Non - availability of staff?

they only need 2 drivers as there is only 2 trains which operate the olympia service but it might have something to do with a dispute i heard which is involving acton town drivers

The Olympia service is often the first to suffer whenever problems arise, as operationally it's a pain (!!). When wider problems occur such as a suspension east of Earls Court, the bay roads at High Street Kensington become very useful - providing the Olympia trains don't get in the way! Other reasons could include a large gap to one of the western termini's, which can result in one of the Olympia trains being 'borrowed' to cover the said gap. Infact, the later will be occuring on a regular basis at peak times when the new timetable comes into operation in June - thanks for that should be directed towards Putney's conservative party 'District line enemy' Justine Greening (my personal view, not that of the forum's BTW [/rant] ).

Anyway, back on topic!! ;D
We have been in dispute at Acton depot since January 2005, refusing to 'remote book on/off' at Earls Court. This has resulted in trains being cancelled every day, to a plan devised by management. The Olympia service has never been included in those 'plans' directly, but this occasion may have an indirect connection......

It all depends what time the cancellation occurs.
If its just 1 or 2 drivers short during the day, then the train will be stabled at Parsons Green to be brought back in later.
If its towards the end of the traffic day then the train will be stabled early at Ealing common depot. One of the trains stables at Upminster so if the last driver for that train was unavailable then I expect it would stable early at Upminster very early to enable the spare driver to get back to his/ her home depot before booking off time, and of course to enable that driver to get the last train back west to get home again.

What difference will the new District timetable make in June to trains on the Wimbledon branch? On another point could someone tell me why Acton drivers are in dispute over book on book offs at Earls Court when a few years ago they were doing it everyday on the duty sheets?

If they divert one of the OLY units to the Wimbledon line in the peaks that'll mean the peak OLY service will be every 30 mins....that can't be right!!

I kid you not - there will be at least one 30 minute gap on the Olympia road - wether it definately affects both peaks or just the morning peak depends on who you listen to......

Like I said earlier - thank Justine Greening (MP, Conservative - Putney). She said in her winning speech at the last election that she was 'gonna sort out the District line'. Nice to see she's doing a good job of running a balanced service offering the best possible travel options for all users - and showing awareness of the safety of LUL staff when dealing with customers that love to wait 30 minutes. .

I actually thought we were supposed to improve 'our service' whenever possible, not reduce it........




(As stated earlier also, this is my personal view - not that of the forum!!)

I have been awaiting my own train at Earl's Court to be bombarded with irate passengers awaiting the Olympia train, when enquiry of the DMT found it had gone to Wimbledon "to cover a gap". I told them it happens all the time and they should complain. If Chelsea are at home you can guarantee at least one Olympia train will divert to Parsons Green to assist with football traffic ....sometimes both Olympia trains are sent there ! Frankly it's a disgrace ! The Olympia trains are often diverted to cover gaps on the Ealing or Richmond branches, when the 5 min service to Wimbledon means a C stock would be much better sent along !

Of course diverting an Olympia train means more than one trip to Olympia is lost because of the respective running times.

Less often running towards High Street the Olympia is sent to Mansion House to cover a gap (loosing an Olympia in the process). Also know it sent to Plaistow.

Seeing a returning Olympia running through the city is a novelty though !

As for the new time table I haven't heard anything ...but at the moment Train 152 starts at Upminster 07.53 to Ealing Bdy 9.44 to High Street then 10.17 to Olympia. (ending the day with a direct 23.37 Olympia to Upminster). 151 is on Olympias all day and 127 works the morning Olympias until 152 gets there. One would have thought T 152 could work direct Upminster to Olympia, releasing 127 early to bolster the peak Wimbledon's. Loosing only an against the flow Earl's - Ealing and a peak shoulders Ealing - Earl's of modest value. Ealing has inter-peak stablers going there anyway.