Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

The line south of Westbury in the northbound direction has been suspended for the rest of the evening sadly:

Cancellations to services between Portsmouth Harbour and Cardiff Central

Due to a shortage of train crew between Portsmouth Harbour and Cardiff Central fewer trains are able to run on the line towards Cardiff Central.

Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

What has happened?

Due to train crew shortages, we unfortunately have had to cancel the remaining services for the day from Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central via Westbury and Bristol Temple Meads.

What are we doing about it?

We have agreed ticketing arrangements with the other train companies and we have limited rail replacement vehicles running. This will be detailed below.

What are my options?

We are sorry for the delay to your journey today. Below are the current options available to you:

Option 1: Use the National Rail Enquiries real-time journey planner to check if a journey by rail is currently possible. If you are at a station please check the Live Departure Boards or speak to a member of our station team.

Option 2: Your ticket can be used, at no extra cost, with the following operators, in both directions on these routes:

South Western Railway services between Portsmouth Harbour and Guildford. From Guildford you can catch GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) services to Reading.
South Western Railway services between Portsmouth & Southsea and Southampton Central.
CrossCountry services between Southampton Central and Reading

Option 3: Replacement transport provided by us in the form of a limited amount of taxis, will be operating between Portsmouth Harbour and Bristol Temple Meads.

These will be departing Portsmouth Harbour at 20:10 and 22:10. The taxis will call at all calling points the train service would but with a delayed running time due to the increased journey time via road.

Option 4: Travel at a later time. You might want to consider postponing your journey until our service returns to normal.

Great news if you are a taxi company in Portsmouth and probably Southampton and Salisbury this evening.

[Hafren]

On the 1810 PMH^▸ (Portsmouth Harbour station)-CDF^▸ (Cardiff Central station) which was down to go to BRI^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads station (that is the formal station code - see also BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads station (strictly, it should be BRI) but BTM is a commonly used alternative))), or Bristol Royal Infirmary (hospital), depending on context) after a few journeys so camcelled they were of no use. Air con either failed or just not ebough for the conditions. At SOU guard announces the cab is at 40C and he's seeing double so not going further. Next he's collapsed on platform.

AC^▸ (Air Conditioning, or Alternating Current (electricity), depending on context) hasn't been great at all this weekend. And now not even safe for crew on one of the few running trains!

Not been a good weekend for long distance travel. Attempting via RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) now despite tickets split via SAL.

[Timmer]

On the 1810 PMH^▸ (Portsmouth Harbour station)-CDF^▸ (Cardiff Central station) which was down to go to BRI^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads station (that is the formal station code - see also BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads station (strictly, it should be BRI) but BTM is a commonly used alternative))), or Bristol Royal Infirmary (hospital), depending on context) after a few journeys so camcelled they were of no use. Air con either failed or just not ebough for the conditions. At SOU guard announces the cab is at 40C and he's seeing double so not going further. Next he's collapsed on platform.

Oh my! I hope he’s alright and gets the medical attention he needs.

[Hafren]

Some "is there a Dr here" announcements. Hopefully soemone found! Train was a bit of a sun trap but outside is fairly breezy so hopefully this helped! Someone appeared to be recording as i left the platform.

Is AC^▸ (Air Conditioning, or Alternating Current (electricity), depending on context) that hard to get right in 2025?

[TaplowGreen]

This weekend's chaos made the National BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News site......

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9vrlel299wo

[Timmer]

Some "is there a Dr here" announcements. Hopefully soemone found! Train was a bit of a sun trap but outside is fairly breezy so hopefully this helped! Someone appeared to be recording as i left the platform.

Is AC^▸ (Air Conditioning, or Alternating Current (electricity), depending on context) that hard to get right in 2025?

I’m really saddened to hear this. It shouldn’t be happening and to think it’s going to be years before the aged and dated rolling in the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) regional fleet will be replaced should be concerning for all if we continue to see hotter summers going forward.

[bobm]

Here’s one of note: 10:03 and 10:36 London to WoE services cancelled. Yeah it happens, but what’s concerning is the 11:03 Newquay train (making extra stops at Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary to cover the cancelled 10:36) is down as a 5 coach IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))! Crazy!

Swaps happen at quite short notice sometimes.  800304, a 9-car, is working this train.

Started running late from Pewsey onwards and was eventually 50 minutes late into Newquay.  Still well in time for the return trip.

Return trip now delayed 69 minutes due to a lineside fire in east Cornwall.  Running non stop Plymouth to London Paddington.

[BBM]

Henley Branch now affected:

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/twyford-20250714/

Unavailability of train drivers due to sickness means service between Twyford and Henley-on-Thames has been suspended. Trains running between these stations will be cancelled.

Disruption is expected until 14:00.

Customer advice

Rail replacement transport has been requested.

[IndustryInsider]

An additional premium on top of the premium already offered for working days has been agreed from Monday 27th July for a year for drivers.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An additional premium on top of the premium already offered for working days has been agreed from Monday 27th July for a year for drivers.

Where can I apply?

[TaplowGreen]

An additional premium on top of the premium already offered for working days has been agreed from Monday 27th July for a year for drivers.

Where can I apply?

Turn left at the magic money tree.

[a-driver]

An additional premium on top of the premium already offered for working days has been agreed from Monday 27th July for a year for drivers.

With the same premium applied to Sunday’s as well

[IndustryInsider]

Where can I apply?

https://www.gwr.com/about-gwr/careers

[froome]

An additional premium on top of the premium already offered for working days has been agreed from Monday 27th July for a year for drivers.

With the same premium applied to Sunday’s as well

While I don't have a problem with drivers being paid an extra premium, I might make an exception for those who put an apostrophe in a plural. 

[IndustryInsider]

An additional premium on top of the premium already offered for working days has been agreed from Monday 27th July for a year for drivers.

With the same premium applied to Sunday’s as well

While I don't have a problem with drivers being paid an extra premium, I might make an exception for those who put an apostrophe in a plural. 

Going up from time and a half to time and two thirds.

About £50 extra per shift.  I guess that’s quite good value if it entices extra drivers in and 4-6 cancellations per extra driver are avoided as a result?

We’ll see if it is enough of an incentive.