2 April 2015
Dear colleague,
Over recent months there has been a great deal of speculation about the potential impact that the introduction of Super Express Trains (SETS) may have on colleagues currently working on board High Speed Trains.
As part of a confidentiality agreement with the Department for Transport during the franchise bidding process, we were unable to talk in detail about our plans. This has unfortunately meant that we have not been able to give colleagues reassurance about their future until now.
As you know, the introduction of SETS offers us a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform the service we give our customers. Of course, we need to operate the railway safely, but to be a real success we must provide frequent, fast and punctual services with the highest levels of customer service. We will need to make some real changes to make this happen, but it will take all of us to deliver our vision for the service we must give our customers.
For colleagues currently working on HSTs, there are two key changes proposed in our plans. The ability of the SETs centralised systems to significantly reduce the safety risks posed by slam-door stock, alongside the shorter dwell times that provide key journey time improvements for customers, means we believe that the driver should be in sole charge of doors on these trains.
We will also be offering hot and cold food and drink to standard class customers at their seats moving from the current buffet provision to a trolley. This follows in-service trials last year, which showed the vast majority of our customers felt a standard class trolley improved their journey with us. In the same trial, more than half of those who bought from the trolley said they wouldnt have left their seat to buy something from the buffet.
I recognise these will be real changes for some colleagues, and I am determined to dispel any concerns about job security from the very beginning.
We need more, not fewer, on board staff to make our plans work. We will be recruiting at least 100 more customer-facing staff on high speed trains, and there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result.
Current Train Managers and Customer Hosts will retain their current terms and conditions when SETS are introduced.
There will be more staff on more trains than today, and we will diagram a Train Manager to every SET in passenger service including those currently worked by Turbo trains in DOO mode which convert to SET operation.
We will provide food and drink served by a member of staff on board every high speed SET passenger service with a journey time of more than an hour.
For those who simply dont want to work on an SET, we will provide appropriate development opportunities to help colleagues apply for other roles if they wish.
These commitments are conditional on the following arrangements for operating SET:
The Driver will be solely responsible for the operation of the doors on SET trains.
Although not the normal method of operation, SET services could be operated with the Driver as the only member of staff on board when a Train Manager is not immediately available.
Additionally, if there is no industrial action taken as a result of SET introduction then we will be able to offer a voluntary redundancy package to Train Managers who wish to leave the business as a result of the introduction of the new trains and new methods of working. This would apply even if there are vacancies available that they could apply for.
Our proposals will create many new jobs across our business, and protect the jobs and reward packages of the vast majority of our staff. These are significant changes, but it is a change that is motivated by a desire to improve the safety and performance of our network and the service to our customers.
I know there will be many questions, but if you need to know more please speak to your line manager, or come along to one of the senior manager and director drop in sessions over the coming weeks and we will be happy to talk to you.
Yours sincerely
Ben Rule
Operations Director