Merseyrail strike 8 April - RMT statement

We are fighting to keep the guarantee of a guard on every train. We do not want to be striking today [8 April] but we are fighting to keep the guarantee of a guard on every train. At the moment you are guaranteed, in addition to the driver, a second safety critical member of staff to protect your safety and act in emergencies. The guard's training and competencies are so important for passenger safety that the guard must be on every train.

In a report produced for Merseytravel in April 2014, Future Merseyrail Rolling Stock - what passengers want, the factor which emerged as by far the most important to improve from the passenger perspective was personal security on the train, which reached an index of 180 (compared to 100 which signifies the average relative importance).

Guards' duties include protecting you and the train, safely securing the doors and dealing with emergencies such as derailments, evacuation, fires and driver incapacity. In fact, guards have extensive training and retraining in 35 areas of safety competency. They are also required to hold detailed knowledge of the routes they work and have an understanding of signalling systems. This knowledge has to be refreshed every two years with stringent exams.

We do not want to be out on strike today but Merseytravel are refusing to recognise that the cost of the new trains cannot be met by removing the very staff that passengers value the most. We have highlighted the enormous profits Serco and the Dutch state-owned Merseyrail are making out of this contract - 25% of the passenger revenue last year alone. With profits of £14 million this would more than cover the cost of retaining guards on the trains.

In his letter to Mayor Joe Anderson, RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: "…there is an opportunity for both having modern new trains and keeping a guard on the train yet the company have refused point blank to agree to this. It seems that the company position is that the new trains will be paid for by passengers losing their guards and our members losing their jobs while the company lose nothing, instead carrying on making a huge profit - with much of these profits going to Dutch state owned Abellio."

The people of Liverpool deserve to know whether Liverpool's politicians will side with the private operators SERCO and Dutch state-owned Abellio, who own Merseyrail, or with the passengers and the unions who wish to keep the guarantee of a guard on their trains.

Please support the RMT campaign. Click here to find out how you can help make Merseytravel see sense and keep the guard on the train and keep the train safe.

This is what can happen on a DOO train...

"Witnesses described scenes of ‘sheer terror and panic’ and said people were forced to ‘jump on the tracks’ after smoke started filling an Overground train at Dalston Kingsland station."
Evening Standard, 8 February 2017 - full article here.

This was a Driver Only Operated train. A guard on the train would have ensured this was dealt with safely and calmly and the train evacuated in a controlled orderly way.