Rail jobs, staff issues and training

J   07/09/2016 at 18:51

Is the statement "£100m in cash hoarded" deliberately deceptive or ignorant? Firstly the £100m is before tax, so that potentially taxes away £20m straight away. Secondly profits are vital to keep the business running. They are needed for renewals. No profit means no new buses means business closes down. Re: "passengers may not receive assistance getting off a train if there are no staff on board or at the station." Yes, these are some legitimate concerns over this. But what proportion of these trains current with a guard/conductor likely to operate without? The aim is zero. The reality will be some, but what is the GTR's estimate of number of occasions? I don't mean to discriminate against those who need assistance but at the moment if the guard/conductor isn't available (for whatever reason) then the train does not run. In future it will. So at certain stations at few passengers may need to wait for the next train, whereas at the moment 100% of passengers have to wait for the next train. It also means that when the second train does arrive it will be less crowded so the person needing assistance will probably have a better journey. The people protesting are effectively saying that the train has to be cancelled because there is non-one to help a person needing assistance. Surely this is the equivalent of the toilets having to be removed for every Class 153 train in 2020 because it’s not viable to fit PRM-compliant ones.

Jerry Alderson   07/09/2016 at 19:07

There needs to be a sense of proportion about how many persons of restricted mobility (PRM) will be impacted. As well as the proportion of trains where the rostered on-board supervisor is not available to do their role, how many of the PRM passengers will be travelling (possibly on their own) to/from an unstaffed station where they cannot board/alight without use of a ramp. Station compliance (e.g. Harrington humps) is increasing, albeit too slowly. The impact will decrease over time.

Neil Palmer   08/09/2016 at 02:21

J, With Mick Cash that statement is both deliberately deceptive and ignorant. Apart from tax that £100m is also for the whole Govia group, not just Southern (which is, as you may guess, is losing profit and inconveniencing passengers, thanks largely to Mick Cash & the RMT) but also includes, Thameslink, Great Northern, Gatwick Express, Southeastern and London Midland. The concern about passengers not receiving assistance getting off a train if there are no staff on board or at the station is also a red herring as GTR have promised as many on board staff as there are today. The RMT are refusing the offer because they want to maintain the power to bring services to a halt by having only the guard control the doors. Something no hard pressed commuter wants. It’s not about safety, it’s about the RMT keeping the power to bring services to a halt, and to hell with the passengers. Driver control of doors also reduces station dwell times, which is essential to increasing network capacity and keeping trains running to schedule.

Gabriel Oaks   08/09/2016 at 08:19

With DOO the issue of mobility impaired passengers tends towards train performance rather than inability to travel. If that passenger cannot board then the driver will have to shutdown the cab to go and provide assistance. Yes, it might significantly add to the dwell time but ultimately if the passenger requiring assistance is preventing the doors from closing then the train cannot be dispatched. Furthermore for passengers struggling to leave the train the pascom can operated. The use of the pascom is also recommended by some TOCS (at least) for wheelchair users struggle to access the train's accessible toilet because it is obstructed by cycles parked opposite (under RVAR and the Equality Act they have a right to use this facility). As a wheelchair user I have (to date) not been left behind or unable to leave a train. At the present it is the RTM that is preventing me from travelling upon the trains the Southern cannot run along my local railway line.

Jerry Alderson   08/09/2016 at 17:35

Gabriel: I am really interesting in hearing the experiences of a wheelchair user on the railway. Glad to know everything has worked out for you to date. I was a temporary PRM a few months back and wrote an article about it. http://www.railfuture.org.uk/article1665-Hopping-to-catch-a-train Neil is correct that the RMT's private concern (elephant in the room, if you like) is that it will be unable to prevent trains running through strike action and its bargaining power will be reduced (though not lost completely). GTR has promised to roster an OBS on every train where there is a guard/conductor today, but will go without them if they are unavailable (list of scenarios to be agreed between GTR and RMT).