Guards on Merseyrail Trains

George Howarth Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise in the Chamber the important issue of the future of safety-critical guards on Merseyrail trains.

All of us value the work of the people who keep our country moving, be they guards, drivers, signal workers, track workers, ticket office workers, cleaners or station staff. I represent my home city in this place, and it is a privilege to be able to speak up for my constituents and working people. It is worth remembering that when workers want to raise issues as important as public safety and protecting decent jobs, they too often have to take industrial action, putting their livelihoods at risk—something I do not have to do by making this speech.

[Mr George Howarth (Knowsley) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend makes the point that nobody wants this to happen. He will have seen the letter from the city region of 16 November, which is signed by its six council leaders. It calls for

“both parties in the dispute…to agree to engage in a process of independent conciliation, starting with no pre-conditions, with the intent of seeking to find a negotiated settlement”.

Does he not think that that is a reasonable suggestion?

[Dan Carden]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention. I will lay out my arguments, including my comments about that issue, in my speech.

I will use this debate to outline why guards are so important for safety, security, service and accessibility, and to highlight the level of public support for retaining guards on trains. I will discuss their safety-critical function and their valued role in protecting the personal safety of all passengers.

Over the past 30 years, there has been a creeping introduction of driver-only operation. DOO is opposed by the rail unions and unpopular with the public. Since January 2011, there have been at least 10 serious incidents at the passenger-train interface, eight of which involved DOO services operating without a safety-critical member of staff on board the train.

Merseyrail, a private company co-owned by Serco and the Dutch state-owned Abellio, proposes to remove all its 207 guards. That decision comes after Merseytravel, our transport authority, has signed a 30-year contract for new rolling stock worth £460 million.