Do train strikes still have any impact?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

How are the rail strikes affecting YOU - a poll.  The answer is probably a complex combination, so multiple votes and write-ins allowed.

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Friday marks the 29th day of rail strikes since the current set of disputes began.

Members of the rail unions have been regularly bringing much of the network to a halt for nearly a year.

The leisure industry has been hard-hit as people cancel trips and holidays, or avoid city centre shops, pubs and restaurants.

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union, whose members are walking out on strike on Friday, claims that the strikes have cost the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) economy £5bn, with the leisure sector taking the biggest hit from lost sales.

But with the majority of rail commuters able to work from home, the impact elsewhere has been limited.

[grahame]

How are the rail strikes affecting YOU - a poll.  The answer is probably a complex combination, so multiple votes and write-ins allowed.

I have voted in my own poll for just about every option!    A lot more bus use ... trips moved to days when trains ARE running ... a journey on a strike day that took me via a very long routing but at least there were trains ... and on "something else" it has made the advocacy and promotion of public transport use very much more difficult, and reduced local promotion work; real long term damage there!

[Phantom]

I honestly believe that with the cut back services during Covid, and then the number of strikes we have seen people are now very adapt at finding a "plan b" instead of using the train

I'd hardly ever used a bus out of Weston before this period and have probably done more journeys in the past few years than I did in my previous 48 years on this planet

[TaplowGreen]

It's also worth bearing in mind that the World of work has changed since COVID, with far fewer people needing to commute every day - working from home in these circumstances is very much the norm and reduces the impact of these strikes and the Unions leverage massively - a big contributor to the Government's readiness to ride it out.

Perhaps "I work from home when there is a strike" could be worth adding as a category?

[grahame]

It's also worth bearing in mind that the World of work has changed since COVID, with far fewer people needing to commute every day - working from home in these circumstances is very much the norm and reduces the impact of these strikes and the Unions leverage massively - a big contributor to the Government's readiness to ride it out.

Perhaps "I work from home when there is a strike" could be worth adding as a category?

Hmmm .. perhaps it could have been from the start - however a number of votes already and changing the categories would confuse the results; my intent was that "work from home" is part of the "travel on other days" option:
I have been able to plan my travel to be on other days

[eightonedee]

In one respect I am very grateful that my two periods of daily train commuting (1982-6 and 2001-20) largely coincided with periods of relative peace in industrial relations
on the railways.

I can now organise my much reduced rail use to avoid industrial action, and it helps that Reading to Didcot seems to be one of the services that they keep running.

However it is frustrating that having spent years trying to encourage friends and acquaintances to use the train instead of driving or flying, it's currently simply not possible to do so a lot of the time.

I am also glad that I do have a car!

[didcotdean]

The trains I have taken on RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) strike days have been way less busier than normal probably as people have headed general rather than specific warnings. One curiosity - on these days there is an hourly direct service from Didcot to Cardiff that isn't in the regular timetable. Strikes haven't yet coincided with my travel needs for this to be useful yet ...

[TaplowGreen]

It's also worth bearing in mind that the World of work has changed since COVID, with far fewer people needing to commute every day - working from home in these circumstances is very much the norm and reduces the impact of these strikes and the Unions leverage massively - a big contributor to the Government's readiness to ride it out.

Perhaps "I work from home when there is a strike" could be worth adding as a category?

Hmmm .. perhaps it could have been from the start - however a number of votes already and changing the categories would confuse the results; my intent was that "work from home" is part of the "travel on other days" option:
I have been able to plan my travel to be on other days

Fair enough - I wouldn't want to risk a steward's enquiry! 

For my own part, I have a hybrid working pattern with 2 or very occasionally 3 days in the office - on strike days I have simply worked from home which has been the case with virtually everyone I know who is office based.

I'm also fortunate that Taplow is on the Elizabeth Line which has been immune from Bruvver Mick's efforts to date.

[Bob_Blakey]

Yesterday's (03/06) action by the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) caused me to cancel a booked day out at the Lord's England v Ireland Test Match.

There were no services at DIG so I would have had to get a bus (2 on the trip home) or taxi to & from EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains).
The first train from EXD to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) was at 0810 and the 1029 arrival time would have meant missing the start of play (in the event the service got to PAD 15 minutes late).
I had specifically booked myself on the 1904 Pullman service intending to have dinner on the train as a special treat; this was obviously cancelled and the last train back to EXD departed PAD at 1503 so to get a full day's cricket in would have required a London hotel followed by trying to deal with today's ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) action (which seems to have resulted in no trains PAD>EXD and SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) services only as far as Yeovil Junction but requiring a change at BSK^▸ (Brake Standard Corridor (carriage)).)

Obviously I have applied for a refund of the rail tickets and fortunately managed to offload the Lord's ticket to a friend so disappointing but no real damage done.

[TaplowGreen]

What jumps out at me from the results of this poll (with the honourable exception of Bob missing out on a day at Lords!) is that the majority of people managed to get by/make alternative arrangements without suffering too much or missing opportunities, which is telling, especially for a rail focussed forum.

It perhaps goes a long way to explain why the strikes are largely proving pretty ineffective - inconvenient, but not a blocker -  and the Government is being able to tough them out without too much difficulty.

Noticeable that despite the strikes last weekend, events such as those at Wembley and Epsom were still full - people made other arrangements - perhaps illustrating rail's increasing status as an option rather than a necessity in this context.

A message which the Bruvvers Mick and others would perhaps do well to heed.

[grahame]

What jumps out at me from the results of this poll ...

An excellent summary, thank you.  For mosts of us, "inconvenient" is the best description.

[Timmer]

Somewhat surprised Glastonbury hasn’t been targeted for strike action. Certainly would have got some headlines if it had.

[TaplowGreen]

Somewhat surprised Glastonbury hasn’t been targeted for strike action. Certainly would have got some headlines if it had.

Bruvver Mick may be planning a Corbyn-esque style appearance on the Pyramid Stage, couldn't risk jeopardising that!