Train walk round unnecessary waste of time ?

[bramling]

Indeed. Only three sentences out of the original article cover train preparation, with no evidence that Shapps even mentioned it. However we then get nearly four pages of anti Tory rantings on here.
Asking people with years of senior experience in the industry to put forward some strategic advice seems eminently sensible.
And I have to say that now would be an ideal time to take the unions on. Drivers opening doors, more one man operation, driverless operation, wages determined by comparable work rather than the ability to cause passenger misery etc

The window to take the unions on is potentially quite short, as if the latest Boris promises come to fruition as regards vaccines then hopefully there should be shoots of normality in the early part of next year.

There’s going to continue to be shortages of staff probably for most of 2021 due to training having been disrupted this year, so they’re likely going to need those staff who are available to very much be on side and willing to be flexible in order to keep everything covered. Likewise the last thing a recovering economy is going to need is IR issues on the railway.

Isn’t the whole right wing theory of wages that you acquire skills and then get paid in accordance with the demand for your skills and the supply of other workers? After all, if drivers are demanding too much wouldn’t the TOCs or their owning groups want to invest in training more, and wouldn’t non-drivers be interested in the work?

The reason for drivers salaries having shut up over the last couple of decades is largely poaching, allowing TOCs to bypass the significant cost (and hassle) is training people from scratch. Add to that the need to buy drivers off in order to achieve certain things in the DOO department (as on Southern).

Driver wages aren’t high across the board - some places are starting to lag, for example Southeastern, or for that matter London Underground nowadays.

 

[Grumpy]

And where do you think "driverless operation" would be practical?

If you look at the Hitachi website this shows several examples of where their driverless trains are actually in operation.

 

[Nick_C]

Anyone who has done the IAM Roadsmart advanced driving course will have been taught that you should always do a walk-round check in any vehicle, even your own private car - a dashboard tyre pressure monitor wouldn't detect a chunk out of a sidewall for example, yet that could easily cause a blowout as soon as the tyre warms up.

 

[Darandio]

If you look at the Hitachi website this shows several examples of where their driverless trains are actually in operation.

That doesn't really answer the question though, does it?

 

[notadriver]

The window to take the unions on is potentially quite short, as if the latest Boris promises come to fruition as regards vaccines then hopefully there should be shoots of normality in the early part of next year.

There’s going to continue to be shortages of staff probably for most of 2021 due to training having been disrupted this year, so they’re likely going to need those staff who are available to very much be on side and willing to be flexible in order to keep everything covered. Likewise the last thing a recovering economy is going to need is IR issues on the railway.



The reason for drivers salaries having shut up over the last couple of decades is largely poaching, allowing TOCs to bypass the significant cost (and hassle) is training people from scratch. Add to that the need to buy drivers off in order to achieve certain things in the DOO department (as on Southern).

Driver wages aren’t high across the board - some places are starting to lag, for example Southeastern, or for that matter London Underground nowadays.

When / if Southeastern want conductors to be OBS’s as on Southern I’m sure wages will rise to match their counterparts. The exception would be the Javelin service already run as DOO with an on board manager but they get presently are paid extra for high speed rulebook knowledge.

 

[ComUtoR]

When / if Southeastern want conductors to be OBS’s as on Southern I’m sure wages will rise to match their counterparts. The exception would be the Javelin service already run as DOO with an on board manager but they get presently are paid extra for high speed rulebook knowledge.

DOO is already agreed across the board for Southeastern. There is no real reason to increase wages when/if the ever get rid of Guards.
HS1 Drivers get a bonus payment but it is not because of high speed rulebook knowledge.
HS1 Drivers pay rises in line with all SE Drivers. The bonus is on top of their base wage.

 

[philthetube]

Given some of the train crew diagrams we end up working with, 20 dead minutes is nothing in the grand scheme of things.


You wouldn't be reprimanded for a train developing a fault (you don't maintain the trains, you just work them). But you would end up being the person that had to attempt to deal with it, fix it, or fail the train.

This depends if the fault is one you should have seen.

 

[ainsworth74]

I think we've picked this one apart more than enough now. Thank you to all for your contributions