Tube Drivers get £50k Deal.

shortchanged_2

Well at least tube drivers MIGHT be able to afford a 1 bed flat in London now.

Dan:_4

pimento wrote: »

I seem to recall back when the Victoria Line opened [/oldlady], that drivers were put on the trains because the public would have felt less escure without a driver. It was all a bit newfangled.

Not sure if this was true (at the time).

They are still required to open and close the doors and press 'start'

movilogo

Driving a train is one of the easiest things to operate. Unlike a car, a train does not require steering to change direction. Unlike a plane or helicopter, it can't move in 3D. Train travel is one of the safest transportation. A bus driving is far more stressful job.

£50k is more than even what commercial pilots (in budget/small airlines) get.

They are getting this salary because they have a very strong union. Govt. just don't want to upset them before Olympics. Don't think they can continue this in future. Govt. is already having plans to replace them with driverless trains in a phased roll out. London underground is one of the oldest system in the world. It will take several years before all existing rolling stocks are replaced with driverless trains.

the_flying_pig

shortchanged wrote: »

Well at least tube drivers MIGHT be able to afford a 1 bed flat in London now.

Yes, I'm sure that's relevant.

It'd be a fairly hard sell for the Unions, to negotiate a wage that wouldn't allow their members to buy even a small house.

So high house prices in London push up the demand for taxpayer funds, which will in turn push up London House prices [a little], and so on.

For £250k [so five times a tube driver's wage, a stretch but not an inconceivable stretch with a few years' worth of saving up] you can get a so-so 2-3 bed home [maybe quite often 2 bed with a loft conversion or similar] in most [i.e. not the centre or posh bits - I'm really talking about zone 3 outwards and/or close to council estates] areas of London.

crazyguy

ILW wrote: »

Please correct me if wrong, but I believe there are around 2000 tube drivers. All on £50k pa would equate to £100 million per year in wages alone. If you then build in pensions etc, the cost of automating the system would not take that long to pay off.

Look it will cost far more than the figures you are quoting and also it is to do with safety as well primarily money.

To change the part of the system that is in place would cost huge amounts of money Billions in fact, do they just look down the back of the sofa for this ?

The figures I also quoted for the vacancies and the amount that got through are based on a number of factors and yes concentration is one of them but there are also a lot of other tests involved including apptitude amoungst other things.

pimento

the_flying_pig wrote: »

For £250k [so five times a tube driver's wage, a stretch but not an inconceivable stretch with a few years' worth of saving up] you can get a so-so 2-3 bed home [maybe quite often 2 bed with a loft conversion or similar] in most [i.e. not the centre or posh bits - I'm really talking about zone 3 outwards and/or close to council estates] areas of London.

You make it sound idyllic....

If I were the Mayor of London, all travel would be free, paid for by the companies who operate from within the M25.

That would sort out who needed to be in London and who didn't.

I live 40 miles outside London but I have to commute into town five days a week. My annual season ticket (renewed last week) cost me £3900 and yet, it is still cheaper to travel the 90 mins each way than take the wages hit that working close to my home would bring.

That shouldn't be the case. I think if I do have to purchase an annual season ticket, the cost should be tax deductable.

kabayiri

crazyguy wrote: »

Look it will cost far more than the figures you are quoting and also it is to do with safety as well primarily money.
...

I worked with some of the engineers who did the automation and signalling layer for the DLR, and your quote of billions is you talking out of your 'arris'.

I'd be interested in you providing some kind of breakdown to this billions capital spend.

Everyone chucks the term billion around nowadays.

ILW

You still haven't said what they actualy DO beyond stop and start the train. (And much of that is now automated).

ILW

crazyguy wrote: »

Look it will cost far more than the figures you are quoting and also it is to do with safety as well primarily money.

To change the part of the system that is in place would cost huge amounts of money Billions in fact, do they just look down the back of the sofa for this ?

The figures I also quoted for the vacancies and the amount that got through are based on a number of factors and yes concentration is one of them but there are also a lot of other tests involved including apptitude amounngs other things.

If it is that much, but the wage bill is reduced by say £150 million per year. Payback should be around 5 -10 years and fromthen on it's all bunce. In addition the public would not be held to ransom with strike threats every other week.

jc808

ess0two wrote: »

Take care of passengers travelling from A to B???as for driverless trais would anyone travel in a pilotless plane?

A plane is mostly pilotless insofar it is packed with automated systems.

DLR runs without drivers.

Other train systems around the world run OK without drivers

Your arguement is pretty bad to be fair