SeptemberFear you have highlighted one of the main reason the strike, safety. The reason for Driver only operation was originally brought in British Railways days a time when many routes had very low passenger numbers. It was the only way to keep such quiet routes open. Times have changed, passenger numbers are massive and trains are packed as SeptemberFear points out. To put things in perspective:
in 1996 passenger journeys were about 750 Million
in 2006 passenger journeys were about 1750 Million
So in 20 years we have seen passenger journeys increase by 1 billion. The railway has never had so many passengers. So unlike the near empty trains of the dark days of BR we now have packed trains. Not only are they looking to remove the guard from the train but they are looking to reduce platform staff. Now tell me when passenger numbers go through the roof is it safer to have more safety trained staff or less?
Also platform staff and guards are in the front line of terrorism prevention. They are the ones looking out for suspicious packages and suspicious behaviour in the course of their duties. They are the ones who can spot sometime that doesn't look right in the railway environment. If we reduce staff we reduce we reduce or ability to prevent terrorism.
Also what happens when something goes wrong? Look at the Watford tunnel collision in Sep 2016. A train was derailed by landslide and another train from the other direction crashed into it. Both drivers injured. The guards on these trains were pivotal in making the situation safe. But what if its a Driver only train and the driver has been incapacitated? You would have no one on the train trained carry out the correct communication with the signaller, carry out correct safety protocol, carry out emergency protection or the evacuation of hundreds of passengers?
With huge numbers and packed trains people needing medical attention is a regular occurrence. At the moment the guard can make arraignments and deal with the situation while the driver can take the train to the next practical place for ambulance pick up. On a driver only train a drive can’t be two places at once.
Now here is the clever bit that the government and southern are playing. They are saying that its just about the doors and the guard is staying. It just gives them flexibility to run trains without a guard. But lets read between the lines here. If they get their way the guards job is protected till 2021, after that we all know what will happen; good bye to guards on all trains at Southern as they can run trains without them. Resulting in a huge increase in profits for shareholders (not for reinvestment into passenger services) at cost of passenger safety and possible lives.
Its a dangerous practice. In 2011 80% of serious platform/train interface accidents (i.e. body part trapped in door and dragged along as train departed) were on Driver only trains. So looking at the data you are 4 times safer on a train with a guard operating the doors.
This purely is a matter of putting profit before passenger safety and customer service. It sickens me that we have a government so determined to look the big man in front of the unions that it has already given £50 million of tax payers money to Southern to keep them fighting the strike. Money that the DFT could use to pump into more trains and less crowding. Basically they are rewarding Southern for its mismanagement and it pursuit of greed at peoples safety. If the government and southern win the only winner will be the shareholders, not the customer, not the tax payer and not the people that will in time lose their jobs. Striking is a very serious thing. People have mortgages to pay, children to feed. No one wants to lose out on their pay. This really is an act of last resort to defend our railway. And now the government are using this situation to pursue a dream of taking away people’s right to strike and collectively fight injustice in the workplace. Its disgusting.
So this is why I support the strike.