Changing Roles on the Railways

[Heartland]

The way staff worked on the railways has changed with time and many types of jobs have disappeared

Local stations often dealt with parcels traffic and sometimes freight. There were station masters and platform staff and now the staffing at local stations can be limited to one or no staff on a shift.

There was a time when there were dedicated staff for seat and sleeper reservations which now can be done on line. British Railway had coaching stock for which seats could be reserved and the sleeper and motor rail had reservation systems. The Sleeper train to Scotland would pass through Birmingham New Street and people could reserve a berth in a second class sleeper or have the exclusive right, at a cost, for a first class sleeper.

At New Street station there was a dedicated reservation office that was part of the travel centre where train enquiries were dealt with and advance bookings made. Arrangements to have a British Rail hotel could be made and there was a special booking office for Continental travel and car ferry bookings as well as rail -air bookings.

Much was lost with railway privatisation and such services were often sent out to the private sector. Behind the booking office was a telephone enquiry office where people could phone in, Nowadays Train Line has a role although with Great British Railways it will be of interest to see what will happened next.

A member of staff at the reservation desk, New Street where the phone line was the principal means of arranging reservations and the paper allocation of seats and sleepers was held on clipboards

 

[Donbogen]

The way staff worked on the railways has changed with time and many types of jobs have disappeared

Local stations often dealt with parcels traffic and sometimes freight. There were station masters and platform staff and now the staffing at local stations can be limited to one or no staff on a shift.

There was a time when there were dedicated staff for seat and sleeper reservations which now can be done on line. British Railway had coaching stock for which seats could be reserved and the sleeper and motor rail had reservation systems. The Sleeper train to Scotland would pass through Birmingham New Street and people could reserve a berth in a second class sleeper or have the exclusive right, at a cost, for a first class sleeper.

At New Street station there was a dedicated reservation office that was part of the travel centre where train enquiries were dealt with and advance bookings made. Arrangements to have a British Rail hotel could be made and there was a special booking office for Continental travel and car ferry bookings as well as rail -air bookings.

Much was lost with railway privatisation and such services were often sent out to the private sector. Behind the booking office was a telephone enquiry office where people could phone in, Nowadays Train Line has a role although with Great British Railways it will be of interest to see what will happened next.

A member of staff at the reservation desk, New Street where the phone line was the principal means of arranging reservations and the paper allocation of seats and sleepers was held on clipboards
View attachment 205807

Iv got to make a train journey to Bolton tomorrow and i am not looking forward to it
as a Kettle Basher i used to look forward to going on a train and the efficient service
not looking to meeting the staff and of course i am your train manager announcements
made by someone who has not had his first shave yet
plus cancelled trains
vending machines that do not take cash
Mars Bar £1.50
no tea trolley service because hot drinks
HEATH & SAFETY
justs a moan getting Old

 

[Lloyd]

"Local stations often dealt with parcels traffic and sometimes freight."

...and looked upon in isolation, were not cost effective. Neither were the small number of passengers using branch lines, so along comes the 'Beeching' way of thinking where if it doesn't show a profit, close it. Never mind that the parcels, freight and passengers often continued their journeys on more important main lines. So the plates feeding the profitable side of the industry became bare, and the whole thing starved.

 

[mw0njm.]

Iv got to make a train journey to Bolton tomorrow and i am not looking forward to it
as a Kettle Basher i used to look forward to going on a train and the efficient service
not looking to meeting the staff and of course i am your train manager announcements
made by someone who has not had his first shave yet
plus cancelled trains
vending machines that do not take cash
Mars Bar £1.50
no tea trolley service because hot drinks
HEATH & SAFETY
justs a moan getting Old

you miss the sarnis curling up at the corners

 

[Heartland]

Donbogen has made a point to comment upon

With privatisation came fragmentation will different operators having different policies. It was seen as progress at the time and has had both good and bad results.

Catering on trains has been reduced, but Cross Country, that is XC in their modern vernacular, do have a trolley service on their services. But they can get somewhat crowded at times which restricts the movement of the trolley as do people who put their large suitcases in the aisle/

There was a time when the guard, later conductor, and now the "train manager" would go through the train checking tickets etc, and that still happens on some services, but there are other "managers" who sit in the back cab for the journey only leaving it perhaps to assist a disabled passenger at one of the many unstaffed stations

It was the John Major Government that brought about the change and the fragmentation of the network. It killed any prospect of through Continental trains to this region and ensured that London would be the place for that service in future. It severely damaged what was left of the train builders and rolling stock builders and whilst private investment was encouraged the road the success was frequently paved with failure.

Whilst the franchises are coming back under national control with the date for West Midlands trains now announced for February 2026, train operation will in part become state owned again. But that does not include the rolling stock companies that lease all the trains, the freight operators and the open access passenger train companies. The days of the former British Rail and their cardboard sandwiches are still a long way away

 

[Pedrocut]

Obvious good point of privatisation.
Rolling stock sold to private leasing firms at undervalued prices and leased back. Millions paid in dividends, even during Covid. Companies bought out by banks, millionaires were made overnight.

 

[mikejee]

This occurred with almost all privatisation. But please let us keep to the operation of the railways, the subject of this thread. This forum is not a place for political discussion

 

[Heartland]

One of the issues of transport history is that parliament is involved at many stages. Whilst it is important to avoid the political aspect, it is hard not to mention the involvement of parliamentary decisions and the policies of a particular party which has led to what is done

But yes this thread is about what staff did and what they do now. The changing role of computer involvement is key to what is done now but computers as they evolved were extremely helpful with railway development.

Ticket issuing moved from the manual and mechanical to assistance of computers that included the INTIS system and then the APTIS and PORTIS (for on train use). With every change there had to be financial accounting and ways of recording what was sold be it with pre printed forms of tickets or the machine be it mechanical or computerised

With the modern age there are the tickets which are still printed out at the booking office or the machine that now takes credit cards only and there are also the on line tickets on the mobile phone.

The mobile phone ticket has much use in our modern age and is a benefit to many. The disadvantages are for the others stuck behind somebody in the queue to pass through an automatic barrier whose app is not recognised or the revenue protection officer at the station who has to check the ticket on the phone in the wave people trying to push past.

But then we live in an age where there are those who travel by train, or metro, who have little patience. Those disembarking from a service have to try to get past those who want to board even if it means pushing past those getting off.

 

[mikejee]

There is one great potential advantage to the customer, which I have encountered once only, though sure if it is standard on that firm's system. I purchased a return ticket to Taunton (from Reading) online with GWR . It was a standard ticket, but had said which train I was travelling on. I missed the return train I was expecting to travel on , but caught the next one with no problems (as it was not an advance ticket which specified train). A few days later I received a message from GWR apologising that the train I had meant to catch had arrived late and that a partial refund of my fare would be automatically made . And a few days later it was (though i had never actually used that train). I really really liked that !!
)