Railway Touring Company 2016

If WCRC are unable to quickly get the ban lifted they may well throw the towel in and enter administration then where would we all be?

 

Why would they need to enter administration???!!!

 

Two weeks to next WCME and three to the Midday Scot. Bookings appear to be available for both.

At this time it seems good customer relations to give some indication of intent.

 

At the risk of being accused of being too impatient I would have thought that, by now, RTC might have been able to be a little more forthcoming about UK tours in general and GB9 in particular. Ray Mason's post further up the thread is reasonably optimistic and the insight he provides most welcome, but I do worry that if WCR do not have their suspension lifted in time GB9, at least in the form currently advertised simply won't happen.

DBS are a large company with significant numbers of employees, but unfortunately they don't have a generous complement of steam drivers/firemen and those they do have are based mainly in the South-East leaving the rest of the UK with little or no coverage.

Last year DBS were unable to resource staff for about half the route even with diesel power, but to be fair the notice given was very short and this year RTC/DBS have much longer to plan accordingly. What I do doubt however is that air-braked steam can be made available for some of the advertised route, nor do I think DBS will suddenly reverse it's policy of a ban on vacuum braking or steam double heading.

Fortunately although I was a customer on previous GB tours I am not booked this year, but my brother-in-law was unlucky enough to be a participant on the 2015 fiasco and swore he would never travel with them again. I don't take quite such a strong view but it is not encouraging to note that RTC are still advertising without any caveat or even a basic care for accuracy.

I am in the position of not wanting to be a pessimist, but RTC's reticence gives me no cause to be optimistic either. Once again can I say that whilst I have sympathy for RTC's difficulties I do wonder if present uncertainties are about to degenerate into the same chaos as last year because RTC have repeated the mistake of confirming unwanted hotel rooms whilst fully aware of WCR problems.

Please RTC, rather than encourage negative speculation how about some realism both in your advertising and communication. It would enhance both your reputation and the chance of future bookings.

 

As far as RTC "doing all it can at the speed it can do it" I am sure you are right and RTC are to be applauded in this respect. Like you I am hopeful that some solution can be arranged, either through DBS alone or a possibly a combination effort involving other TOCS.

As far as caution is concerned I'm not so sure I share your optimism. As with other tours RTC ask passengers for a deposit on booking and payment of full balances between 8 and 10 weeks prior to the tour. It therefore seems likely that RTC would in turn confirm & pay for hotel rooms on the same basis. If, knowing the that the ability of WCR to resource the train was in serious doubt, RTC have confirmed and paid for these rooms then I would say that not only has caution been disregarded but has been completely abandoned.

Sadly I can also see no element of caution in continuing to advertise a product that may not be capable of delivery.

I wish both RTC and prospective passengers the best possible outcome, both for GB9 and future day trips, but the railtour industry cannot afford to ignore the lessons of 2015.

 

RTC is more closely affiliated to WC than any of its counterparts so perhaps understandably feels it has to give its partner maximum latitude to resolve its difficulties in time to fulfil advertised tours.
Seems a high risk strategy if so, mostly borne by putative customers that may be unaware of the current circumstances.

 

If tours in the immediate future cannot be guaranteed to run as sold, it would be far better to cancel them as VT has done and remove the doubt. Given the wealth of information in the public domain. RTC are on thin ice with their T&Cs if unwitting customers take umbrage at the delay in making some comment. Interesting to note they were very quick off the mark with a news item on their website about the temporary closure of the S&C. Yet no statement on the loss of their sole provider.

 

A quote from SR magazine, from Nigel Dobbing, of RTC, on the 17th February, indicates there is a lot going on in the background.

"We've spoken to DB Shenker and we're trying to find a way for them to operate some of our trains - but it (the announcement of the Prohibitation Notice) only happened today, so nothing is finalised. We'll be in touch with all passengers - we're hopeful we can keep running"

Having used RTC on several occasions, I have found they will always update my bookings, as and when factual information is confirmed.

I am quietly optimistic that WCRC will be up and running by Easter, or immediately afterwards. A four week cooling period to meet ORRs actions points fits in with that time frame.

 

@RayMason's encouraging and helpful posts were a week ago now. What we need next is something official from RTC about the tours planned in the next 2 months or so, along the lines of

"We are talking to other TOCs about resourcing our UK tour programme. These tours will be postponed to later in the year: a, b, c; These tours cannot be covered and are cancelled: p, q, r. These tours are expected to go ahead, though still under discussion: x, y, z. We will confirm, or otherwise by xxth March. No decisions have been made yet about tours later in the year. A further announcement will be made on xxth April. Passengers booked on postponed or cancelled tours can transfer to any other RTC tour or receive a refund, subject to....<whatever>." ​

I know @meltonnorth hates to pull the plug on a tour until all possibilities have been exhausted, but it seems to me that we really need a little certainty in this uncertain atmosphere. I also appreciate that RTC are also busy running tours overseas at the same time as trying to sort out the UK business.

 

feel really sorry for RTC - they need to get some rabbits out of that hat soon - they do have their Euro and worldwide tours too beside UK day trips and GB9 so I hope they can still survive with those and keep going without undue loss

as for GB9 did anyone actually book on it after last year

 

Yes, a few fools like myself did. Talk about twice bitten! And still they hold thousands of pounds of our money and string people on, just like last year.

 

People still need to get to and from London at the beginning and end of the tour, just like any other tour. Hence the need to get cheaper APEX fares and accommodation as any other tour.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...and-cancellation-charges-guide-for-businesses

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...s-what-do-businesses-need-to-know-short-guide

 

RTC and Steam Dreams still taking bookings for trips next weekend and beyond.

As customers need to make transport and maybe even accommodation plans, the protracted delay in confirming or otherwise is now becoming unacceptable. Far better to have cancelled all (or at least postponed pending alternative plans) for say two months than keeping people hanging on. From a promising initial response, the customer service is now looking poor indeed.

 

It seems there's already a reshuffle of trips on the RTC website, as one can no longer book any of the March Cumbrian Mountain Expresses, whilst the Royal Scot is no longer running on 26 March. However, the Midday Scot on 19 March seems to be holding firm at the moment. At least that I can stand down my Glasgow guest house, as I wasn't going to book this trip until I was certain about what was going to happen. The next bookable trip after 19 March appears to be The Wansbeck on 2 April, but the complexity of it might mean it will be next for the chop.

 

SD trip on 12/3 cannot be booked on line.States refer to booking office which usually means trip is cancelled or postponed.

 

The thing is we all sympathize with rtc last time round. But from the moment that the black 5 went through the red light or whatever happened in nov 15 alongside the orr announcing that they intended to pursue the case it should have been a priority or rtc to start to seek out alternative arrangements. This doesnt seem to have happened and they are now scrabbling around desperately whilst still stating that you should 'Book without delay'. This does not arouse much feeling of the sympathetic kind and certainly won't with non enthusiasts laying down 3k on gb9 whn they turn up for a diesel tour of the nation.