Thameslink Railway performance

[AM9]

I've asked my colleagues this and apparently yes he has moved to St Pancras, probably a good thing shame they can't clone him

Yes I had that confirmed this morning when passing through. What's more worrying was that I was told that he won't be allowed to make announcements anymore as he said too much.
Some managements don't have a clue about customer interaction!

 

[Tetchytyke]

I don't know about the delays, but I have been on two Thameslink trains today out on the Sutton loop. Both were immaculate inside. So some things have got better with the change of franchisee.

 

[jon0844]

Yes I had that confirmed this morning when passing through. What's more worrying was that I was told that he won't be allowed to make announcements anymore as he said too much.
Some managements don't have a clue about customer interaction!

He was getting a little bit annoying to be honest. He's clearly friendly and well meaning but some of this announcements were a bit repetitive and long winded.

And you know what they say about not taking things in when you're bombarded with too many signs and posters? I imagine people started to tune out to him.

I say this as someone who initially thought he was very refreshing, but soon came to realise he said almost the same things every day.

 

[DelayRepay]

He was getting a little bit annoying to be honest. He's clearly friendly and well meaning but some of this announcements were a bit repetitive and long winded.

I agree - but at least when he apologised for the delay, you knew he really meant it. Much better than the robotic machine apologising (how can a machine be sorry, or indeed feel any emotions at all??). And it wasn't just the announcements - if it was raining he would hand out umbrellas from the lost and found cupboard.

I think moving him around between stations is a good idea though.

Having said that, I've noticed when passing through Farringdon that they're being a bit more cheerful with their announcements now too so maybe he's trained them?

 

[jon0844]

He's a great guy. The sort of person you want working for you, but perhaps talking near non-stop every day, when anyone would run out of things to say, wasn't the right way to use his talents.

Perhaps at a location where you have more infrequent travellers, or just having him 'on the ground' talking to people in person, is best.

One thing is for sure, GTR needs to keep him and find others like him. People who have a passion for the job, but also need to be given the right job.

 

[asylumxl]

If Raildar is anything to go by, Thameslink has missed their performance targets most days.

http://raildar.co.uk/bc/740ea9f358b5dcd3a88b69067a4dcb7cc0040a38

 

[fusionblue]

He's a great guy. The sort of person you want working for you, but perhaps talking near non-stop every day, when anyone would run out of things to say, wasn't the right way to use his talents.

Perhaps at a location where you have more infrequent travellers, or just having him 'on the ground' talking to people in person, is best.

One thing is for sure, GTR needs to keep him and find others like him. People who have a passion for the job, but also need to be given the right job.

On the other side of the coin, whoever recorded the automatic announcements at blackfriars needs to not do them again. He....labours......the........sentences..................far......................apart.
And it becomes tedious listening to him. I think they've been rerecorded but i still have a twitch hearing it in my mind.

There's a few people at Farringdon who just do it properly and swiftly (train is X time to Y place, is Z coaches), and even say things like "hope you have a good day". Brevity like that is nice.

My experience with Thameslink seems to be more of the same generally - back in the FCC days whenever there was disruption they would automatically concede everything back to SE and say "go to blackfriars" or (as they told me after being stuck in the snow hill tunnel when the wires came down) "use alternative routes". More frequently (like during all of the cold snaps in January-March) both FCC/SE would forget all existence of the sevenoaks route entirely.

 

[asylumxl]

On the other side of the coin, whoever recorded the automatic announcements at blackfriars needs to not do them again. He....labours......the........sentences..................far......................apart.
And it becomes tedious listening to him. I think they've been rerecorded but i still have a twitch hearing

I don't think they're all actually pre-recorded. I'm pretty sure he works at the station and does live announcements. Either that or there are a large amount of recordings.

 

[Bald Rick]

I don't think they're all actually pre-recorded. I'm pretty sure he works at the station and does live announcements. Either that or there are a large amount of recordings.

Pretty sure he does work there, and records many (but not all) of the announcements.



Attention


to


customers...

 

[asylumxl]

Pretty sure he does work there, and records many (but not all) of the announcements.



Attention


to


customers...

Give

The

Guy

A

Break

He

Works

In

The

Core

 

[W230]

I don't think they're all actually pre-recorded. I'm pretty sure he works at the station and does live announcements. Either that or there are a large amount of recordings.

Pre recorded. Never met the person with the voice though.

Blackfriarts is pretty much non stop announcements. I'm not sure if all our TL stations are this bad but I hope not.

 

[Class377/5]

I don't think they're all actually pre-recorded. I'm pretty sure he works at the station and does live announcements. Either that or there are a large amount of recordings.

They are all pre recorded and best not been frontline staff for a few years. There's a huge database of recording. The last amendment I saw for the announcements was 15 pages of A4.

And for the record he's posted on here but is now working on a much more exciting project.

 

[asylumxl]

They are all pre recorded and best not been frontline staff for a few years. There's a huge database of recording. The last amendment I saw for the announcements was 15 pages of A4.

And for the record he's posted on here but is now working on a much more exciting project.

I think you may be thinking of the guy from West Hampstead, Matt I believe his name was.

This is not the same guy. we are talking about I think.

 

[Class377/5]

I think you may be thinking of the guy from West Hampstead, Matt I believe his name was.

This is not the same guy. we are talking about I think.

I've just clicked who you mean and he does work in the core but he has prerecorded in the system as well as live ones.

 

[Via Bank]

I've just clicked who you mean and he does work in the core but he has prerecorded in the system as well as live ones.

Although Matt has some pre-recorded announcements across the ex-FCC network, I presume fusionblue was talking about the (different, possibly untrained) male voice at Blackfriars, presumably a member of station staff.

