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Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Fri 10 Jun, 2022 21.11
by Jonwo
Martin Phillp wrote: Fri 10 Jun, 2022 20.38 Apparently the remaining Class 315 units used on the eastern section of the Elizabeth line out of Liverpool Street mainline will be taken out of service in September when through services into the tunnel to Paddington commence. Those peak Liverpool Street mainline station services will have 345s instead.

It looks like the Heathrow and Reading services will start from Abbey Wood while Shenfield services will terminate at Paddington.
Makes sense, they're coming to the end of their usage, I assume they're being scrapped or cascaded elsewhere.

I wonder if this means Bond Street will open in September.

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Sat 11 Jun, 2022 16.36
by dosxuk
They're some of the oldest rolling stock on the network, I think it's a fairly safe assumption they're going for scrap.

There are indeed strong rumours that Bond Street will open the same day as the core is linked up.

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Mon 13 Jun, 2022 23.43
by Martin Phillp
Recently where I live, Southern got rid of their older class 455 sets which were used on South London metro services. However it's meant some metro services have seen capacity reduce from 8 car 455s to 5 car 377s.

Southern still have some Class 313 units down on the South Coast, but I think they're going sooner rather than later as well.

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Tue 21 Jun, 2022 10.47
by Jonwo
I do wonder if or how the railway dispute will resolve itself. My gut feeling is probably an offer in line with what Scotrail offered to end their strikes.

Personally I do wonder if there is too much political Willy Waving. Grant Shapps has not come out of this well at all although neither has the RMT.

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Tue 21 Jun, 2022 18.33
by Pete
I usually find the RMT very disagreeable however I think they’ve handled this better by pointing out the train companies have been trying to fix things and the government have bee. Causing the problem.

It makes them seem far less dogmattic than in the last when they’d just shout “nationalise it” a lot which distracted from their actual issues

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Tue 21 Jun, 2022 19.39
by Jonwo
Pete wrote: Tue 21 Jun, 2022 18.33 I usually find the RMT very disagreeable however I think they’ve handled this better by pointing out the train companies have been trying to fix things and the government have bee. Causing the problem.

It makes them seem far less dogmattic than in the last when they’d just shout “nationalise it” a lot which distracted from their actual issues
The DfT will have to reach a compromise sooner rather than later as I would imagine businesses who feel the most impact from strikes will be putting on the pressure to get this resolved.

I do think these strikes from the RMT is justified but there have been strikes threatened or that have taken place because of relatively minor issues which should really be dealt with privately.

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Wed 22 Jun, 2022 16.43
by Charlie Wells
Jonwo wrote: Tue 21 Jun, 2022 19.39
Pete wrote: Tue 21 Jun, 2022 18.33 I usually find the RMT very disagreeable however I think they’ve handled this better by pointing out the train companies have been trying to fix things and the government have bee. Causing the problem.

It makes them seem far less dogmattic than in the last when they’d just shout “nationalise it” a lot which distracted from their actual issues
The DfT will have to reach a compromise sooner rather than later as I would imagine businesses who feel the most impact from strikes will be putting on the pressure to get this resolved.

I do think these strikes from the RMT is justified but there have been strikes threatened or that have taken place because of relatively minor issues which should really be dealt with privately.
Watching Sunday Morning (the formerly Marr one) I think Gordon Brown made a good point when interviewed about the need for a three year plan, not just one year. I dare say offering a pay increase of x% this year, y% the following year, and z% the year after may help with the pay side of things for the next few years. Also the BBC Reality Check on how much workers are paid was quite good at explaining the differences between the figures the government and RMT are quoting.

There does seem to be a quite a few outdated practices though, which arguable should be overhauled. It's in this areas where the RMT can come across as being less reasonable, compared to the pay issue.

On a related note it amuses me when the unions have previously claimed strikes relating to train guards is about 'safety'. Having used Thameslink / Great Northern trains for decades I can't recall the last time they had guards (or whatever they're now called) on the actual trains, despite the current stock being 12 carriages long. They do however have a member of staff at my local station, who goes between the two main platforms to effectively act as a guard to signal trains to go as well as assist passengers on/off.

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Wed 22 Jun, 2022 22.41
by Jonwo
Charlie Wells wrote: Wed 22 Jun, 2022 16.43
Watching Sunday Morning (the formerly Marr one) I think Gordon Brown made a good point when interviewed about the need for a three year plan, not just one year. I dare say offering a pay increase of x% this year, y% the following year, and z% the year after may help with the pay side of things for the next few years. Also the BBC Reality Check on how much workers are paid was quite good at explaining the differences between the figures the government and RMT are quoting.

There does seem to be a quite a few outdated practices though, which arguable should be overhauled. It's in this areas where the RMT can come across as being less reasonable, compared to the pay issue.

On a related note it amuses me when the unions have previously claimed strikes relating to train guards is about 'safety'. Having used Thameslink / Great Northern trains for decades I can't recall the last time they had guards (or whatever they're now called) on the actual trains, despite the current stock being 12 carriages long. They do however have a member of staff at my local station, who goes between the two main platforms to effectively act as a guard to signal trains to go as well as assist passengers on/off.
Out of interest, what are the outdated practices?

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Thu 23 Jun, 2022 08.56
by dosxuk
EMR guards striking over their demands to have 3 guards on a 12 car 360 set out to Corby, so there is a member of staff in each unit, despite those same units happily running for years in the same formation on the GEML routes with only a driver comes to mind.

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Thu 23 Jun, 2022 09.55
by Charlie Wells
Jonwo wrote: Wed 22 Jun, 2022 22.41
Charlie Wells wrote: Wed 22 Jun, 2022 16.43
Watching Sunday Morning (the formerly Marr one) I think Gordon Brown made a good point when interviewed about the need for a three year plan, not just one year. I dare say offering a pay increase of x% this year, y% the following year, and z% the year after may help with the pay side of things for the next few years. Also the BBC Reality Check on how much workers are paid was quite good at explaining the differences between the figures the government and RMT are quoting.

There does seem to be a quite a few outdated practices though, which arguable should be overhauled. It's in this areas where the RMT can come across as being less reasonable, compared to the pay issue.

On a related note it amuses me when the unions have previously claimed strikes relating to train guards is about 'safety'. Having used Thameslink / Great Northern trains for decades I can't recall the last time they had guards (or whatever they're now called) on the actual trains, despite the current stock being 12 carriages long. They do however have a member of staff at my local station, who goes between the two main platforms to effectively act as a guard to signal trains to go as well as assist passengers on/off.
Out of interest, what are the outdated practices?
Whilst not the most preferable of sources there's some examples mentioned in...
- https://api.lbc.co.uk/news/rmt-slammed- ... practices/
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... efend.html

The example mentioned by @dosxuk with guards is another, and has parallels to Thameslink scenario which I mentioned where there's only the driver on the train but staff at each station.

Re: Public Transport in your particular part of the region

Posted: Thu 23 Jun, 2022 21.36
by Jonwo
The DfT and TfL tit for tat continues on. I wouldn't normally side with Grant Shapps but I do think the Mayor of London leaking the details of a three week funding extension is a bit daft.