DOO battle ahead

With the introduction of new rolling stock on this hitherto labour-intensive railway by 2020-21, along with the operator’s intention of introducing Driver Only Operation, perhaps those now

in charge at Merseyrail regret that the opportunity to introduce such working was completely passed over when Class 507/508s were introduced onto the services.

They were specifically designed for that mode of operation, and the unions were far more accommodating towards its introduction than they are today.

I remember how we successfully introduced it onto WAGN services years ago. It will be interesting to see how the management now in charge at Merseyrail achieves it. They will certainly have a battle on their hands! Derek Lawman, Former Route Manager, WAGN Railway