For a while they had (and may still have) an announcement set to play at (?)five-minute intervals, where Staccato Man, after asking for 'Attention… to customers…' explains that 'Sevenoaks… services… leave from Platforms 3 and 4… northbound trains… via St Pancras… leave from Platform 2… etc.' And then repeats. The whole announcement seems to go on for about a minute. A minute!

If you've been on the platform for more than ten minutes, and witnessed multiple inbound train announcements made late because they were queued behind that one, it gets extraordinarily grating, especially considering that (assuming the automatic announcements are working) it's entirely unnecessary.

 

[ItchyRsole]

He has been spotted quite a few times at STP recently, both during disruption and not.... Maybe he's been moved?

He applied for a transfer into a multi purpose role, platforms / booking office.

More money I guess was the reason.

 

[asylumxl]

To see how bad Govia Thameslink's performance is I am logging the PPM for each day from NRs feeds. So far out of 9 days they've met the PPM target once.

I'm hoping at some point to be able to compare FCCs performance for the same period to Govia Thameslink's.

 

[DelayRepay]

To see how bad Govia Thameslink's performance is I am logging the PPM for each day from NRs feeds. So far out of 9 days they've met the PPM target once.

I'm hoping at some point to be able to compare FCCs performance for the same period to Govia Thameslink's.

Is this information publically available? They are supposed to publish it on their website here every day - but they seem to be stuck on last Wednesday which is the day of the disaster at City Thameslink.

 

[asylumxl]

Is this information publically available? They are supposed to publish it on their website here every day - but they seem to be stuck on last Wednesday which is the day of the disaster at City Thameslink.

It's from the NR feeds and is publicly available.

Two such sites that use the data are Raildar and Trains.im.

 

[DelayRepay]

It's from the NR feeds and is publicly available.

Two such sites that use the data are Raildar and Trains.im.

Thanks - those sites contain some interesting data.

 

[Abpj17]

It's from the NR feeds and is publicly available.

Two such sites that use the data are Raildar and Trains.im.

Thanks for those. The first doesn't split the FCC franchise. But http://trains.im/ppm/FC is a really interesting split into different sections

More delays tonight btw -_-

 

[Class377/5]

To see how bad Govia Thameslink's performance is I am logging the PPM for each day from NRs feeds. So far out of 9 days they've met the PPM target once.

I'm hoping at some point to be able to compare FCCs performance for the same period to Govia Thameslink's.

Are you logging the causes too? After all you can hardly criticise GTR if the infrastructure falls down or there is a fatality on the line.

 

[asylumxl]

Are you logging the causes too? After all you can hardly criticise GTR if the infrastructure falls down or there is a fatality on the line.

Well yes. But like I said I'm hoping to compare like for like if possible. See if there is any difference in performance.

 

[infobleep]

Southern dropped JourneyCheck and it's now the same with Thameslink. The same level of information is going out from their Control but none of it reaches the customer via their website anymore.

Couldn't they afford the costs of the Journey Check system. I really like it. However I do find Southern fares can be cheaper sometimes so perhaps in keeping prices low Journey Check had to go.

 

[Taunton]

Are you logging the causes too? After all you can hardly criticise GTR if the infrastructure falls down or there is a fatality on the line.

Actually you may be able to, and this was one of the central tenets of the way that delay attribution works.

Yes, these events happen, but one of the key aspects is that then, after it is dealt with on the spot, how long does it take for the service to recover. Long-serving operators will tell you that it does take so much longer to recover from an event nowadays than from the same sort of happenings a generation ago. And indeed, one of the reasons why PPM expectations are not set at 100% is the recognition that there are some of these events which do arise outside your control. So the expectation is set at 95%. But then (simplifying) some beancounter works out that if you get rid of all the spare/standby crews and their costs, you would still, just, make the 95%, so they do so. Then the signalbox gets struck by lightning, and because there is no slack in the crewing any more they are then disrupted all day long, and then bleat "nuffin' under my control, guv".

But it could be.

 

[Clip]

Well yes. But like I said I'm hoping to compare like for like if possible. See if there is any difference in performance.

I hope by that you mean compare it to the same period from last year rather than some random point in this year.

 

[Class377/5]

Actually you may be able to, and this was one of the central tenets of the way that delay attribution works.

Yes, these events happen, but one of the key aspects is that then, after it is dealt with on the spot, how long does it take for the service to recover. Long-serving operators will tell you that it does take so much longer to recover from an event nowadays than from the same sort of happenings a generation ago. And indeed, one of the reasons why PPM expectations are not set at 100% is the recognition that there are some of these events which do arise outside your control. So the expectation is set at 95%. But then (simplifying) some beancounter works out that if you get rid of all the spare/standby crews and their costs, you would still, just, make the 95%, so they do so. Then the signalbox gets struck by lightning, and because there is no slack in the crewing any more they are then disrupted all day long, and then bleat "nuffin' under my control, guv".

But it could be.

Delay attribution is separate from PPM. The figure is for the railway not the causer. That's for afterwards to be attributed.

 

[asylumxl]

I hope by that you mean compare it to the same period from last year rather than some random point in this year.

Ofcourse. That's why I said I hope to. Need ro find historic data.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

He has been spotted quite a few times at STP recently, both during disruption and not.... Maybe he's been moved?

Can they move him back to St,Albans ... not everyone wants some cheesy Stepford Wives vision of the world inflicted on them while being a captive of the new operators delays. For every person who likes the drivel there are an equal (if not greater number) who just want the information in a plain and basic style.

Call me a miserable glass half full type of old git if you like but that goes for a good percentage of us fare paying passengers.

 

[DelayRepay]

Right now, the Thameslink website is showing "Major Disruption" on the front page for the Brighton to Bedford line, but when you click to the details page, it's showing everything is fine. National Rail and Thameslink twitter are not reporting problems, so it looks like another fault with their website...