This is totally unfair..Please comment.

this is the country we live in, an on an on

So what he should have done was report it to the signalling centre who would have stopped the trains running.
They in turn would contact network rail who would send 2 vans out with about 6 blokes.
They would then probably after a risk assessment of the area move the offending item and contact the signalling centre who would then allow trains to run.
This would probably take 2-3 hours during which time the early trains with commuters would have been cancelled.
What a load of codswallop, more like we've employed this mon for 20 odd years, aha we can save loads of money here lets sack him for health and safety reasons.
Some little toe rag of a manager making his mark.
 
What the heck is a "shopping trolley" ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTWYbOQqK5o

And being a Station Master, had he ignored it, he would have been fired for not removing the obstical.

It's not my job to ring the bell, the horn I can not blow ... but if the dang train jumps the tracks ... see who catch's: H-E Double Toothpicks.

At Cassandra RR Overlook a tree @ twenty foot tree @ 9" diameter fell across the tracks,. We as railfans could have trespassesd, and risked life and limb, and would have gotten arrested and procecuted ... had we called the PA State Police, or called the Gallitzin Police, the time span would have been 45 minuutes till they informed NS of the obstical on the tracks. Then 4 muinutes later a freight came downhill at 45 mph and splintered the tree into a million pieces .... C-R-A-C-K !
 
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That shopping trolley must've weighed a ton if he thought it would cause an accident that would harm anyone..
Regardless being fired for doing that is BS.
 
This guy is a well known local character. I live 30 minutes away from Lymington and have met him twice, once on the last day of the slammers (old slam door carriages) at Lymington station, when he wore a top hat as well as his familiar red waistcoat, and on another occasion when I bought an old reference book on 1960s BR steam locos which I still use as reference for some of my UK Route efforts. A well as providing jigsaws he was raising cash for charity by selling old railway books for £1 each ( I did donate more!)

I’d be surprised if this total over reaction by the “manager” responsible for his dismissal is not reversed by company superiors. Our local BBC Radio Solent has been running this story all day. Ian has considerable local support over this, including high level politicians and local clergy.

My guess is that someone from South West Trains , if not already, will shortly be in deep doo doo!

Maybe a rule was broken, although that has yet to be confirmed. Even if it has, dismissal and loss of pension rights is a total over reaction.

What an appalling way to treat a long serving employee!
 
More than likely in this economy ... whenever an employee commits the slightest infraction, the company is just overjoyed to can the worker, thereby not have to pay retirement benifits ... happens all the time.
 
cascaderailroad said:
More than likely in this economy ... whenever an employee commits the slightest infraction, the company is just overjoyed to can the worker, thereby not have to pay retirement benifits ... happens all the time.
Click to expand...
Not to mention his massive pension he built up over those many long years. Many companies will try and force workers who are still on old contracts that gives them more benefits etc. to quit so they can save money.
 
Casper,
Further down the article it says he got the power turned off, the signalling centre must have done that, so apart from not wearing a hard hat I wonder what the breach could have been.
 
Employers are like cops who can ticket you at any time for any little thing, (broken tail light via handy dandy MAG lite not withstanding)...
If they want you gone so they can hire someone new at half the cost, then you are gone...:(
 
Yet another case of Health and Safety gone mad, a few years ago the guy would have been given a medal ................
 
fran1 said:
Casper,
Further down the article it says he got the power turned off, the signalling centre must have done that, so apart from not wearing a hard hat I wonder what the breach could have been.
Click to expand...

I’ve no idea. I guess time will tell.

The company seem to be suggesting that things should be done strictly by the book.

Conforming to normal company practice these days seems to include:

• Trains must fail in cold weather and whenever there are leaves on the line
• Regularly running late and/or cancelling journeys
• Having insufficient rolling stock, ensuring that most passengers at peak times don’t get a seat

Cascade may possibly be right regarding severance savings, but I don’t reckon that the case here.

My own view is that some “wet behind the ears” inexperienced manager has ignored the benefits Ian has given the service, in all sorts of ways.

I’ve come across managers who have perhaps taken a personal dislike to individuals over what they may feel is a slight eccentricity, whilst the public see the same person as someone who simply brightens their day.

