It's worth pointing out that having a Train Manager diagrammed to work a service does not equate to a named individual being rostered to work it.
No thats true , and I suspect if the second member of on board staff is not required ti run the service it wont be long before rest days to cover sickness are done away with . And then rest day working to cover planned annual leave wont be far behind it .
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For now. This is always how they creep these things in.
First add the technology that removes the position from being "essential" in the company's eyes, but reassure everyone their job is safe.
Next offer voluntary redundancy (funny how FGW is doing both)
Now when the next round of cost cutting comes in, make these "non essential" workers redundant.
Thats the elephant in the room nobody seems to want to consider . The cost basis for making the guard a non essential member of staff doesn't add up unless you plan to run some services without one .
As a passenger I want a staff member other than the driver on a train but I want them to be proactive, walking their train, answering queries, being a visible deterrent to antisocial behaviour, selling tickets where appropriate and helping reduce ticketless travel.
This is something all guards are expected to do already . The only caveat to that is if you dont feel safe to do so . Its very rare I will decide not to even have a wander through the train without revenue equipment to make sure that the drunks aren't messing with the fire extinguisher or completely wrecking the train
I can see why a female guard who is 5ft2 and of a petite build might feel less safe doing so on a Friday and Saturday night and might remain in the back cab . In the event of DOO the safety argument would not go away and the second member of onboard staff would still not be expected to put themselves in harms way .If anything with DOO if pay and conditions worsen I can see late night services on fri and sat culled at some TOCS or some sort of meathead G4s bouncer policing the trains and providing their own brand of customer service .
I know that how I work doesn't ring true for all guards but that's an issue at local management level not a problem with the role itself .
The only other time I will be in the back cab apart from feeling unsafe is if I dont have revenue equipment due to a failure and Ive had a wander through or if I am making a phone call to control about something concerning the operation of the train - This is usually reporting a fault or ringing ahead to arrange platform staff to have a ramp ready to get a disabled passenger off to reduce delays .
New trains should be designed to free them up to do this. i.e. the train should make automatic standard announcements e.g. "the next stop is" and every carriage in the train should have the controls needed for them to make non standard announcements and talk to the driver and operate the doors if necessary.
Ive already said earlier on the biggest thing that would assist in offering more customer service is the provision of more door control panels . If Im working a 158 I can spend a lot more time with the passengers compared to working a 156 just because I dont have to run the full length of the train everytime I need to release the doors .
The logical thing seems to me that the driver should open the doors as they know when they have stopped finally as opposed to stopping short to perform a coupling or because they've been flagged down from the platform for some reason. They also have the best knowledge of which platform they are being signalled to and so which side to open the doors. Technology that automatically tells the train where the platform is and prevents the wrong doors being opened is also a good idea.
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However until that time arrives and we have technology that knows what doors to open there is a very real risk with drivers releasing doors of a stop short . In the past 6 months I can recall a handful of incidents when I have been standing by my rear doors waiting to open them at a station and have had to ask the driver to move forward as we are not fully accommodated in the platform . These can happen for a number of reasons . Drivers who have been driving a short train all day who are suddenly driving a longer train are prone to this . It can also happen if there are engineering works which have temporarily altered the platform length and the driver is either not aware or has forgotten .
As for technology that doesn't open doors not accommodated . What about passengers waiting at these doors ? What if in the time it takes them to run through the carriage to a door that is open the doors have been shut and the train is on the move again ? .
Finally although I suspect it isn't the case I would like all staff on a train to have the basic knowledge to help in an emergency. I don't mean detailed knowledge of shunting rules to help attach a rescue train I mean knowing where the big red 'stop all trains and alert the signaller there is an emergency button' can be found, knowing the importance of persuading the passengers to stay on the train in almost all circumstances etc. Things that can be taught in an initial weeks training and refreshed in one day a year.
DDB
The training that gives you the knowledge and skills necessary to deal with an emergency situation takes much longer than a week . To start with you need your traction knowledge so that you where the emergency equipment cupboard is located on each train , and the general layout of the train in case you have to walk through it when it is filled with smoke . Traction training alone took me longer than a week . After this you need training in how to cope in emergency and controlled evacuations we did that over 4 days including some roleplays . And then you need PTS training because you might be stepping out onto a live railway and your employer is required to equip you with the skills necessary to be safe out there . Our PTS course was 4 days ending in an exam followed by another day for a practical assessment . You then need route knowledge in case you are required to carry out an emergency evacuation so that you know about any specific locational risks (OHLE,Third rail, complex junctions with lots of moving pointwork,max permitted speeds and signalling arrangements ) I took 12 weeks to learn all of the routes I operate over . You also need to be assessed on all of the above .
There is no point in just training on board staff for emergencies by telling them to persuade the passenger to stay on the train at all costs because if the carriages are filling up with smoke then you can put money on the passengers reading the instructions for the emergency egress and getting themselves out of there .
