Oh dear, very sad news indeed
Wikipedia gives the cost of each of the utterly unjustified 'Borismaster' mayoral vanity project buses as £354,500. That's the unit cost of the initial squadron fleet of 600 of the damn things. That's a total cost of quite a lot, and quite a lot more than if that order was for 600 perfectly adequate 'normal' buses of the type which have served the capital perfectly well for the past decade or so. Perhaps Bob Crow could arrange for Mayor Boris to meet with him and explain the various ways in which these new vehicles are of such great benefit to the city of London at a time when budgets are presumably being squeezed sufficiently to put people put of work. In a democratic society, the people are entitled to an explanation of such affairs are they not?
I sincerely hope that LOROL will come up with something sensible for these guys here. That's assuming that the RMT don't manage to sink it; I would tend to agree, sadly, that in this particular case I think that unlikely. I'm sure they'll put up a hell of a good fight though, and it'll be good practise for the inevitable battles to come if nothing else. I've always been deeply sceptical of the benefits of downgrading Guards to other on board roles, as it's often suggested should be the obvious way forward. Ticket examiners are paid a basic rate plus commission, which in our part of the world tends to be about the same total as a Guard takes home. Yes, they sell more to get there, but is the overall saving all that much in the grand scheme of things? Perhaps that is a logical path, if the savings are worthwhile. RPI roles tend to be well paid, as well as involving a good deal of legal training and suchlike beforehand, so not much of a saving there I'd think. I really hope that something comes up here, please keep us posted 313.
