Bits: BA cancelling strike flights from 1 July, Gatwick Express cancelling trains from Thursday

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• IslandDweller says:

  28 Jun28 June 07:57

  The thameslink branded services are now using the brand new 12 carriage trains. These are huge people movers. These trains have automatic weight sensors which show on a display in each carriage where the train is heavily loaded and where it is lightly loaded. It’s a fully ‘walk through’ design so you can easily move from carriage to carriage.

  • BlueThroughCrimp says:

    28 Jun28 June 12:24

    And they’re not working very well, much like the SWT 707s that still are having issues.

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    28 Jun28 June 12:24

    Loathe them. There are far fewer seats on the new Class 700 trains and they are hard as park benches.

• IslandDweller says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:01

  Sack the striking train crew? Good luck with that. GoVia (who operate all trains in this route, whatever brand name is used) has consistently failed to recruit / train enough crew. They rely on overtime for normal operation.
  You have a complete failure of industrial relations between train crew and useless management – with the dept of transport pouring petrol on the fire – there’s a lot of fault on every side.

  • the_real_a says:

    29 Jun29 June 14:56

    I think i missed my calling. Id drive a train for £65k a year

    • Rob says:

      29 Jun29 June 15:18

      You don’t need to drive a train. Be a tube ‘driver’ and you just sit there (on half the lines) giving confidence to passengers. Trains are automatic.

• Andy says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:16

  There is a very limited Thameslink service from London Bridge due to the ongoing upgrade work.

  All Thameslink services serve St Pancras, Faringdon, City Thameslink and Blackfriars.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    28 Jun28 June 14:53

    I had to get to Gatwick (on a Friday evening) during a Southern strike a few months ago. I would normally get a train from Waterloo to Clapham Junction and a Southern train to Gatwick from there, but as the Southern trains were not operating I got the tube to London Bridge and got a Thameslink service from there instead. Everything went completely fine, the train operated as scheduled, and there was enough room on the train for me to find a seat without any difficulty.

    However, frequencies were not very high, so I’d recommend checking the operating timetable at qjump.co.uk or any other site on the internet that offers live timetables, or giving yourself plenty of time.

• Andy says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:21

  As part of the management contract that GTR (Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink, Great Northern) with the DfT, there is a requirement to introduce Driver Only Operation.

  This has been decided by the DfT and not GTR. If this was a commercial decision for GTR to make themselves they would have scrapped the idea along time ago.

  GTR is not a franchise, its a management contract with the DfT. All fare revenue goes to the DfT and GTR gets paid a set premium.

  • Daftboy says:

    29 Jun29 June 08:25

    First bit of sense I’ve seen on here about this

• Pid says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:28

  OT – After the recent reviews on here on the Intercontinental Hong Kong I booked a Deluxe Harbour Room view for an Ambassador stay in August.  Was expecting an upgrade to a Deluxe Jnr Suite Harbour View, however, the booking has changed to a Superior Jnr Suite Pool View.  Any comments on what these rooms are like?

  I made the booking as the Harbour View was recommended so is it worth it if there is no view?  I note comments were made on the construction work by the pool so does anyone know if these rooms will be affected by it?  Is the upgrade worth it if there is no view or would it be better to request to revert to the booked room.  Alternatively is the IC Grand Stanford a better option, especially as for less money I could get a similar room that includes club access?

  1st world problems!

  • Aliks says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:01

    The harbour view is pretty spectacular, especially at night, although there are several bars and hotels that have rooftop views across the bay.

    The pool is pretty small and not worth viewing (in my view) and it sits between the Intercontinental and the enormous development next door so you will really be looking at a building site.
    I stayed there with a “pool” view about 18 months ago, so things may be better now, but check the google satellite pictures to get an impression of the location.

  • Rob says:

    28 Jun28 June 11:30

    Pool view would be a side room facing the building site. Don’t worry – if you booked harbour, you will get it, just complain at check in.

• @mkcol says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:45

  Has it been confirmed that the CAA have approved BA’s leasing of QR’s aircraft yet or not? I can’t find an outcome.

• Mark says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:15

  Surely Southerrn can hire more drivers, negating the need for overtime as part of normal operation.

  • Leo says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:34

    See IslandDweller’s post above.

• Kathy H says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:31

  Wish My Flights app was available for Android – check my trip isn’t half as good.

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