Train strike update - no national strikes - settled

A little certainty is reassuring when planning travel.

Definitely!! Thanks for the update.

This is in deed good news Nigel.

But you’re right to mention possible local disruptions. The issues with crew shortages with Northern Trains and TPE at weekends remain. I’m currently on a train back from Manchester to Preston and there was a warning at Oxford Road to check any planned travel this weekend 24 hours before due to likely cancellations.

It’s perhaps a bit more than local as it covers pretty much the whole of Northern England and especially the North West.

Tell me about the Northern Sunday disruption. It is affecting different lines every Sunday, but there are always one or two lines each week left without service, or any bus replacements either.

Isn't that caused by the train companies understaffing though, rather than strikes?

No Nigel. It's primarily because contracts for Northern staff in the north west do not roster for Sunday working (not sure about Saturday). That means it's done by staff agreeing to work overtime, and these days not enough do want to. It was particularly bad on the day of the Euro football final, when a huge number did not work.

It's Gerry, not Nigel :)

But yes, like I said, they don't have enough people to run their services, probably because it's cheaper that way. If you're relying on voluntary overtime in any workplace to run mission critical services, something is a bit wrong.

I'm nitpicking in terms of how it affects visitors, but worth pointing out imho.

You can debate it whichever way you want. But when staff agree to work a shift but don't turn in on the day, or even worse go home in mid shift, it feels more like unofficial industrial action. If it quacks like a duck....
Going home mid shift does happen, with some frequency.
Thus many lines, mine included, start with a Sunday timetable which gets shredded as the day wears on. The cancellations and part cancellations are unpredictable in their nature.
Same for weekday evenings.
The last train will always get a bus replacement, even if it has to come from Bradford to Carlisle, then back to Bradford as happened to me last Thursday. In that case someone didn't turn in for their agreed evening shift at 5.30pm.
That bus cost Northern £450 for 3 passengers, plus the delay repay claims. Everyone else had found their own way home.

Two more pieces of news on this subject today- which the London centric national newspapers ignored last week-

1- The separate ballots by the RMT (train conductors/guards, and some Network Rail employees) union were conducting have been concluded- with overwhelming acceptance of the offer.
This was a revised offer, after ASLEF were given a higher offer than the RMT had previously accepted.

2- The ballot to accept a revised pay offer at Scotrail (all domestic train services in Scotland) has also concluded- again with overwhelming acceptance of the offer. In this case, due to the time it takes to write and implement crew rosters, the currently reduced timetable will continue until 6 October. However after that date the full timetable should recommence