, customer surveys, etc, etc).

The basic method each time is to multiply the actual (capped and floored) minus the target by a sum of money adjusted for RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)). This is less simple than it sounds, for a start because the measures are all figures of demerit, so the cap is small and thee floor large!. But, allowing for signs, you get a bonus that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) pays to the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) or a "penalty". The TOC does not pay that to the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) (except in the last year), instead it has to spend the money making things better. Pasting bits together, the TOC must spend "in order to secure ... an improvement in the Franchisee's performance against the Annual Short Formation Benchmark so that such level is equal to the Annual Target Performance Level for the Annual Short Formation Benchmark ... or, in each case, as the Secretary of State may otherwise direct".

That comes from the East Anglia franchise, chosen as the most similar to GW. In that case the basic sum of money changes at an "intermediate level", but the target is still zero. However, the actual amounts are suppressed. In the draft SW agreement (with the ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender)) the suggested amounts are there, though they may have been changed in the bidding process. The agreed agreement is not yet public.

The figures in those two are:

	breach	default	inter'te	floor
EA start	0.72	1.07	0.25	0.65
EA end	0.57	0.70	0.12	0.52
SW start	1.77	2.52	-	1.50
SW end	1.13	1.88	-	0.87

And that amount for SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) ... it's £1,000,000. So the most they can be paid or have to spend in a year is £15,000. Not to be used or buying new carriages, obviously - though of course fixing/replacing ones that don't work is the ROSCO^» (Rolling Stock Owning Company - about)'s responsibility. Note that some other measures have higher amounts, up to £20M for cancellations.

[IndustryInsider]

I tell you what, Stuving.  When you look into something, nobody could ever accuse you of not being thorough! 

[hassaanhc]

17:59 London Paddington to Reading due 19:00
Facilities on the 17:59 London Paddington to Reading due 19:00.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 5.
Last Updated:30/04/2018 14:39

This is a key evening peak stopping service from Paddington. It is bad enough that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have decided to reduce it from 8 coaches to 5, and now today it is 3 coaches (we'll ignore it being DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) instead of EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) as I'm not bothered about that side of things). I'm pretty sure GWR claimed that all evening peak stopping services would have more capacity from January 2018? No wonder the normal travelling public don't believe a word of what GWR say. If it was at the beginning or end of the peak it wouldn't be as much issue. But this is slap bang in the middle of the evening peak, around the time that loads of those coming from Canary Wharf or the City will have reached Paddington or Ealing Broadway.

[Sixty3Closure]

The 06.53 from Twyford to Paddington was 3 coaches this morning. I think its about the 07.01 from Maidenhead and its normally standing room only by then with the normal 6 coaches. I passed and got a later, slower train.

[Sixty3Closure]

06.53 from Twyford cancelled this morning although no indication why. The subsequent overcrowding on the next semi-fast service really does highlight how little slack there is in the system despite all the new trains.