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SWT Fiasco - Alex Cameron (4th Dec 2004 - 13:20:22) Just thought i'd share the experience i had on the train back from Waterloo, in light of the recent discussions here - some of the info is very interesting, hence the new thread. I need to set the scene before the juicy bits. We arrived at Liphook around 11.20pm last night, only a small of us couldn't leave the train, even though we could see the platform clearly in front of us. By the time we managed to get to the next carriage to find a set of doors we could open, the damned thing was on its way to Liss. The guard explained to us that he has 2 choices for disembarking customers - either open all the doors, or just the first 5 carriages. Now everyone heard the announcement to get to the front of the train, but as we could easily get onto the platform from the 6th and 7th carriages, the confusion over why the door wasn't opening lasted long enough to take us to the next station. So we had a long conversation with guard, and found out some very juicy info. Amongst other things: 400 managers are being made redundant before xmas, despite being praised for their good work and getting performance-related bonuses. Morale amongst staff at all levels is appalling. The new 13th Dec timetable is SWT's last ditch attempt to save their franchise - if there is still no improvement, its a Connex situation. The government will step to run the network in January. The platform alterations that have been done to certain stations (e.g. Liphook) are in effect, entirely pointless, thanks to the '5th carriage' policy. The late trains from Waterloo are 10 carriages long, despite being able to get everyone in first 5. There's no reason to run them, and the staff's position is simply that long trains shouldn't be run at short platforms. The punctuality problem is caused almost exclusively by the sheer number of trains on the network - timing is OK from Portsmotuh -> Woking, but its impossible to keep time going into Waterloo. All it takes is one setback from a train in front to mess up the entire day's timetable. That should put a different light on letters to the CEO - he's out of a job in January if things don't perk up. Anyone fancy getting a few faces together and running it for them? Arse? Elbow? Arse? Elbow?

Re: SWT Fiasco - Alex Cameron (7th Dec 2004 - 16:35:05) Just had these details confirmed by a total of 4 separate sources in the last few days. Interestingly, did you know that guards/ticket collectors are paid £26k and buffet car attendants £10k (although they work for Compass)? Quote of the day: Me "What's this i hear about SWT canning 400 managers' jobs and losing their franchise next month?" Guard: "How did you know that? Nobody's supposed to know that." Me: "Because i know everything."

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