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    • matthewg posted
    Posted in Sydney Suburban » Sydney Trains going ATO


    A guard is better for train and passenger protection then a driver alone could ever be on the Sydney system.
    simstrain
    If the guards would come out of their hidy hole and actually 'guard', but they are not obliged to.

    The only passenger facing duty they appear to do is deploy the ramps for a wheelchair user if the station SA isn't waiting for them.

    Door opener and closer could be easily automated.

    If the metro line manages to run with less than 100% staffed trains and it isn't a blood-bath, the pressure will be on to remove the 'redundant' guards from the conventional network.

    Unattended ATO of the conventional network is coming, it may take a little while longer, but it's coming. However, I suspect the guards will be axed before the trains get fully automated and potentially become 'guard only' trains, but that is a possibility - a staff member stays on all trains, but they will be like the CSAs employed on the London DLR - they are in the cabin with the passengers, patrolling the train and being generally highly visible, but not actually being involved that much in the operation. (OK, DLR CSAs do close the train doors at each station, so they do have a train function, and can and do manual drive when there is a problem with the signals or trains).

    At any rate, removal of guards is not something for this current government. In the event they manage to get back for another term, I wouldn't see suburban train guards lasting the full term, give them 6-12 months and it will be war. I don't think Labor has the guts to take on the RBTU, but the Libs just might.

    We already have DOO trains on the network, that were hastily modified to have guards controls after introduction to service when the government decided that taking on the RBTU wasn't such a good idea after all.

    Edit history

    Edited 05 Jan 2019 07:31, 2 years ago, edited by matthewg


    A guard is better for train and passenger protection then a driver alone could ever be on the Sydney system.
    simstrain
    If the guards would come out of their hidy hole and actually 'guard', but they are not obliged to.

    The only passenger facing duty they appear to do is deploy the ramps for a wheelchair user if the station SA isn't waiting for them.

    Door opener and closer could be easily automated.

    If the metro line manages to run with less than 100% staffed trains and it isn't a blood-bath, the pressure will be one to remove the 'redundant' guards from the conventional network.

    Unattended ATO of the conventional network is coming, it may take a little while longer, but it's coming. However, I suspect the guards will be axed before the trains get fully automated and potentially become 'guard only' trains, but that is a possibility - a staff member stays on all trains, but they will be like the CSAs employed on the London DLR - they are in the cabin with the passengers, patrolling the train and being generally highly visible, but not actually being involved that much in the operation. (OK, DLR CSAs do close the train doors at each station, so they do have a train function, and can and do manual drive when there is a problem with the signals or trains).

    At any rate, removal of guards is not something for this current government. In the event they manage to get back for another term, I wouldn't see suburban train guards lasting the full term, give them 6-12 months and it will be war. I don't think Labor has the guts to take on the RBTU, but the Libs just might.

    We already have DOO trains on the network, that were hastily modified to have guards controls after introduction to service when the government decided that taking on the RBTU wasn't such a good idea after all.