Labour Have Been No Time In Office And Yet...

[sandyRoe]

... they've already overseen a settlement of the rail dispute.

This must auger well for their time in office.

Agree?

[bookbinder]

There's no guarantee that their other problems can be solved like this one. Don't throw your hat in the air just yet.

[Peter Pedant]

god they didnt foresee the summer riots

a week in politics is long time ( Wilson)

[New Judge]

Any idiot could have settled on the terms they have.

The main cause of the dispute was never money. It was the requirement to change working practices which the unions have been resisting since the days of steam. It was that which was causing the dispute.

The government has caved in and provided a settlement with no changes in working practices. Among the results of this is, for example, that train drivers work on Sundays as a favour. The rotas rely on volunteers to drive the trains on Sundays and if there are no volunteers there are no trains. 

The previous government was holding out to see that ludicrous situation ended. As I said, any idiot could have settled on the basis this government has. 

[sandyRoe]

In a few weeks the riots will be nothing more than a memory.  The fact that Labour have got the trains running on time again will be a boon to many thousands, perhaps millions, of travellers.

[Hopkirk]

Oh the rail unions will be back for more very soon, just watch.

[Khandro]

What you mean is they have caved in to the unions with an over the top pay demand.

The average train driver salary in the UK is £48,500 per year. Train drivers can expect to begin with an average starting salary of £30,000, with the highest salaries often exceeding £65,000.

How does that compare with your salary ? and I suggest that driving a train is not much more difficult that driving a car.

[newmodarmy]

Just give everyone what they ask for. Easy. I don’t know why the Cons didn't think of it.

Actually I've never been clear on why thus was a government issue...is the government  employer or is it the rail company?

[New Judge]

"The fact that Labour have got the trains running on time again will be a boon to many thousands, perhaps millions, of travellers."

Unless you want to travel on Sundays.

"Oh the rail unions will be back for more very soon, just watch."

Inded they will, hoppy. And they won't be alone. The public service unions will make hay over the next five years as the government happily doles out lorry loads of other people's money.

[New Judge]

"..is the government  employer or is it the rail company?"

Rail companies are gradually being taken under government control as the franchises expire (or are given up).

[vulcan42]

Driving a train is a lot harder than people imagine. The first requirement is an extremely good memory. He or she has to know the number of every signal along his route and they have to know exactly where they are. A  driver must, on a foggy night know exactly, even though they cant see a thing, where to start slowing for the next station. That's not an easy  feat with trains travelling at 125 mph. What they have to know is as complicated as the "Knowledge" is for London taxi drivers.

[wolf63]

My dad was a train driver.

My mum once told him that... Driving a train must be easy, a dead man could stop one.

[Ludocruz]

The public service union leaders are already laughing with contempt at this weak government...

Higher inflation is now firmly back on the menu 😡

[douglas9401]

Train driving? Easy as flying a plane to Rwanda.

[1ozzy]

Why are train drivers even needed with today's technology. 

Computer controlled,  one person watching a screen monitoring numerous train destinations with the ability to click on a stop button if required. 

Yet another job taken by technology. 

[mushroom25]

// Why are train drivers even needed with today's technology. //

today's technology cannot cope with a multi-use railway in the manner you suggest. it's fine for a closed or single use system, where all the trains are identical, travel at the same speed and all stop at all stations. the UK railway isn't like that.

on many lines there are stopping trains with different stopping patterns, as well as non-stopping trains. on the principal main lines there are express trains as well as "enhanced" express trains such as tilting Pendolinos and voyagers that can take sharper curves at higher speeds. Also there are freight trains which, dependent on their make up, can (or are limited to) a variety of different speeds.

the signalling system currently being installed (European Train Control System or ETCS) cannot automatically control such a variety of trains on one system. it can, to a limited extent, control braking on approach to junctions or stations, but the algorithms are complicated by the different speeds and weights of trains, so compromises are needed. all freight trains are braked at the same rate, which means lighter ones can be slowed unnecessarily, which delays following services.

no, today's technology cannot eliminate train drivers.

[Khandro]

wolf63; //My dad was a train driver. My mum once told him that... Driving a train must be easy, a dead man could stop one.//

I understand what your mum was saying. For the benefit of anyone that doesn't, she was referring to the 'Dead Man's Brake' on which the driver keeps his foot all the time, If as in the case of a heart-attack the pedal is released the brake is applied.

vulcan; //A  driver must, on a foggy night know exactly, even though they cant see a thing, where to start slowing for the next station. //

I think you are going back a century; technology has moved moved on somewhat since then. 🙂

 

[1ozzy]

Ok expert,  I think I nearly believe you😒

[davebro3]

Be interesting to see who Starmer rolls over for next - the EU?

[Spungle]

It's great news for overpaid train drivers.  Sandy, perhaps you can explain how this "must auger will for their time in office"?

[barney4444]

A train driver friend told me that its signalman who drive a train, the man sitting at the front simply does as he/she is told, and if you drive a train on the same route enough times you can actually manage to remember where the station's are even when it's foggy.