Being involved with GC from the start (I don't work for them btw) I know that all the power car engines were completely stripped down to the last nut and bolt, refurbished and then put back together again.
After 3-4 months of hammering these engines it obvious that "running in" faults have now occurred.
Although the pc's are maintained according to tech documentation, the work involved when faults occur goes above and beyond the time limits available to the maintainer every day, so cancellations will occur from time to time.
The coaches have recieved the same treatment, being as they were sat in a field for X amount of time, and being a modification to the existing setup are also bound to develop problems after a while.
Whilst every endeavour is done to rectify these problems (from basic running maintenance to calling in the overhauling companies to repair faults) its the time required to do this that gives GC a bad name when services don't run.
Listening to what Mr S has been saying, you cannot blame everyday GC staff for sticking to their guns.
I know the management team, and I know that the chairman and MD meet the train EVERY day at York.
I travel every day on GC (even before regular passenger service started), even with the family when going somewhere, and despite the train failing at Grantham when they travelled, whenever there is a delay the staff from the cleaner to the driver have been curteous,polite,helpful and informative even in the face of extreme adversity.
I'm never one to rant,I've been travelling by train since I left school some 20 years ago and have faced every concievable type of delay and problem going, and when it comes to staff helpfulness, this lot go above and beyond compared to most.
So what say people give them a break?
Its not easy running trains, and will be good to see what problems Wrexham & Shropshire incur when they get started.
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