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Ongoing UK rail strike action thread

Rob S

By Rob S
in Ballet / Dance news & information

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alison

alison

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, AnneL said:

Personally I am unhappy about the government’s & employers’ proposal that ticket offices should be closed. Next week Southeastern are introducing a new timetable with a lot of spin about how much better it will be, when as far as I can work out, the service will be far worse. 

 

Far worse, certainly, in some cases.  Albany Park loses half its service (there's been a big fuss about that), but also Elmstead Woods, I was told the other day, although that has received less publicity.  One of my locals doesn't have the half service to lose, because it hasn't been reinstated since Covid struck (barring a few weeks pre-Christmas in 2020).  Another route has lost its Cannon Street service completely, meaning that people have to change at London Bridge all the time.  This is allegedly to abolish problems and delays caused by trains crossing at Lewisham, but we'll see.

 

Re ticket offices: there, I can understand it a bit.  So few paper tickets are being issued these days, and there are so many other season ticket renewal options available, not to mention Oystercard/contactless payment, that there is very little demand for the office to be manned, so the person doing so just sits there for hours on end with little to do.  They would probably be better deployed elsewhere, as long as they were still able to issue tickets if needed.  (I needed one the other day because the ticket machine was driving me nuts, and buying from a human being was much quicker).  Mind you, the staff at yet another station, a combined London Overground/Southern one, are so uninterested that I seriously think they have no idea that anything other than Overground trains run through there :(

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SheilaC

SheilaC

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

 

I've been on a couple of trains over the years where someone has taken seriously ill and the guard came to help and coordinate with the driver about the course of action to take...

I've been on several trains when a passenger was taken ill and the help of the train manager (as guards are now called!) and other staff was essential. Train staff are also necessary to intervene when passengers are disruptive. If I've been to a matinee when my train reaches York scores of drunks invariably get on the train. Train staff are needed even though transport police usually come on board as well. 

Another threat to passengers' service is that the train companies want to close ticket offices on stations. But the staff don't just sell tickets, they give advice and can answer questions to help customers select the journey best for them. And they are essential when a train is badly delayed or cancelled, as happens all the time in the North. In September my direct train to Liverpool to see ENB was cancelled ( as were all the other direct trains that day) and the advice of the ticket office staff was invaluable. And the staff are multi-skilled in small stations, providing assistance to passengers with mobility problems.

There are real safety issues and customers' needs should be taken into account.

The focus of the media on the effect of the strikes (which will impact on me, too- I'm taking my granddaughter to London on the 16th, her first visit to London and to see her first Nutcracker so I understand the concern) tends to ignore the disruption passengers in the North face, with trains constantly cancelled by TransPennineExpress and Grand Central as well as the notorious Avanti. I decided against seeing Northern Ballet in Leeds and Newcastle on evenings in the autumn as the risk of not being able to get home was too great; TPE warned passengers to check before travelling even if a journey had been booked, which means that they were ducking the usual responsibility to ensure that all passengers were entitled to get to their destination and their rights to delay repay.

Train companies are given half a billion pounds a year by the government yet are not required to provide a proper service, so that even Avanti has been rewarded despite their appalling service- or lack of it!

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AnneL

AnneL

Posted
Posted

Re ticket offices, for those of us outside the Oyster card area, there are fewer purchase options and the machines (which I do use sometimes) can be unreliable. At the station I use there was a healthy ticket office queue on Monday when I went to the Nutcracker rehearsal. It is also reassuring to know that there are employees on site and visible, not hiding in an office. The lady at our ticket office has a side job in sorting out the unruly school children at certain times of day! 

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postie

postie

Posted
Posted

It's strange to me; how many hundreds of people are there on trains too and from London - how many trains - and the idea is there will be no sudden illness, no poor behaviour, all the toilets will be working without anyone smoking in them, no one is going to have access requirements in any of the carriages on any of the trains. The list goes on.

 

And, of course, the absurd mantra - some giant rubber hammer to hit over the head of unions - is to have driverless trains.

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LinMM

LinMM

Posted
Posted

I managed to find a way around the strikes to see Nutcracker tomorrow but the weather has now completely scuppered any plans of travelling today so have just returned ticket to box office. 
Not even the buses are turning into where I live in Saltdean today and a lethal walk down to coast road otherwise! Last night couldn’t even turn down into my road in the car had to park on road above ( it’s high up here) as car started sliding about 😩
Advice today is not to travel on trains before 3pm but meanwhile cancellations due to tomorrow’s strike may start around 5.30pm 😳

Enough is enough! 
Anyway thanks for the above link as after a while you do forget who is striking when!!! 

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Dawnstar

Dawnstar

Posted
Posted (edited)

Another strike day added on 5th January https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64039480

I am so glad I decided to see my Nutcrackers for this season in December rather than at the start of January & my sympathies to anyone living outside London who was hoping to see any performances the first week in January.

