Train guard concerned about staffing of new intercity fleet

Contacting the Lithgow Mercury, the guard said staffing arrangements on the new intercity fleet, which can be operated as ‘driver only’, would lead to these outcomes.

NSW TrainsLink maintains that its preferred operating method of the new fleet involves a driver and an “on board customer focused role outside the suburban network”, those stations west of Penrith, north of Hornsby and south of Waterfall.

“Whatever the decision is on the operating model there will be no forced redundancies,” a NSW TrainsLink spokesperson said. 

But the guard (who has asked to remain anonymous) said he has been concerned about his job security since the tendering of the new fleet, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting tender documents required the trains “must support driver-only operation”.

“All the intercity lines from Central to Kiama, to Newcastle interchange and to Lithgow, these are all long journeys,” the guard said. 

“If anything happened, the train’s going to be stuck out the middle of nowhere. At least if you’ve got guards on the train they’re authorised to move the train to the next station, we’re able to provide first aid and call an ambulance, or if there’s trouble on the train we’re able to call the police to meet us at the next station,” he said.

“We know the regular travellers on the lines who have learning disabilities, we know what station they get on and where they get off and we keep an eye out for them. 

“Tourists often ask about which station in the Blue Mountains to get off at, and parents of young people travelling alone ask us to make sure they get off at the right stop.

“We’re there for the safety of the customers and we are able to help them.”

NSW TrainsLink said that it was the organisation’s “original intention” to operate the new intercity fleet as “driver-only when it was safe and appropriate to do so” but due to initial feedback “there is preference for a second person on the train to assist customers on our longer intercity journeys”.

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“Our proposed model has the safe operation of the train under the driver’s control with a second person in an on board customer focussed role outside the suburban network to assist customers and provide support in the event of an incident,” a TrainsLink spokesperson said. 

He described the potential new ‘customer focussed’ role, which would be on board once trains leave the suburban ring, as “highly skilled”, having greater presence on trains while they were in motion and “trained in first aid, disability awareness and de-escalation of anti-social behaviour”.

He said that TrainsLink was currently consulting with customers, unions and staff about three different modes of staffing: driver only, driver and guard and driver with a customer service person on board outside the suburban ring. 

“While we are consulting on three different modes of operating the train, we will not make a decision on the operating model until the train has been fully tested and we are absolutely satisfied the operating model is safe,” the spokesperson said.

“NSW TrainLink will also need to provide evidence to the safety regulator so they approve our accreditation to operate the train.”

Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle said “downgrading the hard working, crucial roles [of train guards] to customer service positions was the government’s first step to justifying their ultimate goal – driver only operations”.

“Their plan to sack our train guards was first revealed in the same Intercity Fleet tender documents that showed the new trains would be too wide to fit through the tracks and tunnels west of Springwood. In the same document where they accidentally ordered trains that don’t fit the tracks, they specifically requested a train that could be operated in ‘Driver Only Operating Mode’.

“I am gathering signatures on a petition via my office in Springwood against this stupid plan and I encourage anybody concerned about safety on our railways to contact me and I will provide copies,” she said.

The new intercity fleet is not scheduled to be rolled out on the Blue Mountains line until mid-2020.