Re: industrial action by cityrail train guards - 22 july

["Michael Walker" <walker@hotkey.net.au>]

>I would suggest to you that in Melbourne there has been no reduction in the
>quality of service because the guards have gone, to the contrary, there has
>probably been an improvement in the quality of service in some ways.
>
Indeed, some railway employees I heard speak were glad the guards positions
had gone and even commented it had improved train reliability because this
way the driver either turned up for work or didn't, under the old system, if
either the guard or driver didn't turn up, the train didn't run. Of course,
this may have been an isolated group not sticking up for their fellow
workers, but I suspect not based on rumour and the comment above...

My 2c worth is that while SPOT was being introduced, there were all sorts of
disasters (I was travelling to Elsternwick every week day when SPOT was
first introduced on the Sandringham line and the trains were so unreliable
it was a joke) but now you can't tell the difference. In terms of security,
most guards I observed did not do much. The only area where potentially the
guards are missed is with the increase in incidents involving prams jammed
in doors as the train departs and other such things, many though being just
as much a result of passenger stupidity as much as there not being a guard
to act as a safety net to prevent them being entrants in the Darwin Awards.
The drivers of course were happy to take the extra money...