That's good background too thanks. I suppose it doesn't reflect the fact that this could have been solved by adequate recruitment in good time if we know these issues could occur, but of course nobody would have predicted Covid. New recruits probably wouldn't have so much of an issue working on the same grade as they don't have a comparator. That being said I'm sure there's a plethora of NWR signalling locations where signallers complain their Grade 5 box is harder than Y's Grade 5 box!
Sounds overall that the role needs a huge review as there are countless problems with it judging by the evidence here.
Indeed, the last two posts are a pretty accurate summary IMV.
I’m not sure it’s necessarily the case that workload is that much different across the system - the Vic Line for example runs around half the number of trains some other lines do, but the intensity of the service means it’s still hard work.
I think the Met issue is that their line seems to go up the wall disproportionately more often than anywhere else, then when it does there’s a lot more people in the loop because of the way the line itself and its control structure is laid out.
You can then add to this that Hammersmith is simply an unpopular location.
Covid has simply amplified issues which were already there.
Take a hypothetical example. If on a Saturday you come to work as a controller and are more-or-less guaranteed to have a list of 50 cancellations to have to work through. Is this or isn’t this normal workload, considering that (1) you’re still going to get your daily diet of incidents ranging from infrastructure failures, people stuck in lifts, train issues, passenger issues, et cetera), and (2) the list of cancellations is largely because there simply aren’t enough drivers. At some point you’re going to get the hump when it’s happening day after day, and you’re essentially being dumped with the tail end of a problem. Then Covid comes along and turbocharges all this.
If it were me, I’d do two things more or less straight away:
1) Split up the Met control function to even up the workload. Have an H&C controller for everything inwards of Baker Street, and a Met controller for everywhere else. This would need some very careful protocols for the Baker Street area itself though.
2) Make recruitment location specific. At the moment things are not helped by the fact people are being put off applying for the *role* because they might end up at one of the less desirable locations, or somewhere on the opposite side of London to where they live. You then end up left with the “applying for the money” candidates rather than necessarily those with a sparkle for the job. So say you have someone prepared to take on a role at Neasden, Highgate or Northumberland Park (north London), but not prepared to take on Wood Lane or Hammersmith (west London). At present there’s no guarantee they’ll end up where they want, which is stupid for a shift-based job as somewhere like Hammersmith may well be almost physically impossible for them to reach in reasonable terms at certain times. So they pull out of the job, and the whole grade is now one down. To me this is cutting the nose to spite the face. Once left with the “doing it for the money” candidates, you can bet there’s a higher likelihood of them failing the training. It’s completely counter-intuitive - we have TOCs who impose strict limits on how far a driver can live from their work location, yet LU is actively placing people at a location where they might incur an extra hour’s travel-to-work time. It’s insane IMO.