Still having a bit of trouble on Southern?

Since my last update, Hastings and Rye Labour Party have sent the following message to GTR: ----------------- “The Hastings and Rye Labour Party (CLP) believes that the Labour Party nationally should object to franchise companies degrading public services and staff under their care. In particular, the CLP objects to the prejudicial behaviour of GTR towards staff who take legal industrial action in support of their safety role. The CLP supports the publicly expressed wish for staffed ticket offices and stations, and for a guard on door duty on every train, to oversee what is officially acknowledged as the most likely point for accidents during a rail journey – the moment of dispatch from the station. The CLP supports the drivers’ view that it is his/her job to attend to signals ahead at the time of departure, not to attempt to oversee a crowded platform, with or without new technology.” ------------------ The reply, from Charles Horton, was much the same as other replies he has sent to people who are fed up with the way Southern trains are running, and to people who want to have staff on their trains so I am sending *him* the following. (if you would like to send him your views too, the address is charles.horton@gtrailway.com ) --------------- Dear Charles Horton, I have lost count of how many of your responses to various people's and organisations' complaints I've read, and so far, they all reiterate the same two points: 1. What you want to do and 2. Your claim that the disruption Southern's passengers have suffered is the fault of the RMT. On the first point, I wonder if you could be persuaded that what you want to do is not all that should be considered. We all know you've decided it's okay to run trains without a guard on door duty or, as you say, in many cases with no second member of staff on board at all. We know that because we've experienced it, and we do not like it. Passengers like to know that the guard is there, overseeing activity at the platform edge, giving assistance and information, putting down ramps for the disabled and, by his or her presence, discouraging crime and anti-social behaviour. We worry what would happen to us in the event of a fire, a crash or an emergency evacuation. I know you'll say it's okay, if a disaster happens and the driver is disabled, emergency services will arrive to help but that is not as good and is not immediate. As passengers often paying the highest prices in Europe, we think our preference should count for something - especially as we know the vast majority of the guards and drivers agree with us. Why should a driver have to work all the time knowing that if anything goes wrong, however much stress that might put him under, he will be dealing alone with hundreds of possibly traumatised passengers? Why should you, a temporary franchise operator, put what you want to do above what we want? On the second point, you have run this franchise in a manner which passengers have not been happy with since December 2015. That's over six months, and we find it quite risible that you try to give the impression the dreadful service passengers have had to put up with is all down to three days of industrial action by a portion of your staff. Now here's an idea you could pass to your PR department: round about the time this dispute started, I heard that you had over 40 unfilled job vacancies. So here is another really good service you could do for our region, if you want to be popular as opposed to public enemy number one - how about employing and training up a full team of train crews and station staff, rather than making annoying announcements blaming your over-stretched staff for your failures? In conclusion, may I say that we, the passengers, will be here far longer than GTR will. In that sense, the railway and its staff is our business more than it is yours. We do not accept your right to degrade it, to drive away experienced, much appreciated staff. In future, please consider taking our views into account, rather than just telling us what you are going to do. Yours sincerely, Kay Green http://actionforrail.org/