View from the signal box

I AM a signaller and my basic pay is a third less than what Transport Secretary Grant Shapps describes as the industry’s median of £44,000.

I don’t get a meal break in my 12hour shifts and have to squeeze in a sandwich and a cuppa when I can between trains. Working alone, I am responsible for keeping the railway safe and trains on time.

I worked the whole of the pandemic without a sick day, plus 120 extra days to cover staff shortages.

I have not received an honour from the Queen or a pat on the head. and I have not had a pay rise since January 2020. The NHS, police and fire service received pay rises last year, but railway workers didn’t.

Despite what it claims, the Government did not need to pump £16 billion into the railways during the pandemic to keep them running.

It could have furloughed the workforce for a fraction of that money and saved the country a fortune.

ALAN JOHNSTON, Inchinnan, Renfrewshire.