Southern Rail STRIKE details

Winker said:

As a 'customer', when I buy a ticket for a train journey, I expect the train to arrive on time and deposit me at my destination on time. If you have a problem with the working practices of your company then please take it out with them. When you take your grievances out on the travelling public then don't expect any support from us.

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Deadly Danson said:

I honestly think they couldn't care less. With the government on their side who cares about about those who may need a little help with their travel - something a few people who are used to commuting and know what they are doing could do with remembering.

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Deadly Danson said:

And I hear tonight that 2 disabled passengers were assisted onto the 23.00 train from Barnham to Brighton wanting Worthing. As there was no OBS on board so no one to help them off at Worthing they were offloaded and had to wait for the 2320 which goes via Littlehampton but does have a guard. I think this sort of thing is worth fighting against.

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Winker said:

As a 'customer', when I buy a ticket for a train journey, I expect the train to arrive on time and deposit me at my destination on time. If you have a problem with the working practices of your company then please take it out with them. When you take your grievances out on the travelling public then don't expect any support from us.

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Deadly Danson said:

And I hear tonight that 2 disabled passengers were assisted onto the 23.00 train from Barnham to Brighton wanting Worthing. As there was no OBS on board so no one to help them off at Worthing they were offloaded and had to wait for the 2320 which goes via Littlehampton but does have a guard. I think this sort of thing is worth fighting against.

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Nigella's Cream Pie said:

Walk or bus from London Bridge to Liverpool St. station, from there train takes 12 mins to Tottenham Hale

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BensGrandad said:

Will the latest revelations by the independent authority stating that the working practice is perfectly safe have any effect on the strike, not that I use trains as too expensive.

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The rail strikes that have caused commuter misery in the south of England are set to spread across the country, it emerged this weekend.

Industrial action is “inevitable” on the Northern rail network, which covers a swathe of northern England including com*muter services in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne and Hull, a union boss warned.

Strikes could also spread to the West Midlands, Merseyside and other lines into London, say industry insiders.

Such an escalation of the dispute that has crippled Southern rail services between the south coast and London for months will further infuriate commuters who, business chiefs have warned, are at “breaking point”.

It comes as another wave of strikes are due to hit rail and air passengers this week.

Talks to avert a 24-hour walkout on the London Underground appeared to have failed yesterday. The strike, due to start at 6pm today, will result in the *closure of most Tube stations in central London and will hit tomorrow’s morning rush hour.

Train drivers on Southern, most of whom are represented by Aslef, are due to walk out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, shutting down the network on those days and disrupting services during the rest of the week.

Meanwhile, thousands of British Airways cabin crew will start a two-day strike on Tuesday, which has forced the airline to cancel up to 48 flights, although passengers who have booked will be put on alternative departures the same day.

The dispute on the rail *network centres on the expansion of driver-only trains, on which the driver, rather than a conductor, opens and closes the doors.

Unions say this will put safety at risk and want a guarantee of a second person on all trains. The Office of Rail and Road, an industry regulator, last week ruled that the system is safe if certain conditions are in place.

On Tuesday the RMT union will ballot staff on Arriva Rail North, operator of the Northern network, for strike action in a dispute over pay. One industry source claimed the objective of the vote was to “soften up” Arriva for the looming “real battle” over driver-only trains.

At present a workforce of 1,300 guards operate the doors on every train on the network. Under the terms of Arriva’s franchise, which started in April last year, half the distance travelled on the network will have to be on driver-only trains by the end of 2019.

Micky Thompson, the RMT’s chief negotiator on Northern, denied this week’s pay ballot is a “softening up exercise” but admitted that the union is on course for a showdown over the trains.

He said Arriva had told him it is unable to negotiate over the issue because of a “directive” from the Department for Transport, adding that this meant “it’s inevitable” that it will end up in an industrial dispute: “It’s regrettable . . . unless we sit down and address this correctly in a genuine fashion it’s inevitable that it will end up in a trade dispute.”

He said it was up to other RMT bosses to decide a timetable for any action.

With about 2,500 services carrying 270,000 passengers each day, strikes on Northern would result in almost the same scale of disruption that has been seen on Southern.

Rail industry insiders also fear strikes could spread to Merseyrail. It was announced last month that the Swiss firm Stadler will build a new fleet of 52 trains for the network, which will be designed to have no conductors and doors controlled by drivers. Mick Cash, RMT general secretary, accused Merseyrail of “ramming [driver-only trains] down our throats”, warning that the union “will do whatever is necessary to defend the safety of members and the travelling public”.

The new West Midlands rail franchise, which will be awarded in June and includes Birmingham commuter services and trains into London on the West Coast mainline, also has a requirement that new trains be fitted with kit to allow the driver to control the doors.

Ken Usher, RMT regional organiser, said last month that the union “completely opposes any such changes in [the] West Midlands and the rest of the country”.

New trains on the next South West franchise, another key London commuter network, must allow driver-only operation. High speed trains being built for the Great Western and East Coast mainlines will also have equipment to allow the doors to be opened by the driver.

Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce, said tomorrow’s strike would “cripple” the Underground.

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Beach Hut said:

BBC South has a debate about this at 19:30 tonight.

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Beach Hut said:

BBC South has a debate about this at 19:30 tonight.

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1066familyman said:

Charles Horton put on the spot twice and both times was unable to give guarantees regarding safety critical guards and address the fact that the ORR report says DOO can be safe but not everything in place to make them completely safe now.

He can't go to the room to the side to negotiate anyway, as was asked of him, because his pay masters weren't there to pull his strings.

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