What a day!

Sympathies adw: that reminds us of what DD originally started this forum for- so that the real staff can let off steam at the end of a bl*ody awful day!

Hopefully tomorrow will be better (it can't be much worse ).

I had to wait nearly 35mins for an EB service at West Ham tonight, that's about as bad as my journey got.

Oh such happy memories of times gone by!! (Not a p*ss take of anybody)

Gents

Have just read this thread with great interest and have just one question..... generally to everyone, but I'd be interested in a response from AlanL

QUESTION - I can appreciate that customers/passengers (i.e cattle ;D) can get irritated by delays and vent their frustrations inappropriately at TO's: but why other than that (besides TO's wanting to book off at the right time) can TO's feel so frustrated when the service is disrupted, particularly when it is not their fault and there is little/nothing that they can do to resolve it?

Admittedly (as a member of the cattle fraternity ;D ;D) I perhaps need to be "educated" a little why TO's feel so frustrated at not being able to meet the timetable schedule

Once sat on the steps of a double door with my driver at Barons Court for 4 HOURS during an enormous cock up in the sixties. Petrol or diesel leaking though the tunnel roof at West Ken or something.

Dear Old Peter Gaskin was my mate that day and he regaled me with many tales of his native Ireland. We drank umpteen cans of tea and even got the stationman to go outside and buy us some eats. Waved at all our little brothers hastening east from the adjacent platform and got 'V'signs back. Best duty I ever did.

Quite often when delays first start, there is little information available - which can start the frustration off, especially if you've just left a useful interchange station. As things progress, the train operator then has to rely on others (Line Controller, Signaller, etc) deciding how best to recover the service. Of course most of the time this is done in way which is best for the overall service, but to one train op 'in the field', it's sometimes hard to appreciate why train XXX was turned short, or why the service is supended between XXX & XXX. Then of course customer's like to know what is going on - and the train op is seen as knowing all the answers. In truth, quite often information can be hard to obtain.
Here's an example - I become aware that the train in front is starting to travel very slowly, then it becomes stop start at every signal. I call the line controller on the radio. If it works (!) I'll most probably be told 'blocking back driver'. Ok, so we are in a queue of trains - by why is there a queue of trains, how many are in front of me, how long will it go on for - what do I tell my customers?
Then there's the finishing late, having to tip out a train whilst fielding questions you don't always know the answer to or maybe doing a complicated procedure that you've never done before.

If everything runs ok, it is generally a much nicer day, and you don't mind coming back the next day to do it again.

Now this whole thing of information and service disruption and the way it is dealt with often depends on who is at the control desk at the time. Some controllers (mainly those who have come from college or other grades and never been on the trains) will desperately try to keep trains to timetable and rostered working by reforming and short turning etc.

Others who know whats going on on the ground will try to ensure that all branches get some sort of interval service while the balls-up lasts. We had a controller on the DR whose philosopy was to have someone on the end of a phone at the end of Earls Court platforms or wherever and have that person ask if a crew would not mind being diverted. If the crew were willing then an announcment was made to the public and the train duly went to wherever it was needed.

This resulted in at least no members of the public had an over long wait to get home or wherever. It used to work on the 1,2,1,3,1,2,1,3, principle as far as possible. 1 being Richmond. 2 Ealing and 3 Wimbledon. Eastbound it was 1 Upminster 2 Dagenham and 3 Barking or shorter.

The reason the 3's got a less frequent deal was that those places had an alternative service from elsewhere. IE Wimbledon had trains coming from Edgware Road and Barking and shorter had H&C or Circle trains as well. It didn't always work out of course but it did see people have some sort if service to everywhere. The Ealing Road had Piccadilly trains that could be diverted over the local if need be to/from Hammersmith and often were at the cost of 3 extra minutes running time.

Nowadays it seems to be operating and financial considerations that dictate what happens when a flap occurs. Then service to the public counted more. I don't know what todays attitude is regarding overtime but most crews in my day would accept it grudgingly provided they had some sort of assurance that they would be got home somehow. Or to home depot at least. If however they were one of the 'Canvey Gang' and were stranded at Upminster and missed the last LTS they would doze in the messroom (or play cards) and be paid until morning then go home on the first down and report back after 12 hours rest.

As far as was possible ther families would be informed as to why they were not home. A fellow driver or Guard living close to the affected person would often pop round to their home and tell the wife if they had no phone of their own. Sometimes a member of the 'Gang' with a car would hang around and wait for others to arrive and then take them all home in it if they lived near him.

It was even know for a yardmaster to tell the controller that he would be AWOL for a couple of hours while he ran staff members home locally in his motor. They were given petrol money for the favour. (But not always)

The problem today Q8, is not so much about money or anything else you mention - The big issue is information. Because of technology available, such as the net, mobiles, GPS, etc - the public expect to be told the ins and outs of every incident, and they expect that information yesterday.

Of course when you're trying to tip out at the likes of Earls Court, they can be a pain in the rear - it's not their fault, that's just the way it is.

A rather belated reply as I have only just read this thread having been away from my PC for a while. My wife and I were traveling from Richmond on the train which must have been the one ahead of adw's, Both of us would like to praise the train op. in the way he handled the situation in difficult circumstances and in keeping us informed every step of the way. We left Richmond five minutes late in the monsoon, no delays until in Gunnersbury station, when after a period of time the T/OP. announced there was a signal failure and was awaiting further instructions, this he repeated every few minutes or so. After what seemed a very long while, he came on to tell us 'good news, we have permission to continue under the emergency procedure' etc,etc. and slowly, on we went. A short while after tripping, the train came to another stop, the T/OP. apologetically announced that the track ahead was flooded and that he was sorry, but felt it unsafe to continue. So there we sat for another long spell in the rain, during which he always kept us informed of progress, saying it was worth the try, but was amazed at severity of the flood. Then, he said I have just been informed of good news, we can reverse back, but the bad news is there is a train in the eastbound platform that has to be moved first, and I'm not sure how. After announcing he would be bravely walking through the train to change ends, he opened the J door and invited anyone in the leading car who was interested, to see for themselves the extent of the flood ahead. When down the other end, he announced, 'more good and bad news for you, the train has been moved but the system is slaughted, I would advise you to call family and friends to say you are going to be very late'. We then started slowly back towards towards the Gunnersbury eastbound platform which was packed with puzzled punters wondering what was going on as there were no station announcements. As the doors opened they began to get in, we left the train as our poor train op was franticly shouting down the PA telling them to leave his train as the service was suspended, and that he had seen why first hand. I would imagine when he got home 'What a day! would be an understatement.