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The issue here is that DOO has been safely in use in the Strathclyde area since 1981. It's recently been extended to Edinburgh via, Bathgate. The trains service the largest populated area in Central Scotland and have no safety issues in those many years.
So the real question is why do we continue to need a guard on a train. They are more useful facing passengers and collecting fare revenue.
I’m aware of what DOO is and how long it has been in operation in the Glasgow area. I believe it was 1986 it was introduced on electric routes.
The issue is that, even on DOO routes, if there isn’t a second member of staff *rostered* then the train does not run. There can be a diagrammed turn which isn’t covered due to illness etc, which will not prevent the train from running. But without anyone being rostered then the train should not run. This is why we have had only a limited, hourly service during the day time only on certain routes in the Glasgow area on Sundays for months.
It may be feasible to get an Revenue Team Manager to work each Sunday and drop a day at work during the week, less so to get them working every day for 12 days to cover a strike.
So the solution is, either they come to an agreement with the Union, or next to no trains run (at best) for the duration of the conference.
We are also making a very big assumption about the safety record of DOO. There are numerous cases where people have been injured on platforms out of the drivers line of sight because of the lack of second, safety critical person working the train, as well as a number of scenarios where drivers of 6 car trains have stopped short of station platforms.