Not a chance. Passengers were via SWR^» (South Western Railway - about), the trains themselves weren’t.

I’ll believe it when I see a train heading to Portishead.

That’s not the case though, because there isn’t anybody else to cover the turns so the trains get cancelled. Hence the situation we see every Sunday. If you’re in the east maybe things are different.

A commitment that’s not worth the paper it’s written on. I know drivers who for every committed Sunday phone in ‘fatigued’ or ‘sick’ the night before and then resume on the Sunday evening for Monday. No disciplinary action can be taken because it is classed as overtime, and you can’t discipline someone for not doing overtime.

There are also plenty who email rosters on Tuesday when the Sunday sheets are issued saying they’re not coming in, and don’t, and nothing more is said. Because it’s still overtime. They don’t get paid but that’s fine because they don’t want to be paid because they don’t want to work overtime.

You’ve got some conscientious drivers who don’t do either, but I would hazard a guess they are in the minority.

The only reliable number of trains that could be operated on a Sunday is 0. No drivers are obliged to work Sundays. Plenty do but many more do not. You’ll find it’s always the same few faces working on a Sunday, there are a good number who never work any. So if some of those ‘few faces’ are on leave or have other plans the service falls apart. And the problem at the moment is the few have become fewer as a result of the payrise.

Is that on the few for taking a couple of Sundays off or the many who don’t work any at all?

It’s just a mix of everything. It’s also December link planning time which takes some more drivers away from the cab. And with large back pay sums in bank accounts drivers don’t feel the need to do more overtime right now.

The amount of drivers who are working rest days every day is staggering. It’s far more than you’d think. A few of the regular ones might not want to this week with half term, and this is the result.

Well no, obviously the problem is now that drivers are so much not in poverty that they don’t need to work overtime to bump up tho salary. Would you work an extra optional day each week if you didn’t have to?

The only long term answer is to put Sundays inside the normal working week. I don’t think anybody will be paying for the 14% increase in drivers to cover it any time soon.

Drivers will always take the money. If double or triple pay is offered more will volunteer to come in.

The problem with reducing the timetable is that the number of drivers who have to come in each week is zero. Those that do are all volunteering. You will also find that some drivers are more keen to come in than others, and if the ‘keen shift’ are all early Monday they obviously can’t work Sunday afternoon/evening (12 hours rest required between shifts), whereas the following week it could be a lot better when they have a late shift on the Monday.

No, inflation is around 25% for the last five years. A £60000 salary in 2019 should be worth around £75000 now. A 10% payrise for drivers is a decent uplift but nowhere near what it ‘should’ be.

I’ll be in next Sunday evening at least. Not really bothered about the football.

They don’t in Wales. That’s the point.

Of course, that has now compounded the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) problem as at least five drivers have moved over to TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) for a higher wage and guaranteed four day week.

I’d be amazed if it’s even on the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)’s radar. They’re not going to pay for it to be sorted.

Yesterday really wasn’t sickness or leave. It was down to staff not doing overtime. Not co ordinated, just choosing not to because of the football. This is how reliant the railway is on staff working overtime every single day. Which is why when the weather is nice the cancellations always go up, because people want to spend their days off with friends and family rather than at work.

If you want to work every single day (excluding hidden restrictions), you can, and earn an absolute fortune. There is always overtime available. There have never been and probably will never be enough staff to run the railway, because it’s cheaper that way.

I know it’s been said before, but the Sunday issue really isn’t down to the intransigence of the trade unions. Drivers sign contracts that say they don’t have to work Sundays, so they don’t. Even if it is ‘committed overtime’ as per the GWR driver contract, nothing happens if drivers don’t come in. It can’t, because it’s overtime, and therefore can’t be enforced.

Aslef have been banging the ‘Sundays inside the working week’ drum for years, and it’s largely fallen on deaf ears, because it costs more. It requires a 14% increase in drivers altogether. But that’s not the fault of the drivers who don’t want to work when their contracts say they don’t have to. It needed sorting in 1997, and it needs sorting now. But nobody will pay for it, so we continue with this charade every year.