IT appears to be a difficult time for C@C this evening with a large number of trains cancelled.
A spokesperson said: “c2c employs a pool of over 150 train drivers, and like the rest of the UK rail industry and many other businesses we offer overtime as a normal method of boosting our contingency for holiday and sickness cover.
In the past week in particular we have had a spike in short-term sickness and a lack of driver availability, and this has led to increased cancellations. We make every effort to avoid cancelling trains whenever possible, and we are very sorry that this has caused delays to your journey.
At c2c we have recently agreed with the ASLEF trade union that we will increase the number of passenger train drivers we currently employ by an extra 17%. This will significantly reduce the impact of short-term and late-notice unavailability.
The first wave of new drivers recently entered service, and we have two more waves which are currently in training. More new drivers will be entering service over the next couple of months, with the remainder expected to complete their training early next year.
