They should be making sure they've got enough drivers so that they don't need to rely on a rest day working agreement. In nearly every other industry this wouldn't be an issue as critical services like this would not be dependent on overtime to operate.
And the only way they can ensure they have enough drivers is by massively ramping up establishments. Which the DfT isn't going to sign off on. So we're back at square one.
Of course it's ludicrous, but that is the way the DfT is happy for things to be.
Lets look at the operators that have been OLR controlled over the pandemic rather than privately operated. LNER, apart from their compulsory reservations shambles which is now ditched, have done considerably better both staff and customer relations wise than any of the privately operated companies,
LNER were in a much better position than most other operators, as they didn't have much training outstanding on the eve of the pandemic, and had a comfortable establishment at most depots as a result of ramping up for planned service increases that haven't materialised yet. Paying the most of any TOC (bar Eurostar) can hardly hurt...
and, in the North East at least, so have Northern, the other operator that's been OLR operated throughout
Perhaps that's been the case in the NE (though there is still a significantly reduced timetable on some lines) but it's definitely not the case for all of Northern. They are still well behind where they need to be, and there have been several occasions in recent months where services crewed by specific depots have been summarily cut back due to a lack of RDW volunteers or simply sickness.
Contrast that to the likes of XC, GWR, TPE and SWR, all privately operated, who've suffered severe issues, largely as a result of industrial relations
Again, it's down to what the government will sign off. If the DfT agreed to give everyone a 5% payrise I suspect the vast majority of these issues would all suddenly disappear.
poor organisation on the part of the private operator
Your evidence for this being...?
It's clear in these situations that the OLR handles them better than the private operators.
It's clear that some TOCs entered the pandemic in a better state than others. And some of those happened to be OLRs.
To suggest there's a connection here seems woefully misinformed, at best.
The issue is not financial, at least not on the part of the DFT
I must be imagining the need to get DfT sign-off on even a £50 repair or additional turn!
Arriva are fully responsible for ensuring they have sufficient employees on shift at any time to run the service
On a day-to-day basis they've got an obligation to do their best. But they can't be held responsible for the DfT's decision to keep depot establishments at levels where RDW is needed to run even a skeleton service.
and are more than capable of adding some of their own cash into the pot to top it up if needed
As with every TOC (including the OLRs), they won't be spending anything they don't have authorisation for. The fact that Arriva and ultimately DB are well capitalised companies is neither here nor there; they aren't charities.
Their contract may well allow them to claim that money back from the DFT, but that'll have to be done retrospectively, not in advance as that's how we end up where we are now with services not running.
They will be extending the DfT credit on their daily expenditure, but only for expenses they know they will get back.
