I’m a train driver on Southern Railway and sadly have taken part in strike action – and will continue to do so.
I’ve had many conversations with passengers while waiting for trains myself. “I bet you wish you had worn a different jacket to work today” and “You should be ashamed going on strike”, are among some of the nicer encounters.
I do try to engage but passengers, quite rightly, are totally frustrated and exasperated by this whole situation and just want to vent their anger at a person in a Southern uniform.
I am not striking for more money, not for shorter hours, and not for better terms and conditions. I’m going on strike – along with my colleagues, who are all members of Aslef, the train drivers’ union – to protect the safety of our passengers. I know I don’t speak for all drivers – there are some that don’t seem to understand the bigger picture.
Southern Railway is part of the Govia Thameslink Railway Group (GTR) and it wants to introduce driver-only trains on lines throughout the region. But we know – and the company knows – that this isn’t as safe as it should be. The company is full of great railway people who are demoralised and saddened by what’s happening. Many have left the industry and many more are planning to leave. The Department for Transport is driving through a plan to save money, money that the government pays GTR to run a train service. Those savings are unlikely to be passed on to passengers.
Southern says it isn’t sacking anyone, cutting wages or making drastic changes to terms and conditions. That’s correct. But our concern is that, in a few years’ time, if Southern wants to make guards’ redundant it will be easier to do so.
We are worried that no guards means ticketless travel, vandalism, severe security threats, anti-social behaviour, an increase in criminal behaviour, no support for vulnerable passengers, no support for turn-up-and-go wheelchair users. The list goes on.
Driver-only trains have never been ideal and are even worse now with such a massive increase in passenger numbers.
Driving a train is a difficult enough job as it is without the additional pressure of watching what’s going on behind me; that’s a job for the guard.
In peak times we could be carrying more than 1,000 passengers on a 12-car train from London to Brighton, for example. When I stop at the station and release the doors, people have less than 20 seconds to get on and off. Without a guard, I then have a matter of seconds to check that all the doors are clear of obstructions by looking at small and grainy CCTV camera pictures – one for each coach. This simply isn’t adequate to make sure passengers are safe and it is OK to close and lock the doors. My brain is loaded with continually changing information about driving the train safely without having the additional worry of passengers as well.
And I know passengers want a guard on the train; especially late at night and early in the morning, or when vulnerable, young and elderly alike need some help. There are many examples of incidents and accidents that have happened over the years that illustrate the damage a moving train can do to a human body. Just last Saturday evening a passenger running late to my train flung himself against the side, spread-eagled across the doors, demanding to be let on. Staff remonstrated with him to move away from the train as it was just about to leave. Thankfully I heard the shouting and opened my window to look out and see what was going on. If I had moved the train at that moment, who knows what could have happened.
Maybe people don’t worry too much about taking care because we are lucky enough to have such a safe railway here in the UK and we all tend to be a bit blasé about its dangers. But it’s that safe railway and good safety culture that’s being compromised for the sake of private profit – your safety.
This series aims to give a voice to the staff behind the public services that are hit by mounting cuts and rising demand, and so often denigrated by the press, politicians and public. If you would like to write an article for the series, contact kirstie.brewer@theguardian.com
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