I’m banking on a win for Ian here at the end of the day, and hopefully a salutary lesson to the original decision maker/s.

Cheers
Casper
 
mezzoprezzo said:
I’ve no idea. I guess time will tell.

The company seem to be suggesting that things should be done strictly by the book.

Conforming to normal company practice these days seems to include:

• Trains must fail in cold weather and whenever there are leaves on the line
• Regularly running late and/or cancelling journeys
• Having insufficient rolling stock, ensuring that most passengers at peak times don’t get a seat

Cascade may possibly be right regarding severance savings, but I don’t reckon that the case here.

My own view is that some “wet behind the ears” inexperienced manager has ignored the benefits Ian has given the service, in all sorts of ways.

I’ve come across managers who have perhaps taken a personal dislike to individuals over what they may feel is a slight eccentricity, whilst the public see the same person as someone who simply brightens their day.

I’m banking on a win for Ian here at the end of the day, and hopefully a salutary lesson to the original decision maker/s.

Cheers
Casper
Click to expand...
Oh Ian had to go - what if the company starts to think that more of the staff should be like Ian --- use his own money to pay for things that the company should be paying for... if the this gets seen as something that all staff should be doing where would it end.



I was say that the words scape goat sould be involved here
 
mezzoprezzo said:
I’ve no idea. I guess time will tell.

The company seem to be suggesting that things should be done strictly by the book.

Conforming to normal company practice these days seems to include:

• Trains must fail in cold weather and whenever there are leaves on the line
• Regularly running late and/or cancelling journeys
• Having insufficient rolling stock, ensuring that most passengers at peak times don’t get a seat

Cascade may possibly be right regarding severance savings, but I don’t reckon that the case here.

My own view is that some “wet behind the ears” inexperienced manager has ignored the benefits Ian has given the service, in all sorts of ways.

I’ve come across managers who have perhaps taken a personal dislike to individuals over what they may feel is a slight eccentricity, whilst the public see the same person as someone who simply brightens their day.

I’m banking on a win for Ian here at the end of the day, and hopefully a salutary lesson to the original decision maker/s.

Cheers
Casper
Click to expand...
Oh Ian had to go - what if the company starts to think that more of the staff should be like Ian --- use his own money to pay for things that the company should be paying for... if the this gets seen as something that all staff should be doing where would it end.......

I was say that the words scape goat should be involved here

Its the same where I work the only thing that they can you sack on, no question asked out the door no second chance is OH&S issues.
 
Unfair and dangerous decisions...

South West Trains is on shaky ground here legally; the poor man would have been fired for not having done this, judges and magistrates take a very dim view of firing people in this manner and do tend to award maximum compensation to the wronged (of course, if proven and so on). Also, I worked for another large transport company at their offices in London (as the pensions officer) used to hand out pensions checks to people who had left the company under all kinds of circumstance (even those who had been fired perfectly correctly), often having to track them down overseas in order to do so. Perhaps a quiet word to the Inland Revenu is in order to see if their pensions books need a thorough and rather unpleasant audit. Something is deeply fishy about their summarily deciding to leave him financially in the lurch.

His replacement should be interesting, as it will be clear to him that he is not required to do the extraordinary in order to keep paying passengers happy and safe. Morally they've set the seal on their own future as anyone with half a brain and any heart for the job won't be seeking their paycheque. Staff standards will drop, passenger safety will become an issue. Well done South West Trains, you've put another nail or two into the coffin of the British transport system.
 
This just further proves the new phrase that "No good deed goes unpunished." Sad as it may be...

That's quite pathetic of South West Trains...all it'll do is increase the likelihood of accidents in the future. Employees won't want to get fired the same way this poor guy did, so they'll just leave the trolley (What I'm assuming is what we call a "shopping cart" here in the US of A) on the tracks next time and yeah...damaged property and inconvenienced passengers will be the least of their future concerns.
 
Yes, it may have been silly to go on the tracks, but he prevented an even greater accident. Time to put this 'Political Correctness' and 'elf and safety' bullcrap to bed.
 
This is a country where pear trees have been fenced off so that the falling fruit doesn't injure anyone who can then sue for damages. Nothing surprises me any more.
 
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