THE MANCUNIAN Sat 09-Jun

Hopefully not considering it wasn't an "on the day" problem when it was too late to do something about it.

 

Hmm I wonder if Olympic rail planning ( and all the pre work needed) is affecting resource availability for planning charters ? .. In short are they too busy planning Olympics train paths to do charters ?

 

Could be. I wasn't aware the charter unit had re-located, so maybe this is the reason for them falling behind? It is certainly a problem for promoters, that may intensify as Mr Melia alluded to in his post.

 

If the promoter cancels its money back time. This isn't an Olympics problem, its the creation of the new Network Rail HQ at Milton Keynes which will have repercussions for years to come. Only the people who are incapable of getting a job elsewhere or totally besotted with their next grade, and staying in the industry, follow that road willingly - and neither are well known for their hordes of free thinkers and problem solvers

 

Is there something wrong with Milton Keynes, or a company trying to consolidate there body of knowledge to a central office ?

 

Probably the latter half of your sentence is the truth, You can't blame workers for not wanting to uproot their families to a strange far away place for very little benefit to them, the problem is the experience of them is being lost and not passed on to those replacing them.

 

Lets be honest poor timings are hardly a new phenomenon - i'd be far more worried about the affect of congestion on the network in the coming decade, especially around London and the core mainline and cross country routes, than the move to Milton Keynes.

Chris

 

Lets be honest, poor everything from network Rail is the standard of the company!

 

No, they are not new, but I seem to remember reading a mag article said NR had said in future they would try and get timings out earlier to the degree of some weeks in advance, so the question has to be asked why that isn't the case, even if the paths found are not acceptable, early issue of them allows time to tweak the itinery if possible to suit better.

Ok the damage might be done if a suitable path isn't availible but early issue of timings and subsequent attempts to rectify the problems would appease some of the customers that attempts were made to fix the problem.

 

I think there is a case that NR does need to answer to, in the past I have banged on about how Europe plans its tours a year in advance.
this year almost all the promoters have mapped out their whole year since December, so short term planning isnt really the argument.
if a freight customer required an adhoc transit load on infrequent schedules I am sure the are accommodated much faster (granted watering, platforming aren't applicable).