Yes I know the reason the unions have gone on strike, and of course Corbyn would never condemn them. He is just a puppet in the hands of the unions and Momentum.
Do you think strikes ever really achieve anything?
Do you think allowing a bully government to pull down your pants and give you a good spanking has achieved anything apart from the shit that the Country is in right now?
The reason for the strikes by Southern is safety, if you travel on their trains at any time in the future it will be YOUR safety!
"Driver only trains", Government argument... "It's all about money and making the commuters suffer, Thames Link run driver only trains"
REAL REASON... Thames Link are a product of the last time the Conservatives ran a "campaign" against the railway. The sold it off and introduced us to the 'wonderfully successful'* Railtrack (*They weren't wonderful or successful) as well as splitting the maintenance teams and selling them off to Jarvis who did such a wonderful job at an extortionate price that they gave us the Potters Bar, Ladbroke Grove, Paddington and Southall train crashes. After this the maintenance has been brought back in house and not so many disasters any more so what do the Torys want? To send the Maintenance back out to private companies :wallbash:
Thames Link run 3 to 5 carriage trains and the driver can see front to back when the train is stopped so SHOULDN'T trap anyone in the doors and drive away
Southern run 8 to 11 carriage trains and the driver CAN NOT see the length of the train because of arched platforms. He will be expected to keep an eye on up to 12 tiny cctv screens in his cab while making sure he takes the correct signal and aspect as well as pulls away safely, drive his train correctly, sort out all issues when some drunk pull the emergency stop handle etc.
Role of the "guard". He is fully trained in all emergency procedures and in the event of an accident will be there to assist the passengers/protect the train/report to the Signaller. He is essential in these circumstances because, if it's a crash at the front of the train, the driver won't be any use.
Oh and don't get me started on HS2! What a complete and utter waste of money, in London, AGAIN.
Hundreds of millions of pounds to save a few minutes between Birmingham/Leeds and London. How about spend the money on improving the WHOLE rail network, stick down some designated "non-stop", express lines into London if you must but put the majority of the money into improving things on the network for ALL travellers and not just the "elite" who are heading into the City. Put the money into cutting fares so that people can afford to travel on the railway, make the Train Operating Companies stick extra carriages on their trains so people who pay for a seat GET a seat!
Finally, back to Southern... The RMT and ASLEF went to Southern with proposals SIX MONTHS AGO that were, in principle, acceptable to the company but they had to run it by the Dept for Transport, Conservative run, who rejected the offer as they would see it as having to "climb down"...Way to go. The strikes are down to this Conservative government, it could of been settled MONTHS ago but they won't tell the public that
