Operators’ modernisation plans

Merseyrail plans to introduce a new fleet of 52 Driver Only Operation (DOO) trains from 2020, but insists none of the permanent guards or guard managers will lose their jobs.

Arriva Rail North, which operates the Northern franchise (the country’s second largest network), also proposes to modernise by 2020. It will introduce 281 new carriages and upgrade 243 trains, with 2,000 extra services each week. It says decisions about future staffing arrangements have not yet been taken.

The Government has indicated that it wants a more drivercontrolled operation. This is expected to be specified in the next two franchises to be awarded - the South West Trains contract that is due to be announced next month, with West Midlands to follow later this year.

Transferring all safety-critical responsibility to the driver alone means that it is not essential to have two people crewing every train before it can leave the station. In part, that reduces the ability of guards in the RMT union to disrupt the railway with industrial action. As Southern has demonstrated, more trains can run even when guards go on strike.

Rail Delivery Group Chief Executive Paul Plummer said: “Rail companies are willing to guarantee pay and jobs. Customers desperately want new trains. There is no threat to safety. The industrial action is completely unnecessary and very painful.”