Soldato
They couldn't have got to the meeting, there are no trains....
RMT to ballot for strike action.
- Thread starter Danthus
- Start date
They couldn't have got to the meeting, there are no trains....
Soldato
bob crow would have got a private jet then a helicopter to the meeting....
Be careful with this dude, as a Southern commuter for 9 years now I can understand your frustration as well as anybody, they're the worst rail company I've ever used, but there was a story earlier on in the year where two guys got caught running a Delay Repay scam and were successfully prosecuted. Technically its classed as fraud by misrepresentation.
The issue is i imagine different, when you actually need to use the trains.
That wasn't the way I interpreted the original post, its obviously not misrepresentation if you're planning to use the trains and you can't because they're delayed and cancelled all the sodding time!
Soldato
The Southern Region has had a relatively high number of major accidents over the years (Lewisham, Barnes, Hither Green, Clapham Junction, Purley, Cowden etc.) for various reasons. The Southern Region is about as densely operated as can be. When there is a collision, frequently the first person involved is the driver. If they are incapacitated, and there is no other safety trained member of staff on board, then vital minutes can be lost, add in the danger of the third rail in that area and it's a recipe for another disaster.
I have massive sympathy for the commuters caught in this - but DOO is wrong IMO. The Government need to step in and stop Southern from attempting it. It's akin to taking cabin crew from an aircraft - they might spend their entire career "just" serving drinks - or they might have a BA2276 where prompt action saved hundreds of people.
Soldato
I'm sure if you go back 60 years as you did, anywhere can have its own `high number of accidents`
Soldato
Why don't they all cycle to work
Soldato
The GE that is referred to has had very little in the way of major incidents fortunately, totally incomparable to the SR.
Soldato
again if you want to go back in antiquity as you have , everywhere on the planet has had major accidents.
you actually quoted an event before my own parents were born!
you actually quoted an event before my own parents were born!
Soldato
If you want to see what a nationalised rail service would look like, where the operator receives no financial penalty for industrial action then look no further than the Southern Rail franchise. How they got this deal I have no idea.
Luckily for me, I commute daily on Great Western, which although there are the odd problems (caused by the nationalised Network Rail 9/10 times) are so much better than British Rail used to be when I had to endure their 'service' to get to college in the 90s.
They need to sort Southern Rail out, and the unions.
Luckily for me, I commute daily on Great Western, which although there are the odd problems (caused by the nationalised Network Rail 9/10 times) are so much better than British Rail used to be when I had to endure their 'service' to get to college in the 90s.
They need to sort Southern Rail out, and the unions.
Man of Honour
For what it's worth one of my mates is a train driver (albeit not down South) and for him it is a safety issue as the driver now has to concentrate on making sure the doors open/close with all passengers safely where they should be. It also adds to the pressure for the drivers when some of the routes are hugely busy with stops every few minutes and dozens of passengers are getting on/off at every stop. The suggestion is that DOO is more likely to lead to drivers being off with stress so arguably they aren't coping but it's purely anecdotal.
I think it depends which route you are on, for me it varies between old and newer but quite often they're at the shabbier end of the scale.
The strike is annoying but I'm more fortunate than many in that I do at least have other options to get to and from work even if it takes a bit longer. Rail fare increases for such a poor service are not appealing though.
Caporegime
Does he have much else to do when sat stationary at the station?
Stations built for DOO have large banks of video displays/mirrors for the driver to see, and are also manned stations. A lot of the stations that Southern serves IIRC are not staffed for the entire period they are open.
People calling for driverless trains have no idea how difficult that would be to retrofit to a system, and the costs associated with it. If you have to keep a responsible member of staff on board to deal with incidents and assist disabled passengers then you can't operate the service without them, so you're still going to be vulnerable to strike action.
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Soldato
also , most track control is now done centrally - south central is run from three bridges
Man of Honour
Oh I'm not going to be doing stupid things like claim for a midday train etc... but I will be more proactive in claiming for my usual commuter trains that I would be taking that I haven't been so good at claiming in the past (i.e. more than 30 min delays).
I meant that I'm not going to only claim on cancelled trains, but delayed trains.
Kinda tempting to claim for the train that was before / after the train I'd normally take... but I agree I could get into hot water if they investigated. That said, I don't put my card in the gates, I just show it to the guard at the gate so there isn't really a way to track my journey
Don't worry I'm not going to do anything daft, I haven't got a moral compass that swings quite that way
The ECML has had Potters Bar and Hatfield but they don't have guards on trains on that line.
A question for you have you ever seen a guard prevent an accident?
cause in all my train journeys i never have.
I just show it to the guard at the gate so there isn't really a way to track my journey
cctv of the gate?
our work did this to catch someone leaving early went through the tapes when they suspected him going and caught the car leaving.
Man of Honour
Checking for signalling, ensuring the train systems are all functioning normally, responding to requests from control? Not sure precisely what is involved but you're talking about being in charge of something weighing several hundred tonnes, has a stopping distance measured in miles and you've got responsibility for X hundred lives, oh and you might get someone deciding that death by train is the best way to go - it might or might not be an easy job in terms of physical actions but to do it properly you've got to be concentrating a lot of the time because the repercussions of getting it wrong can be extremely severe so it is at least possible that the mental strain is what is really taxing.
How would you define preventing an accident? i.e. would you only think it as preventing an accident if they've literally saved someone from stepping onto the track? It's probably not always going to obvious when they've prevented an unsafe action. It's also worth remembering that guards aren't just there to stop accidents but also to deal with them when they happen - you would never want to be in the situation where you need them but you might be glad they are there.
P.S. how many accidents have you seen on your trainline that guards didn't prevent? Just so I know which line to avoid.
That said I regularly travelled on a Southern service for almost two years before I saw a guard and that was only after the strikes had started. I don't know enough about train operations to say whether this strike is entirely merited or not and while it's somewhat irritating as a commuter there may be a good reason for the position taken by either side.