Some negatives on the re-opened Borders Railway Line...

Hi everybody.
Much has been made in this thread in regard to the safety aspect of drivers operating train doors as against the conductor carrying out the duty. The foregoing has been at the heart of a long and bitter industrial dispute which has severely impacted on long suffering rail passengers and dragged down the already poor reputation of Britain's railways to a new all time low.

As someone who has worked for many years in industrial safety by way of the UK road transport industry, I have to state that I am amazed at the way the dispute has been handled by both the representative unions, Network Rail and the train operating companies.

The basis of all industrial safety is adequate and sufficient risk assessment. Therefore, anyone has to believe that risk assessment was carried out prior to ether the train operating companies or Network Rail declaring that it is safe for drivers to operate the train doors. The foregoing therefore begs the question why those risk assessments (as far as I am aware) have not been released into the the public domain for all to judge fully the hazards, circumstance and working practices assessed.

In the above, it also begs the question as to why the unions involved in the dispute have not demanded that the risk assessments are placed in the public domain, or placed those documents before the UK public themselves. The assessments if they have been carried out in compliance with The Health & Safety at Work Act and encompassing legislation should be able to prove in a comprehensive manner whether the procedure for drivers operating the train doors can be carried out as a sufficiently safe working practise.

I like all others can only at present judge the dispute by what has been reported in the press and other media. That press and media has carried reports advising that only one generic risk assessment was carried out for all rail stations on the network, as against others advising that detailed individual numeric site assessments have been carried out at all stations on southern where the dispute is currently centered.

Whatever the true facts are in regard to the above it is imperative in my humble opinion that those facts are brought into the open and placed before all rail users affected by the dispute almost on a daily basis at present. It seems to have been forgotten that many using the railways do so not because of a love of rail but for the reason that there is little or no alternative to rail for their daily commute or business travel.

Demands are growing that all persons should be able to have a choice in their daily travel and therefore a large investment should be made into the roads infrastructure. The UK government now seems to be responding to those demands, therefore I would strongly advise that all those involved in this dispute “get it settled” and quickly before support and investment in rail by government is withdrawn and placed elsewhere.

Bill

The main problem I think, Bill, is a total lack of trust - and a total lack of will or interest on behalf of our Government. The Unions have had to fight some very shoddy practices in the past and enforcing the safety of its members is a number one priority because of the experiences witnessed over many decades. Furthermore, unlike modern day managers, Union representatives started their careers on the shop floor. They still have friends and colleagues in the grades that they first started in and, along with their own experience, they are regularly held to task by the membership. They are extremely accountable for what they do (or don't do) and find out very quickly if the membership think they are failing. So, contrary to many British press reports, it's not Union bosses flexing their muscles. It's Union bosses doing as they are being asked to do by the membership.

I don't know about the other rail Unions but A.S.L.E.F was like a brotherhood in my time and every driver was allowed to visit Head Office in London at virtually anytime they liked where they were treated like a V.I.P (I know this from personal experience) with access to all areas and able to ask questions of anyone. That's how a Union should be. It belongs to the members. They pay for it and A.S.L.E.F uphold that principle to the maximimum degree (or did in my days anyway.)

I don't wish to make any political statements but, Worldwide, Governments treat their citizens like sheep and just herd them about telling them little or nothing of what's really happening around them. We are mere pawns in the game of "Power" that they play between each other. When they fall out with each other, we are expected to fight and die for them. When times are good and the money's rolling in, we don't exist. These are the facts of life that many people don't want to hear. Until they do, and until the masses wake up and think for themselves, nothing will ever change. Is it any wonder then that a mere question of Driver Only Operation cannot be resolved? To Government it's an irrelevence. Not important in the vast scheme of things and so can drag on as long as it likes. That is, until the masses begin to get mad. Then, and only then, the Government will step in to quieten any sign of rebellion and the matter will quietly go away.

Dave

Overlooked this thread so oops.

Would just like ti=o say that cyberdongreen has been in touch with me and we have chatted by message. Well will of course duffer on some issues and I dare say political judgements on our railways but that is life. Howevere he and i are I would say happy with each other and I don't dwell on frictions. Mind you there is someone lse elsewhere a time ago who went bananas and although I went out of my way to see to a reasonable situ he still treats me as alepr over a non-Train thing.

Anyway cyberdongreen and I are content with each other and open discussion on things fully part of life. He and I will not doubt keep in touch . As for my thread on the Borders Line I am still hoping that one day the people who run things up here in Scotland will keep an open mind on the part of the line beyond Galashiels/Tweedbank to Hawick and maybe Carlisle. We have had several lines re-opened in the northern part of our Kingdom and doing well. Something very typical on the rail scene is the matter of refusing a Borders Heritage group to have the line and instead swept it all away and now decades later a chunk of it back. The lady who led the decades campaign and a goodly age now was I am glad on was on the Royal train for the official re-opening. She has also told those south of Tweedbank to do what she and others did and fought and fought determined not to just passing complainers.

If i wasn't on my present large Irish project which i must admit extended too much I would have been tempted to build the Borders Line but all the way to Carlisle!

Oh and before I forget "cyber" - sorry for my delay in your recent message will now catch up on that over the weekend!

A local support organisation in the south of Scotland that is supporting the push for the rest of the Borders Line beyond Tweedbank has jumped up in membership to three times the original to a thousand. They need more and Local Councils need to press on the issue. The government in Edinburgh makes nice noises but something more definitive is needed. The same government has indicated it supports the extending of the re-opened passneger route to Alloa to go on to Dunfermline Junction as the track is still there. However whether they do it is something else.

It will be interesting to see if the general enquiry by the Scottish Government does get into a practical investigation on the remainder of the route beyond Tweedbank all the way across to Carlisle ion the north of England. Sums well into over £600 million are being suggested. When they brought back the 30 plus miles of track originally I thought it was to Galashiels but instead they went just beyond that to the village of Tweedbank. Unfortunately Tweedbank has nothing really to visit and the only place to eat is a half mile walk through the village. So if a rambler fine. I am sure that when the line was being re-built it was intimated that a toilet and cafe would be erected at Tweedbank station (well it is technically a halt as no buildings!) but there has been absolutely nothing so far so is that now history? So if anyone needs a toilet the rtrain is the only place and where to eat a no-no for routine visitors.