Originally Posted by Andrue:
“Chiltern trains haven't needed a guard to watch the doors for years. Passengers just walk up, press a button and get on. The doors close automatically after a while or - I assume - the train driver can do it from their cab if they have to. It always surprised me that Virgin Trains have someone who steps out onto the platform to watch. It's basically the same system. Sliding doors that open with a button press.
Another case of union 'jobs for the boys', perhaps?”
No. Chiltern have guards from Banbury onwards northbound. They also have a person on the train as a kind of assistant.
The media keep harping on about 'who closes the doors'. It's a much bigger picture than that & an issue the unions should've picked up on & corrected.
We're talking safety here. Yours & mine. Southern (& Great Western. Their strikes will be next) are saying there'll be no job losses etc etc. But there will. They'll muscle this in & then scrap the proposed on board manager job. Who's going to help a blind or disabled person on & off? Who going to stop drunks? What about when there are football matches & the trains are swamped with idiots who insist on pulling the communication cord? (It happens. A lot!) What about a jam packed platform, on a curve at 5pm?
That aside, the guard has a specific job in case of emergency. If the driver is incapacitated the guard has to 'protect the line' by placing detonators first at a mile & a quarter from the train. This is very important in the event of a derailment where 'his' train is no longer showing as occupying the line. The next train will simply plough into the wreckage. The driver goes forward to protect & the guard goes back. Who looks after the passengers while he's gone? Or if there isn't a guard & the driver is dead who looks after them then? They panic, jump out then get run over or electrocuted.
There's more & more I could add, but this will do for now.