Cathedrals to Worcester 23/08 CANCELLED

Quote from the SD Facebook page:

'We regret to announce that next Thursday's trip to Oxford and Worcester has had to be postponed due to an on-going industrial relations issue between our Train Operating Company (DBS) and the driver's union (ASLEF) and DBS have now advised us that they could not guarantee crews for that particular day.

If you are booked to travel with us on that day, you will be receiving further details in the post shortly.

We hope you understand the difficult position we are in and why this decision has been made.'

A real shame, and I hope this issue can be resolved. I was looking forward to seeing 6201, and this was to be the last time I could see her before overhaul... I don't have the time to see her :/

James at SVN

 

Ah well they wouldn't get this kind of nonsense if they'd stayed with West Coast. As far as I'm aware their drivers don't belong to the unions as the unions don't agree with their working practices.

Sounds like this has been festering for a while. See http://www.aslef.org.uk/information/107656/db_schenker_company_council_home/

 

Surely a better policy would be to pick and choose your TOC for each job rather than commiting solidly to one ?, knowing you can take you business to their competitor can't be a bad thing if you want the best service from a TOC.

 

It's an unfortunate situation but it's rather simplistic to say that West Coast drivers don't belong to 'the unions'. Quite a few WCRC drivers work full-time for other operating companies and moonlight on their days off and I would guess that most of these individuals do belong to a trade union. Those WCRC drivers who have retired from other companies (many ex EWS BTW) may not belong to a union but as most of these folk aren't relying on West Coast as a primary source of income they have different needs and aspirations. I don't know how much WCRC drivers get paid for a day's work but I would guess that it's some way less than the industry average and that may have something to do with 'the unions' view of them.

The issue currently is that DB Schenker drivers aren't working rest days - they're not on strike - and it's presumably because of this that the company were unable to guarantee a crew for Thursday's working. I sincerely hope it gets resolved soon as mainline steam needs more than one operator and both DB Schenker and West Coast do a reasonable job of it most of the time.

 

My understanding is that some WCRC drivers are on a "zero hours" contract which I guess means that they just ring them up when they need them and pay them by the hour. I gather that this is what the unions object to but I don't really see how else WCRC could work. On awarding individual jobs to TOCs - this is more or less what SD were doing until this year and they found it unsatisfactory. Let's hope the situation gets resolved soon as this is the second time this week it has affected Steam Dreams. Presumably it could affect other DBS customers like Torbay Express too but it depends whether the fostered crews are ASLEF members.

 

Why do toc's rely on staff to work on rest days to maintain it's work schedule anyway? Surely the staff due to work should be able to do this. A bit of a cowboy way of running things. Obviously it is the private charter work that goes out of the window first. I know the passengers will be refunded or offered another trip, but who pays for the loss of revenue to the tour operator & loco owning group? In particular the cost of organising the trip in the first place.

 

I was under the impression it was largely the condition of the Green Train that led to the switch from WCRC, once Steam Dreams have their own rake then stock provision is no longer an issue, all you need is a loco and crew.

 

I believe most of their drivers are employed in this fashion - and as I mentioned earlier some are in full-time employment as drivers with other train operating companies and some are retired. Most are not in the position where this work needs to be their primary source of income. At one time the charter work now done by WCRC would have been done by drivers employed full-time by BR or EWS and it's my understanding that this is why ASLEF are not particularly happy with the way they choose to operate.

 

Am I right in thinking that Steam Dreams are now tied to DBS for 3 years?

 

Dont no if this is true as well so two problems but on railway herald it says postponed due to 6201 being unavailable.

 

Same thing has happened to the Colchester to Carlisle trip tomorrow. Really disapppointed as it was a retirement celebration trip - not the sort of thing I'm likely to be able to repeat!

"We are extremely disappointed that our Train Operating Company (DBSchenker - who supplies the train crew) called us today to say that, due to an on-going industrial relations issue they are having with the drivers’ union, ASLEF, they cannot resource the train. The union has put in force a ban on overtime working, where previously crews could volunteer to work on their days off. Steam operations are particularly intensive in their use of crews and they simply don’t have enough qualified drivers to run the train. Unfortunately, there is nothing that Steam Dreams can do about this".

John

 

This is a worrying development. So, if the train is cancelled due to a lack of footplate crew(s), where do prospective pax stand, regarding full refunds? I've booked up to 3 trips for 2 of us in the next 3 months, including one dining train, and I'm now somewhat nervous... I'm not going to mention the specific trains, obviously, but this is a genuine concern, having paid out a hell of a lot of money 'up front'...

Mark

 

From a financial point of view, Steam Dreams must be really hurting now with very little prospect of the matter improving from what I read.

One hopes that the DBS/Aslef dispute is solved quickly, but if not, that there is a clause in the contract which allows SD to transfer their contract to another provider such as West Coast.

I can see that as the only option, because if the revenues stall with no income from tours, there is a severe risk as with any company, of going to the wall.

To lose an impressive organisation like Steam Dreams, regularly acknowledged in this forum as an excellent tour operator, would be a travesty which would take years to recover from.

For God's sake, let someone make a decision to restore Steam Dreams tour programme whatever it takes.

Nick

 

Steam Dreams will do whatever is in their best interests for pleasing customers ad staying in business, if DBS can't provide what they require regularly (whatever the reasons are and if they are valid or not is irrelevant to SD) then they will go elsewhere.

I still maintain a third player in the Steam Charter Market would be a good thing, I've heard rumours of DRS and DCR have done some light engine moves, but thus far, no one seems to want to take on fully blown class 1 operations.

 

DCR occasionally operate light engine movements with 60163. They WERE (the key word in this sentence!) planning on class 1 operations, but it would take some time. That was back in April that the plans were laid out, but I haven't heard anything since then.

James at SVN

 

I bet SD regret changing TOC's now. Can't see them going cap in hand back to WCRC. Would lose too much face.

 

Devon & Cornwall Railways?