Driver Only Operation (DOO) Discussion
Posted: 04 Mar 2018 19:20
As probably everyone in the UK will know by now, we are pushing towards driver only operation for a large amount of services.
There are lots of strikes still being organised in opposition to this, causing major disruption to services usually over a 12 to 48 hour period at least once every two-three month lately. The most recent being yesterday (03/03/18)
So what is everyones opinion on this, are workers right to be striking, is this a potentially dangerous thing to do, will it benefit or obstruct smooth operation of the network?
I'd also love to hear input from non UK folk, especially if your services are already DOO, do you have any sort of concerns, or actual events that may have been stopped by having an extra guard or conductor aboard?
My personal feelings are, keep the conductor and/or guard onboard. On some services passengers may get rowdy, which a driver may be totally unaware of in his little cab. There are also the needs of disabled people to consider, especially as UK trains do not have automated ramps on them, I fear that the needs of the disabled will suffer terribly if DOO goes ahead, especially in certain areas where there are more disabled people, such as near. Especially as many stations are small, and unmanned. So the driver would need to get out of his cab, help the person aboard, get back in, seems like that'd slow things down, unless trains are retrofitted with ramps, or they have a guy running around in a van and a ramp to where assistance is needed...
There are lots of strikes still being organised in opposition to this, causing major disruption to services usually over a 12 to 48 hour period at least once every two-three month lately. The most recent being yesterday (03/03/18)
So what is everyones opinion on this, are workers right to be striking, is this a potentially dangerous thing to do, will it benefit or obstruct smooth operation of the network?
I'd also love to hear input from non UK folk, especially if your services are already DOO, do you have any sort of concerns, or actual events that may have been stopped by having an extra guard or conductor aboard?
My personal feelings are, keep the conductor and/or guard onboard. On some services passengers may get rowdy, which a driver may be totally unaware of in his little cab. There are also the needs of disabled people to consider, especially as UK trains do not have automated ramps on them, I fear that the needs of the disabled will suffer terribly if DOO goes ahead, especially in certain areas where there are more disabled people, such as near. Especially as many stations are small, and unmanned. So the driver would need to get out of his cab, help the person aboard, get back in, seems like that'd slow things down, unless trains are retrofitted with ramps, or they have a guy running around in a van and a ramp to where assistance is needed...