7 years into the franchise, and they still have driver shortages pretty much every Saturday.
(The only recent Saturday where they didn't seem to have a problem was a few weeks ago, when heavy rain was forecast the whole day. No doubt just a coincidence).
I started a thread on this in May 2016 (!) (here). Things don't appear to have improved much since.
To be fair, I recall they'd got Saturdays pretty well back on track... then Covid hit.
While it can be a popular service, it is also a fairly reasonable one to sacrifice if there are staff shortages, given that there are still 3tph from Cambridge to London with it missing (indeed Greater Anglia as well) and Hitchin / Stevenage get the Peterborough service. Similarly, on the Brighton line, there are still other services.All of the Brighton-Cambridge services are cancelled.
While it can be a popular service, it is also a fairly reasonable one to sacrifice if there are staff shortages, given that there are still 3tph from Cambridge to London with it missing (indeed Greater Anglia as well) and Hitchin / Stevenage get the Peterborough service. Similarly, on the Brighton line, there are still other services.
It seems that GTR will put a Royston stop in the Kings Lynn sometimes to connect out of the Royston terminator.
To be fair, I recall they'd got Saturdays pretty well back on track... then Covid hit.
This is going to happen for years to come. And be even worse around xmas or the weekends that there is a depot night out organised.
And as said previously, the fact they've silo'd the work out so other depots can't cover the work adequately just makes things worse.
They'll have to stop blaming covid too, as almost all the measures introduced for social distancing have now been or imminently will be removed.
What is intersting is why the problem is so much worse on the GN side, than it is on the Southern and MML side?Yes it will be a stretch to blame Covid when there’s so many services already missing from the timetable compared to December 2019.
All of the Baldocks in each peak, most of the fast Peterboroughs, and a massive number of Moorgates both peak and off peak. Plus stuff in the Cambridge area too.
did Southern open up 2 completely new depots without staffing them completely first ? Whilst also limiting what all their current drivers can drive in terms of routes/traction ?What is intersting is why the problem is so much worse on the GN side, than it is on the Southern and MML side?
Sorry, I don't really know much about crewing situations and train crew depots. Not my area of expertise. But thanks for saying what the issue is.did Southern open up 2 completely new depots without staffing them completely first ? Whilst also limiting what all their current drivers can drive in terms of routes/traction ?