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ToraToraTora | 09:30 Mon 08th Aug 2016 | News
17 Answers
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-36987040
Ok so is the driver supposed to do the guards job? How's it going to work? I mean the primary job of the driver is to drive, so what if he is needed on the actual train? It's extremely rare for me to side with a union but I think they have a point.
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Most other rail regions have had driver operated doors and got rid of guards for many years now. Southern is way behind the rest on this.
The future is to get rid of drivers as well , the Docklands Railway has never had drivers it is computer controlled. It transports 100,000 s of people a day with a far better safety record than 'driver operated' trains.
Of course they have a point !

Recently I got locked in the toilet on the Intercity up to Town. It was the guard that came and rescued me. If I had pulled the communication cord, the train would have screeched to a halt in the middle of nowhere, and the Driver would have had to climb down from the cab and walk back to assist me.

On another journey earlier this year, there was an outbreak of violence for a handful of drunk youths, which the female Guard dealt with very ably indeed ?

Is it really tenable that one person, ie the Driver, should be responsible for the care of 100's, maybe 1000's of passengers on his own ?

When you take into account the huge sums payable by commuters on this busy region, surely the salary paid to a guard must be worth it ?
Eddie....I only travel on the GWR services up and down to Town from Swansea, and they have always had guards.
Its worth bearing in mine here that Govia Thameslink are getting rid of the Guards to save money, not to improve safety.
Mikey,.....where is this Town you speak of? Cardiff? ;)

Baths
x x x
Bathy....like all respectable Swansea folk, I avoid Cardiff like the plague !
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trying to fare doge by hiding in the kazi, mikey?? tut tut!
TTT....it was one of those disabled-friendly toilets, with the semi-circular electric door.

I have used them before as I find them to be a bit cleaner that the ordinary ones, but I won't be using one again, that's for sure !

That communication cord looked awfully tempting !
Midland Electric ran driver only in the early eighties between Bedford and St.Pancas/ Moorgate. When the service was extended to Brighton the trains went through Farringdon it was often delayed waiting for a guard from the Southern . ( Crew and power change)
Last year they found a dead body in one of the toilets on a train in my region. Died of natural causes .It was thought to have been there for up to a week! No one had bothered to find out why the toilet door had been locked from the inside for over a week!
Eddie....not tried to clean the toilet either !
Apparently not. If a toilet is out of order they lock it with a key from the outside so it can't be used. I assume the cleaners just thought it was an out of order toilet.
When the story was on TV I realized I had been on that actual train while the body was locked in the Loo !.
It is always a waste of time to fight against new technology, it always gets implemented. And it will be in this case. The RMT need to get real.

Guards or conductors currently have to be on board a train to take fares and supervise that the doors are clear.

If a Guard does not turn up for work, the train gets cancelled. But now CCTV lets the driver see the doors from his cab, so the train would not be cancelled.

Guards will still be on the teains, but they will be Supervisors. If they do not turn up for work, the train can operate without them.

So the sensible thing is to allow the new technology and have less cancelled trains.
So long as there is some representative on the train (other than a driver) I cant see a problem. The drivers should be able to shut the doors easily enough.

Eddie, DLR do have drivers in the rush hour, but it is what will happen. Would have happened on the tubes but the Union for over paid train drivers wont allow it.

There have always been guards on SouthWest trains too and Eurostar.
I am shocked because I agree fully with Gromit !!!

This change will be introduced with or without the RMT’s agreement. There is (for the present anyway) no threat to jobs because, as has been mentioned, the guards whose jobs are to be redefined will still be employed. More than 40% of trains now operate where the driver controls the doors. These are not long distance trains such as those Mikey uses from Wales up to London. Those trains still have a guard (and a few other crew members usually who deal with catering). Southern operates predominantly short distance frequent stop services with only a few being of any distance between stops.

The RMT does indeed need to get real. They say they have no disagreement with their passengers (sorry, “customers”) only with the franchise holder and the government. Quite what the government has to do with this particular dispute is a little unclear but it is obvious that the RMT does not like privatised railways and it sees this dispute as an ideal way to further their aims. Their members are obviously well paid as they can afford to take a week off without pay. Mind you, it is August so it's a nice bit of extra holiday.
//Those trains still have a guard (and a few other crew members usually who deal with catering). //

great western staff are in dispute with their train operator, concerning the introduction of the new trains between wales, the west and london and in this case, the government are at the root of the issue. the DfT it was that specified the trains and required them to be built without on-train facilities for standard class travellers; the great western train company now have to live with the resultant reduction in staff this will entail. whilst some may welcome the removal of what they consider dead space on the train to accommodate 12 extra seats, it's a very high comfort price to pay when the resultant replacement trolley service sells nothing more substantial than crisps or mars bars.

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