 

 

Edited by Dawnstar
Grammar
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Linnzi5

Linnzi5

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

Another strike day added on 5th January https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64039480

I am so glad I decided to see my Nutcrackers for this season in December rather than at the start of January & my sympathies to anyone living outside London who was hoping to see any performances the first week in January.

 

 

Goodness, me too! I loved my recent visit to see Nutcracker so much and would have been really upset to have missed it. I just hope the strikes don't affect my ballet performances in the future and I feel so disappointed for those that will miss their performances too (and anyone who commutes to work, too) . I was due to go away and stay with a friend that week but we have had to cancel now -  I am so disappointed. 

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LinMM

LinMM

Posted
Posted

Sim: well by Easter they will

have forgotten all about this Christmas  and think I’ve now finally gone truly nuts and am posting early for next Christmas!! 
MJW: love that cartoon there have been some really good ones from him recently! 

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Sim

Sim

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, PeterS said:

No reason given but there were no trains in or out of Waterloo after about 6pm last night which was supposedly a non-strike day.

Yes….even though it might not be an official strike day, we are always told that services the day before and the day after will be affected, and sadly this always seems to be the case.  

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San Perregrino

San Perregrino

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Sim said:

Yes….even though it might not be an official strike day, we are always told that services the day before and the day after will be affected, and sadly this always seems to be the case.  


Don’t take this as gospel. After an informative chat at Waterloo just now, it seems that on non-strike days where a reduced service is advertised from now until the New Year, at least in respect of South Western trains, trains are reduced during the day, and services will wind up around 20.00. 
This is because of the ban on overtime. I don’t know if this is the same for other train operators. 

Check your trains before you travel. 

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Emeralds

Emeralds

Posted
Posted

I have just joined the club-that-nobody-wants-to-be-in of dancegoers who have to use Avanti! Wanted to catch up with old friends living a long way from us and to see BRB’s Swan Lake (it’s not coming to London this season) so the only dates that I have to time to travel to see it are the Birmingham  dates (and Birmingham is near my friends)....which means I’ll have to use Avanti for the trip! I’ve booked the BRB tickets but told my friends that it’s not guaranteed I’ll be able to get a train....! 

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I have just joined the club-that-nobody-wants-to-be-in of dancegoers who have to use Avanti! Wanted to catch up with old friends living a long way from us and to see BRB’s Swan Lake (it’s not coming to London this season) so the only dates that I have to time to travel to see it are the Birmingham  dates (and Birmingham is near my friends)....which means I’ll have to use Avanti for the trip! I’ve booked the BRB tickets but told my friends that it’s not guaranteed I’ll be able to get a train....! 

 

There is an alternative (but longer) route to Birmingham if you use London Midland.

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jmhopton

jmhopton

Posted
Posted

Fingers crossed for a successful journey Emeralds whichever company you use.

I'm due at the ROH 18/19 Jan and am living in dread of the next round of strikes. Just hope they announce them soon, as not knowing is almost worse than being affected.  You can't book trains until you know and then you might have to decide to cut your visit short or stay an extra night. It's just so complicated.

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JohnS

JohnS

Posted
Posted

Not a strike day today but Avanti incapable of running its ‘new’ timetable. Last night all trains were shown as operating from Penrith to London from 8:00. This morning the 8:02, 8:23 and 10:50 are cancelled. The 10:03 is the only train running. Fortunately for me I’d booked the 10:03 but it will now have perhaps 3 train loads of passengers wishing to travel. 

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alison

alison

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

So Chiltern provides yet another alternative?

 

Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street, usually in a couple of hours.  And sometimes VERY nice trains :)  (although they do have form for running only 3 coaches mid-rush hour :( ) 

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, JohnS said:

Not a strike day today but Avanti incapable of running its ‘new’ timetable. Last night all trains were shown as operating from Penrith to London from 8:00. This morning the 8:02, 8:23 and 10:50 are cancelled. The 10:03 is the only train running. Fortunately for me I’d booked the 10:03 but it will now have perhaps 3 train loads of passengers wishing to travel. 

 

Blummin' 'eck @JohnS the six months they were given to improve don't seem to be having effect!!  Safe travels.

 

I see Andy Burnham is also now seeking for the government to put Trans Pennine Express into special measures.  They are, of course, run by the same people as Avanti!  Apparently they cancelled over 100 trains yesterday.

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street, usually in a couple of hours.  And sometimes VERY nice trains :)  (although they do have form for running only 3 coaches mid-rush hour :( ) 

 

Oh lovely Moor Street Station with its gorgeous Centenary Lounge tea rooms is reason enough alone to travel on Chiltern then!  The afternoon tea at the Centenary is divine and ever such good value!

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JohnS

JohnS

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

the six months they were given to improve don't seem to be having effect


Avanti were under pressure to introduce a full timetable which they’ve done. But they simply don’t have the drivers and other staff to operate the service. They’d have been better publishing a timetable that they can at least deliver the vast majority of the time. But if they’d done that we’d see just how poor the staffing actually is.

My train is still running but already 25 minutes late. I think there was a Preston service so some of the passengers whose trains were cancelled may well have taken that train to pick up a London service at Preston.

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