Relying on staff volunteering to work weekend shifts to keep trains running on Sundays, as well as the regular need to fall back on voluntary overtime to cover absences, has been blasted as not sustainable for a healthy, functioning railway in the UK.
Transport expert Graham Eccles, who during his career was the managing director of South West Trains before being appointed as the head of the railway division at Stagecoach, told The Independent that reliance on overtime work is “no way to run a railway” and has always been outdated.
“We don’t have enough people to cover that train [service] seven days a week, and that can’t be right, and it never has been right,” he said.
‘Sunday work’ and rest day working for train drivers and other rail staff has long been a polarising issue in the industry, causing widespread disruption in recent years. Last Sunday on Great Western Railway, for example, the effects of Storm Darragh were compounded by dozens of cancellations due to staff declining – as is their right – to work on their day off.
Train managers working for Avanti West Coast who are members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union had announced industrial action around Christmas due to “inadequate proposals on rest day working arrangements” after rejecting a proposal made to them by the company – though in better news for passengers, the strikes were called on of 13 Decemeber after the union received an improved offer from Avanti.
The Sunday rule varies between companies, with some operators relying on employees volunteering to work extra paid shifts to run timetabled services on a Sunday, as this day is commonly negotiated to be “outside” the working week in the industry.
Voluntary overtime is different, such as rest day working, and is used by train operators to cover absences due to vacancies, sickness or when staff are required to undertake higher than usual levels of training, such as new fleet introductions or major timetable changes.
Government-owned Northern regularly urges passengers in northwest England not to travel on some routes on a Sunday. While Sunday is “inside” the working week for staff east of the Pennines; for those based at depots west of the Pennines, it is optional.
Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, has warned in his Christmas…
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