Overtime action

The London Midland website is carrying an announcement about possible service disruption due to the overtime agreement between ASLEF and the train company not being renewed.  No train crew = no train so it is very likely that we will find situations where services are cancelled on us.

London Midland appear to be trying to give warning about where services may/may not be disrupted (see Potential disruption to services from 31 January 2011) but it seems likely that there will be some unexpected cancellations.

There's nothing on the London Midland site which refers to the reason behind this action and the ASLEF website makes no direct reference to it.  I suspected that it might have been linked to the same issues which nearly resulted in a strike before Christmas (see Rail strike 23-Dec) but then found the following in the London Midland area of the union website:

"END TO REST DAY WORKING - 12 Jan 2011

ASLEF Executive Committee reject LM’s request to extend Rest Day Working Agreement.

After giving consideration to reports submitted by the District Organiser and Company Council, the ASLEF Executive Committee rejected London Midland’s request to extend the Rest Day Working Agreement.

The Company Council reported that the existing training agreement, relating to additional Trent Valley services has come to conclusion and they have yet to reach agreement with London Midland regarding the introduction of Class 172 DMUs. (A meeting had been arranged for the 22nd of December to discuss Class 172 training, but was then postponed by LM at short notice).

If LM are serious about wanting an extension to rest day working, further discussions will need to take place on the following issues: Class 172 introduction, depot establishments, establishment calculators and the utilisation of rest day working.

THE LONDON MIDLAND REST DAY WORKING AGREEMENT COMES TO AN END ON SATURDAY THE 29th JANUARY 2011"

(See ASLEF: End to rest day working)

It looks like the Class 172 DMUs are for Birmingham services in the northern section of the London Midland network which probably explains why the company is predicted that most of the planned cancellations will be in that area rather than at the London end.

We'll have to see how the next few weeks pan out, but this may not be as serious for London commuters as perhaps it first appears.  There is though a dark cloud gathering on the horizon.  It looks like ASLEF have been granted leave to appeal on the injunction that stopped the drivers' strike on 23 December, so one way or another we could have some difficult travel days ahead...  (See High Court injunction: ASLEF granted leave to appeal). 

 

Statistics

Back in December London Midland removed twelve carriages from the 17:51 from Euston.  The result was immediate and painful for the people who rely on that train to get them home - Overcrowding, probably 30+ people standing per carriage and some not getting a seat until Hemel Hempstead.  I put up a post at the time - Rob Peter, pay Paul.

London Midland have finally admitted that they need to put the four carriages back onto the 17:51, but it looks like we have to wait until the next timetable change which will be in May.  We could go on here about why it will take so long to organise this, but there's probably a whole stack of bureaucracy and complication around finding a spare unit and getting it into the right place at the right time.

What I'd prefer to do here is to ponder on how London Midland could have got it so wrong.  Anyone who was a regular on the 17:51 before the change could have told them that that train wasn't under-utilised.  The middle seat in a bench of three was often empty (rarely do you get three adult commuters sat together who can squeeze in there with comfort) and the front 2-3 carriages usually had spare seats, but the five or six carriages at the rear of the train (the London end) were always packed.  I often boarded at the last minute and the numbers of people standing in the doorways and corridors sometimes made it impossible to work my way forward until after the Watford call.

This week the @londonmidland Twitter feed (first class source of information - strongly recommend to anyone with a smartphone) came up with the following stats for the 17:51 pre-change:

I asked if the counts were for departure Euston and whether they included days during school holiday periods.  The response given was as follows:

The reference to manual count here relates to the automatic system that London Midland are using on the trains.  Each door is equipped with a sensor which counts people on and off (see DILAX Passenger Counting).

Whether the DILAX system was in place for the full duration of the count I don't know, but if it was then I'm sorry, the system is either inaccurate or someone has misinterpreted the data. 

There is absolutely no way that the 17:51 from London Euston to Northampton started it's journey on an average weekday with only 39% of the seats taken.



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Euston announcements

16mins before departure and
no platform shown for the 1730

Problem 1
A 4-car train arrives on Euston platform 8. A horde gets off at the doors are locked while the train is coupled to another 4-car unit already on the platform. The station staff knows the train is the 1730 and the regular passengers know that too, but the VDUs on the ramp and the platform say the train is the 1751.


Problem 2
A train still isn't due to leave for a couple of minutes but it disappears from the departure boards and VDUs. Why? Health & safety apparently - To discourage people from running to get a train that's about to leave.

