Normal Service Will Be Resumed

It will not surprise those who know me that Robbie and I do not always agree. We are quite capable of arguing about everything from politics to pet care, but when you get beyond the bickering our views are not significantly different. It is just that Robbie is less willing to be outspoken than I am -yes really! I can tolerate people spouting drivel as long as I don't have to listen. I can accept their right to believe passionately in the most ridiculous things, but if they try to impose their batty beliefs on me they will get their answer loud and clear - even the Jehovah's Witnesses have blacklisted our house! The thing that really gets me wound up is when one group gets so forceful about asserting their rights that their actions have a devastating effect on others, including those more vulnerable and less able to assert their 'rights'.


That brings me on to a name which has fast become a swear word among many of it's customers - London Midland. If you type the words 'London Midland chaos' or 'London Midland Disruption', you will find countless examples of delayed or cancelled services and services that terminated before their expected destination. Their name has become synonimous with disruption, chaos and unreliability. The the drivers dispute which has been causing havock for passengers is supposedly at an end. There have been various promises about normal service being resumed from yesterday. It is that little word 'normal' that bothers me because 'normal' for London Midland is not a good customer experience. Yesterday Robbie's journey to work was one of the worst yet. I would be much more reassured if they said that they would be running the full timetabled service, on time and with working toilets. Come to think of it I wouldn't believe them even if they said that!!


Like so many others Robbie has has had a terrible time trying to get to and from work.  Often it took three times as long as it should and it required considerable ingenuity to get there or to get home again. It was exhausting and extremely worrying. I understand that the drivers have issues, of course they want to be paid well for what they do. I am not anti union (but I am deeply unimpressed by the way some unions behave) and I understand that this problem is not all one sided, the company should have sorted this out long ago. In fact the faceless bods at DFT who make totally batty decisions about franchise allocation should have foreseen the problems of harmonising the pay and conditions of workers who joined the new franchise from two different companies. It is simply not good enough to treat passengers so badly.  


Needless to say the chaos has generated a lot of frustration and there has been plenty of heated discussion on facebook. I was pleasantly surprised to find that even some fellow railway employees did not support the recent action. One person wrote (not a direct quote as it was necessary to tone down the language) They need to get their heads banged together. For too long the insulated world of train crew have been taking advantage of at the people who employ them as well the poor passengers stood on platforms waiting for a non-running service. A fortnight working hard in a different job would be enough to make them appreciate just how fortunate they really are.


It seems the drivers have got their deal, but at what cost. What about the people who have had to drive to work or to university because the train service is so unreliable, what about the countless people who lost pay because their train was cancelled or terminated short. Did the drivers give a thought to the people who were terrified of losing their job because they just couldn't get to work on time. I wonder if they cared that the passengers that they messed about so badly will get no meaningful compensation. It is great for the drivers that they have got what they wanted, but at what cost? 

Saboutaged by Sat-navs? 10.02.08

So Network Rail think that Satellite Navigation systems are at the root of their problems?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/09/nsatnav109.xml

I'm not convinced; I manage perfectly well with a map, a bit of forward planning and a window, and I have never gone too far wrong! There again, Network Rail don't have a great track record when it comes to forward planning or seeing what is right under their nose, so it hardly surprising that they think we all 'drive by numbers'. If there really is a problem with lorries going around bashing bridges to the extent that they claim then I think there may be more plausible reasons. I would guess that incomprehensible road signs play their part, also I think that foreign lorry drivers may be at fault. Many do not speak English and they may struggle to understand our road signs and some may not be familiar with our measurements either so warning signs may mean very little to them. On the way into Kettering they have a sign with a sensor to tell lorries that they are too big and get them to turn off before they get stuck under the bridge. Maybe a few more signs like that may help. Perhaps Network Rail should start to think outside the box and come up with some imaginative ideas to prevent future accidents. If there really are all these cars and lorries causing so much disruption to the railway, Network Rail should be suing the drivers involved and it is a pretty safe bet that if sat-nav is at fault the motor insurance companies would pursue the sat-nav providers. It may be an alien concept to Network Rail but a certain amount of common sense is essential when driving (and a little more of it could work wonders on the railways too!) so maybe an IQ test should be compulsory for all drivers. If nothing else it would reduce traffic congestion over night!