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If people are being recruited into a customer service job they should be. My understanding is that the Southern dispute caused a high turnover of staff so a significant number of OBS were recruited to OBS and are not ex guards. I wouldn't like the OBS job but if I wish to change my job at some...

Revenue is a rather important aspect of the railways! From a purely operational perspective Merseyrail dispatch works well but from a revenue perspective its terrible. Merseyrail and RMT seem to have found a good compromise for when the 777 fleet is introduced.

It was a very small when it went DOO but in the last 10 years a lot of lines have been electrified so by non London standards is a now sizable network. Comparing Strathclyde with Southern indicates that the latters problems are due to poor management and training. OBS shouldn't need to be...

Taxis are already used. My suggestion of DOO on more routes e.g. more London commuter services but an OBS rostered on every DOO service might actually reduce the number of times a disabled person is unable to board a train. Despite being located almost entirely in London and South East, DOO...

OBS rostered onto every DOO service is the obvious solution. If they miss their connection or are off ill and the train runs without them then the disabled person can be transported by taxis or wait for next service. I am a fan of the OBS role because I think customer service aspect and revenue...

The announcement of regulated fare rise of 5.9% probably sets the limit of any pay offer. The government will argue any larger pay increase will require a larger fare increase. The reality is more complicated but its a good way of undermining public support for strikes. The argument that below...

My worry is DfT transfer 19 x 769s to Northern and 38 x 2 coach sprinters get scrapped. That could work if they were reliable. What features would prevent Northern running them? They might not be able to run doubled up with 769/4s but would be no routes needing 8 coach units.

I hate to say it but I think with the governments focus on decarbonisation it wouldn't surprise me if Northern got the whole fleet. Northern have 141 sprinters to replace this decade. 19 x 4 coach bimodes would help eat into that. Reliability won't appear on the treasury spreadsheet. They should...

Those who want BR back will be disappointed but I think if Labour win next election the system will mostly be in state hands. BR cannot come back because of Scottish and Welsh devolution. Even trying to intergrate TfL services, Northern, Merseyrail or WMR into a national operator would be very...

That would be very embarrassing for UK but it would also be a (lesser) embarrassment for EU, formalising "British exceptionalism." Verhofstadt proposed "associate membership" in 2015. This is essentially membership of single market only but unlike Norway/Swiss would include some representation...

Bit late noticing this post! Guy Verhofstadt wrote in the Independent this week that the UK will eventually rejoin. The most significant aspect was that he said privately the influential people in the EU are aware that the UK will need to be offered a special deal for it to be viable. Although...

Do you know why GWR has announced cuts but other ToCs haven't yet? Losing Castles and 769s is getting off lightly. Very old trains and an unreliable upgrade of fairly old trains.

What are ASLEFs concerns with HSTs? Would changing the sets to loco hauled Mark III sets satisify them? Aquiring 50 spare diesel locomotives might be a challenge but its possible. It would mean the end to HSTs in passenger service of course!

By the sounds of it they would need to be offered them almost for free for it to be worth their while. The are probably paying off covid debts and not keen to take risks. In the long run an order of bi modes would be the obvious choice.

Sorry I thought the union you are a member of is a rail one.

If EMR are forced to give up their 180s then might Grand Central and ROSCO agree a swap of units so that they have the most reliable 10? I know that will still be an unreliable fleet but it is still an improvement.

Which rail staff don't have a choice of recognised unions for their grade?

I am not challenging that they [single market and customs union] are good idea but they are not a prerequisites of a rich well functioning country. I agree with Pauls post that what we need to improve our national situation is good leadership and governance. That gets us back on topic because...

Multiple OT posts didn’t give that impression! Your second to last sentance is my view. People who say brexit can't work ignore that every developed country outside of the EU + EEA isn’t in a customs union or single market with its neighbours. Its not to say those things aren’t a good idea but...

@PaulM is demonstrating why it appears to many brexiteers that remainers haven't moved on. I agree most remainers have moved on but there is a vocal minority who haven't at all. I read a news article recently that said the real brexit divide is between those who want to make the best of the...