Christmas Strikes...

[ToraToraTora]

To Help out gulliver, what can the government do about all these strikes?

[Gromit]

Mushroon,
GTR are last in most of those charts.

On top of their flat fee from the Department of Transport (taxpayer), GTR are compensated by NwR (the taxpayer again) for delays caused by infrastructure failures.

So the more delays they have, the more money GTR make!

[mushroom25]

//GTR are last in most of those charts. //

nevertheless, that doesn't alter the delay attribution. GTR may well be compensated, but 65% of delays are still NwR's

but I would go further than you in respect of the money-grabbing-ness of all train operators, not just GTR - in the event of a fatality, the BTP endeavour to reopen the line in about 90mn except in the most complex cases. if the train companies were to adopt contingency timetabling, the normal service could be up and running in no more than a few hours. but they don't, they continue to operate the "scheduled" service, meaning that a fatality occurring in the afternoon disrupts trains right up until close of service. they do this because this accrues more penalty payments from NwR, and a high percentage of those entitled to delay-repay can't be bothered with the cumbersome claims process.

[New Judge]

Quite possibly so.

But that has nothing to do with the current industrial action on Southern Trains.

[Gromit]

NJ
It is. Southern are not being financially harmed by the strike, so they are not in a hurry to solve it.

GTR want to cut their wage bill so that they can keep more of the franchise payment for their profit. While redundancies are not part of the implimentation of guardless/conductorless trains, the aim is to cut the workforce. So when jobs go through natural wastage (someone retires) that job will not be replaced.

[New Judge]

"Southern are not being financially harmed by the strike, so they are not in a hurry to solve it."

The only way that they can "solve it" is to capitulate to the unions and accept that they (the unions) make decisions concerning the running of the company that are properly those of the management. Whether or not they are in a hurry to solve the problem is neither here nor there. It can be solved only in one of two ways: The management hold their ground and maintain that they make decisions concerning the running of the company or they chuck their hand in and so "Oh, alright then, you can have your own way."

If both sides hold their ground it will take as long as it takes and if, as you say, the company has no particular stimulus to solve the dispute then unfortunately their customers are in for a long haul.

[EDDIE51]

Just pointed out on the other 'Christmas Strikes' thread that it is very confusing having two threads with identical titles at the same time!
Can we combine the two?

[youngmafbog]

Fire the lot of the Commies.

[bednobs]

hmm, you didn't quite say the same about the doctors strike though did you YMB? perfectly ok for them to strike wasn't it?