Tube Drivers Again.

somethingcorporate

timbo58 wrote: »

I was beginning to agree with this thread until I read that drivel.

It can take well over a year to train a driver -thats not just pressing stop & go buttons and merely displays your ignorance of their role.

No: I am not a driver nor do I gree with strikes for their own sake however I DO know what it takes to qualify and what responsibilities rail/tube safety staff have.

For christsakes try to get an informed opinion before belittling others would you?

Can you show some evidence that it takes over a year to train a tube driver?

Pretty sure it is 16-22 weeks.

As this blog by a tube driver confirms: http://www.trainweb.org/tubeprune/dd-training.htm

Edit: In fact before he started the training was as little as ten weeks. So perhaps it is you who should do some research first!

Edit 2: a number of other anecdotal sources confirm the 22 week length of training. So hardly that of a paramedic with a tiny fraction of the value to society yet paid 3 times as much.

timbo58

My apologies I am not experienced in Tube driving, I was going on my experience in train driving and (wrongly it seems) assumed them to be the same.
I am sure there are those more expert than myself to answer your specific queries as to what they train in and what duties they hold.

However it isn't just pushing button A and button B thats pretty obvious.

ILW

timbo58 wrote: »

My apologies I am not experienced in Tube driving, I was going on my experience in train driving and (wrongly it seems) assumed them to be the same.
I am sure there are those more expert than myself to answer your specific queries as to what they train in and what duties they hold.

However it isn't just pushing button A and button B thats pretty obvious.

Think they have buttons C and D that open the doors. That must take at least 6 weeks training, plus another month on getting the right side.

somethingcorporate

That's ok - I only know as there was a lengthy debate on this here when they threatened to strike for the Olympics.

It's still a pretty simple job compared to a lot of other things that are far worse paid and they will price themselves out of a job sooner rather than later as they are an incredibly expensive resource.

£50k basic pay + OT + bonus + all the other extras they get + FS pension scheme you are talking around £100k per driver per year and with over 3,500 tube drivers that is a LOT of money. (£350m pa by my crude calculations).

Pretty quickly a hundred million spent on a new IT system to control it for you starts to look pretty enticing!

timbo58

Perhaps (just playing devils advocate here) it's about the safety responsibility as much as the actual job itself?

Couple of thousand passengers lives every day in their hands is a pretty big responsibility: perhaps the powers that be don't want to shift this onto an automated system JIC it all goes tits up and the big bosses find themselves in the dock?

Just an idea!

ILW

timbo58 wrote: »

Perhaps (just playing devils advocate here) it's about the safety responsibility as much as the actual job itself?

Couple of thousand passengers lives every day in their hands is a pretty big responsibility: perhaps the powers that be don't want to shift this onto an automated system JIC it all goes tits up and the big bosses find themselves in the dock?

Just an idea!

So what are the penalties a driver could suffer if he screwed up (beyond losing his job)?
If there are none then there is no responsibility.

RevolvingDoor

timbo58 wrote: »

Perhaps (just playing devils advocate here) it's about the safety responsibility as much as the actual job itself?
Couple of thousand passengers lives every day in their hands is a pretty big responsibility: perhaps the powers that be don't want to shift this onto an automated system JIC it all goes tits up and the big bosses find themselves in the dock?
Just an idea!

I agree. I think there needs to be trained staff in case of emergencies, the London terrorist attacks weren't so long ago.

I agree with the right of workers to strike anyway.

kabayiri

somethingcorporate wrote: »

And why is this?

Due to lack of technology or due to the impact of the unions? (I genuinely don't know).

If technology could get us to the moon and back in the 60s I am pretty sure 50+ years later we can get it to make a couple of trains stop and start at the right time

Very little traffic on the Moon run. It's actually got less over time, since the rush in the 70s (if you call less than one a year a rush).

If the MoonShips had been manned by ex Tube drivers would NASA have had the guts to cancel the Moon program?

..I think not

grizzly1911

somethingcorporate wrote: »

£50k basic pay + OT + bonus + all the other extras they get + FS pension scheme you are talking around £100k per driver per year and with over 3,500 tube drivers that is a LOT of money. (£350m pa by my crude calculations).

I thought it was less than £50K more like £30K, or is that just for novices?

I must admit I don't think I would want to spend my working life predominately underground.

Heard on the radio that the drivers made an agreement back in the early 90s that for improved conditions and more holiday they waived "premium" premium pay on BHs.

coastline

grizzly1911 wrote: »

I thought it was less than £50K more like £30K, or is that just for novices?

I must admit I don't think I would want to spend my working life predominately underground.

Heard on the radio that the drivers made an agreement back in the early 90s that for improved conditions and more holiday they waived "premium" premium pay on BHs.

http://www.aslef.org.uk/information/102222/102225/103142/london_underground/