Anyone know what its actually about? Seems a pretty convincing ballot result
so clearly something about the new operators has ****ed off the staff. I can't
remember the last time there was a strike on the DLR.

--
Spud

On 03/11/2015 22:40, Paul Corfield wrote:

On Tue, 3 Nov 2015 09:42:27 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

Anyone know what its actually about? Seems a pretty convincing ballot
result so clearly something about the new operators has ****ed off the
staff. I can't remember the last time there was a strike on the DLR.

It's the first ever strike in 28 years which is why your memory is
struggling. There have been a lot of threats of strikes and "working
to rule" but Serco always managed to agree something with DLR
management.

I suspect the background, so far unstated, is that KeolisAmey need to
make considerable efficiencies to make their contract pay. Seems they
want to bring agency staff to cover posts rather than employ full time
directly employed staff. The management also want to train managers
to operate trains and the control room - presumably a "strike
breaking" tactic for when the financial screw has to be tightened even
further.


Do you know roughly how much cheaper the KeolisAmey operating contract
is compared to the previous Serco contracts?

On Tue, 03 Nov 2015 23:07:58 +0000
Paul Corfield wrote:
I think Keolis may have overpromised what they can do in terms of
extra services squeezed out of the existing fleet and employing agency
"train captains" is one way to try to costs down. I also suspect that
they have found life is not easy as they expected. There have been

Sounds like the history of ToCs. Overbid to get the contract then find
the sums don't really add up without some serious cost cutting. Perhaps
if this carries on they'll do a National Express and walk away.

Anyone know why TfL doesn't just run the DLR directly anyway or via wholy owned
subsidiary like LU? Is it government policy or something they decided to do?

The RMT spokesperson on the telly said "KeolisAmey were running the
railway into the ground". Now that may be hyperbole for the benefit
of the TV cameras but I get a sense that all is not well at DLR. I
think the old "small East London community railway" feel that existed
in the past has gone - partly through more direct control from TfL and
partly from this new concession with its different approach to things
coupled with new management.

To be fair, the DLR is now the size of a metro system you'd find in a medium
sized city in europe. I think that community railway feel vanished a long
time ago.

--
Spud

On Wed, 4 Nov 2015 09:37:45 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

On Tue, 03 Nov 2015 23:07:58 +0000
Paul Corfield wrote:
I think Keolis may have overpromised what they can do in terms of
extra services squeezed out of the existing fleet and employing agency
"train captains" is one way to try to costs down. I also suspect that
they have found life is not easy as they expected. There have been

Sounds like the history of ToCs. Overbid to get the contract then find
the sums don't really add up without some serious cost cutting. Perhaps
if this carries on they'll do a National Express and walk away.

I thought that wasn't an easy option any more? Also, technically, NX
didn't walk away from EC: Adonis sacked it while it was still
pondering that option.


Anyone know why TfL doesn't just run the DLR directly anyway or via wholy owned
subsidiary like LU? Is it government policy or something they decided to do?

Yes, I wondered that. Maybe as it's self-contained, they decided to
leave it as it is. The costs may be higher to run it in-house.


The RMT spokesperson on the telly said "KeolisAmey were running the
railway into the ground". Now that may be hyperbole for the benefit
of the TV cameras but I get a sense that all is not well at DLR. I
think the old "small East London community railway" feel that existed
in the past has gone - partly through more direct control from TfL and
partly from this new concession with its different approach to things
coupled with new management.

To be fair, the DLR is now the size of a metro system you'd find in a medium
sized city in europe. I think that community railway feel vanished a long
time ago.

True. That 'local ownership' feeling probably faded ever since the
Bank extension opened, let alone the tunnels under the Thames.

On Wed, 04 Nov 2015 22:15:07 +0000
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Wed, 4 Nov 2015 09:37:45 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:
Anyone know why TfL doesn't just run the DLR directly anyway or via wholy
owned
subsidiary like LU? Is it government policy or something they decided to do?

Well it's worth remembering that three extensions were provided by
private consortia so TfL were not able to run those directly. They
bought two of them out (City Airport / Woolwich Arsenal) but it was
not worthwhile doing so for CGL who built the Lewisham extension. That
deal runs to 2021 and at that point the railway reverts back to TfL.
The current concession with KeolisAmey runs until the same time so

So are CGL part of the consortium currently running it? If not I don't
see the connection.

Well yes but DLR had its own community forums, localised marketing and
information guides, its own website, project info etc. All that's
been washed away by TfL.

If the DLR was still trundling around with single car trains between
Tower HIll and Island Gardens then I suppose your could lament its passing.
But its effectively another group of tube lines now in all but name so you'll
never recapture that community feel.

--
Spud

On Wed, 04 Nov 2015 22:15:07 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:

I suspect LT and then TfL have retained an arms length relationship
for DLR operation to avoid incurring a load of additonal costs.

What kind of costs?

--
jhk

On Fri, 06 Nov 2015 22:11:10 +0000
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Thu, 5 Nov 2015 09:28:30 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:
So are CGL part of the consortium currently running it? If not I don't
see the connection.

CGL *own* the line from Mudchute to Lewisham. TfL couldn't take it

Ah ok, I didn't realise that.

I understand your point and Recliner's. However even being relatively
large they still had a community focus until TfL wiped it away.

I do remember the little DLR shop they had at the old Island Gardens which
was quite nice. They never replaced it when that station was demolished.

--
Spud