tbtc
Veteran Member
I guess the long term nature of the benefits of DOO are also something that would put off a TOC from persuing it, as who is to say they will have the franchise that far down the line.
That's it - TOCs don't have long enough franchises to see the benefit of those kind of savings in twenty/thirty years time so they'll maintain staff term/conditions because its easier to.
If you were starting the railway from scratch, you wouldn't do things like they are, but then the same could be said of many "accepted" things!
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In my opinion this is the key to answering the OP's question. My answer is that the Guard grade will largely remain unchanged in most parts of the country, at least for as long as the current form of railway franchising exists. As tbtc points out, with the relative shortness of franchises, rocking the boat of the unions just isn't worth it financially, as either the costs won't have chance to be recouped during the course of the franchise or the financial benefits would be negligible and outweighed by the negative publicity/disruption. It's much easier to just shuffle the deck chairs about, give everything a fresh lick of paint (which IMO, is the best thing about privatisation) and ride out the course of the franchise.
For the reason above, I hope that the current system exists for the next 30 or so years, or long enough to see me through to retirement anyway! I don't really understand why the RMT and ASLEF chase renationalisation tbh, except for the benefits to the travelling public.
Agreed.