to believe Southern trains should hire healthier conductors

[longfingernails]

Or even better, sack the lot?

Of course conductors are necessary.

Brighton is fairly mellow and "naice" as far a cities go, but there are still more than enough twats on the loose to necessitate a member of staff around to supervise.

What's a driver going to do if a fight breaks out on one of the late night trains?

I think the button pressing should be done by the conductor, as they do scan the train for any late comers, sticking out bits etc

But I am hugely unsympathetic to striking staff on public transport. Just makes everyone else's lives miserable and they earn far more than I do!

So what will happen on trains at night with no staff on them?

Going back to the sickness - it is quite astonishing really that the plague seems to have descended upon Southern England, and yet curiously concentrated amongst conductors of a particular railway franchise.

No doubt It will take generations of scientists to unearth the mystery.

Night trains can have security guards. Commuter trains don't need conductors.

What's your motivation OP?

Were you fined in a previous life by a rogue Southern conductor?

I have been inconvenienced by the strikes (and the sicknote strike) for weeks now. In general I despise the RMT's bully boy tactics, have little respect for their members who keep voting for such tactics, and find their tilting against the windmills of technology to be completely short-termist and frankly idiotic.

Fair do's.

I've just genuinely never, ever, ever met another customer who would like to see less staff on the trains.

Nowt so queer as folk tho.

I've spent most of my life in areas covered by driver only trains (or driverless trains when in a dlr area). I'm now subject to the Soutgern fuckwittery. I'm with the "sack the lot of them" brigade.

NB. This was posted from a southern train . One of the few that actually left, almost on time.

There is not a plague of sickness. They only have staff to cover 80% of the work needed. IT's always been like this. But they have found it cheaper to run at 80% and pay overtime to cover the extra shifts than to hire more perm staff.

Only now they have stopped paying overtime so they can't make up that 20%.

Nothing to do with sickness. Staff absence maybe, but only becauses they have purposely not hired staff.

~Op is a goady fucker, here to do the goady fucker dance~

Hth

As a person who regularly travels with them. Yanbu.
Not as bad as south west trains however.

My train is regularly cancelled. Completely cancelled not even delayed. It goes only once an hour (which is annoying in itself).
Most of the time the reason is because "a member of the train crew is unavailable".

I do feel sorry for the poor drivers who will be forced to take on the onerous duty of pressing the 'open doors' and 'close doors' buttons.

What ignorant nonsense.

The driver has seconds to ensure that that each an every doorway is clear on a five carriage train. Ten individual doorways that someone might make a last minute dash for or a drunk might stumble towards or someone might get a coat sleeve caught in and get dragged along or worse under the train. A CCTV camera is a poor substitute for another set of eyes and ears especially when it is dark rainy and foggy, especially when the driver has his own safety critical job to do - the small matter of moving 150 tonnes of metal away safely.

It's amazing then that they manage it on many other train franchises, eg the neighbouring southeastern one.

peep yes, definitely.

Do they still only pay them £1 pound a shift or has the minimum wage ended that particular fuckwittery?

You get incidents like [http://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-02-29/passenger-dragged-under-train-by-bag-trapped-in-door/ this]] which wouldn't have happened with a guard on the train.

I've just waited 40 minutes for a southern train after seeing my penultimate and urm, pre-penultimate train cancelled. However, I really think that they ought to be treating their staff in a way that is more conducive to them being healthy. 'Sack the lot'would not actually make matters better any sooner than settling disputes would. I'm at a loss as to whose side I'm on. I wish they would do their industrial action through the proper channels but appreciate that the whole thing might well be making staff sick with stress. It's just a fucking mess.

Apologies this is the link to accident on southeastern

They have got so much worse in recent weeks. I am always now late for work and late home for the childminder despite leaving plenty of time. Yesterday they cancelled 2 trains in the morning and 2 trains in the evening. I don't care how to sort it out but I do want it fixed asap before I lose my job or childcare.

I tried to get home from London to near Brighton the other day and it was awful - trains cancelled suddenly with no warning and most others with long delays.

I say give them whatever they want so this ridiculous situation stops

i just assumed they were short staffed.
there is one poor person off sick but they havent catered for it.
it is a Game, a play on words.
I think they are working to rule. as is their right.

i have only seen people check the doors on the platform and then check train tickets. I haven 't seen a guard do anything about drunk passengers annoying others, groups of rowdy teens or even the bag a dodgy looking bloke left on the train.
I'm happy to pull the cord if it kicks off and wait for the police.

Why are Southern allowed to call it sickness absence. Surely unions should be doing something about that misconception?