Problem 3

The Network Rail Enquiries online boards (at least the versions I get on my iPhone as above right) is proving unreliable when it comes to displaying departure platforms at Euston .  I might think that this were accidental, but coming on top of problems 1 & 2 I don't think so.

The above aren't one-off incidents and they affect other trains and other platforms. The practice of misleading passengers might have been happening for a while, but if it has then I've been lucky and haven't been affected until the last couple of weeks.



If you are reading this and wondering why this really matters then I'll tell the story of what happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I had to get home early and got to Euston at around 1750 intending to get the 1754. As I arrived on the station concourse I saw that the 1754 was leaving from platform 8. At the top of the ramp I noticed that the VDU for no.8 was blank. At the bottom the same.


On the platform itself I had time only to read "front 4 cars only". I squeezed onto a packed train. All fine? No, this wasn't the 1554 for Milton Keynes stopping at Bletchley. It was the delayed 1534 which terminates at Tring. Fortunately I realised this after departure and was able to change onto the correct train at Watford Junction.  If I hadn't then I'd have potentially ended up with a long wait somewhere.

This Friday the rolling stock for the 1730 came in a few minutes late and at 1725 the VDUs were still showing the train on platform 8 as the 1751.  I was already queued at the locked doors at 1727 when the loudspeakers burst into life and announced that the train was in fact the 1730.


So what's going on?  Whoever is in charge of announcements at Euston (London Midland/Virgin Trains or Network Rail?) has clearly decided that they need to keep us off the platforms until the train is in and ready to board.  That might be fine for a long-distance Virgin Trains service where people can still be given 20+ mins notice of where to board, but it isn't on for commuter trains where the period between the rolling stock arriving and the service leaving can easily be 10 mins or less.  Virgin Trains passengers don't have a crowded ramp and ticket barriers to negotiate through! 


Have you experienced this?  If so, does it annoy you too?  I'd like to hear your views.

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HS2 and the Chilterns

Yesterday I and my family had lunch at The Plough at Cadsden.  This 16th century pub is on the route of the Ridgeway, and about a mile from Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat (this is off subject for this blog, but I can strongly recommend the beer and food...)

This was a first visit to this pub which I found thanks to the wonders of the world wide web.   While checking it out I stumbled on Is it a bird, is it a plane, or is it HS2?, a page on their website expressing opposition to HS2 (the proposed high speed rail line between London and Birmingham - High Speed Two - HS2 Ltd). In a separate news item the owners have pointed out the absurdity of the situation where plans for a major infrastructure development in this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty can be forced through but they couldn't get planning permission for an outside shelter for customers who wish to smoke (Gimme Shelter!)

The Berks Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust have also expressed serious concerns about the environmental impact if HS2 goes ahead.  In their latest press release dated 21 December they state “The route announced yesterday will irreparably damage several important wildlife sites including Calvert Jubilee Nature Reserve in north Buckinghamshire and the Colne Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest in south Buckinghamshire.” (full BBOWT Press Release).

See also:

• Chilterns - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• HS2 Action Alliance
• Stop HS2
• Stop the HS2 Route

The conservation/heritage/environmental argument is of course just one issue affecting how people view HS2. The Government and the rail industry say that the construction of a fast line is essential to provide meet capacity demands and claim that the saving in journey times (which may be as little as 20 minutes - See Daily Telegraph Is this another High-Speed train crash?) while groups (official and unofficial representing residents are concerned about the impact on the around around their homes. The economic argument is also split with claims of both positive and negative outcomes.

I have no idea how HS2 will (assuming it goes ahead) affect me as a resident of Buckinghamshire and a commuter into London, but I intend to do more reading and return to the subject over the next few weeks.  In the meantime, please feel free to express your own views (whether for or against HS2) by posting a comment below.



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Fair Fares Now

The transport charity Campaign for Better Transport has launched Fair Fares Now, a campaign for 2011 to persuade the Government to ensure that rail travel has:

• Affordable prices, including peak times and turn-up-and-go tickets
• Reliable services that aren’t overcrowded
• Straightforward tickets that make train travel simple

Fair Fares Now is highlighting this week's increases and the Government's sanctioning of even greater increases from 2012.

If you share my view that commuters already get a raw deal in terms of cost and service then you will want to visit the Fair Fares Now campaign website to find out more about the campaign and how you can help spread the word.

See also on this blog:

• 7.2% not justified (London Midland 2011 increases above national average for Milton Keynes, Bletchley & Leighton Buzzard)
• Inflation +3%  (Government announces new formula for fare increases)
• How much?!!  (Government subsidy paid to London Midland and salary packages of the top executives)

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