Doomsday for London Underground

************ Note - On Thursday Morning the Lead story on BBC London was that TFL would be announcing driverless trains and closure of all London station ticket offices. This blog was written in good faith based on the fact that this was lead story. The announcement didn't mention driverless trains. We therefore assume that someone was feeding TFL misinformation. Now there have been comments that we should await formal confirmation. Now yes we should, as this was presented as a fact, so apologies for that, but hey ho, if you can't trust the BBC news..... *************

Mark the 21st November 2013 in your diary. Today is the day that Mayor Boris Johnson declared war on the people of London. Today is the day that he announced plans to devastate safety on the London Underground network. Today is the day that he abandoned all pretence of caring for ordinary Londoners who daily use the system. Today is the day that he decided to sacrifice the network to Tory dogma.

He has announced plans to

a) Shut every ticket office on the London Underground

b) Make all trains driverless.

I am sure that I'll have a few right wing pundits who never use the service leaving stupid comments. I use the network on an almost daily basis and it is clear to me that the plans are wrong headed.

Ticket offices.

1. How will elderly/disabled people who have difficulties using machines manage?

2. How will tourists with difficulties manage?

3. What will happen if your Oyster card packs up?

4. How will you renew your season ticket?

5. What will happen if you have a problem?

6. Who will you ask for travel guidance & assistance?

Driverless trains.

1. What will happen if there is a safety issue in the tunnel, such as the 7/7 bomb?

2. What will happen if there is an incident on the train or an ambulance needs calling?

3. What will  happen if the emergency chord is pulled?

4. Who will report intruders on the line or in tunnels?

5. Who will inform passengers if there are delays/problems?

6. Who will clear doors etc of obstructions?

The above are just a few points I thought of. I rarely see a ticket office without a large queue, especially at busy times. On journeys, it is rare for there to be no interaction with the driver. Usually because people are blocking doors, but I've seen drivers calling ambulances when people have had heart attacks. I shudder to think what would have happened on 7/7, a day I used the tube, without the drivers and the station staff. 

This plan has clearly been dreamed up by a management team who hold the needs and safety of passengers in total contempt. I have one question. If as George Osborne says, the economy is in rude good health, how come London needs to cut £80 million from the budget of London Underground. Doesn't George and Boris realise that London is the engine of the London Economy. If these savage cuts occur, people will get injured and killed. Boris and George clearly couldn't give a toss (or is that ATOS). 

Tube strike : The truth about Bob Crow and the RMT

Have you ever been through a divorce? If you have, would you like your lawyer to have turned around to your ex-partners lawyer and said "Well, you are not treating me very fairly, but take what you want". Have you ever been overcharged by a bank? Did you say "Well, it's not fair, but keep the cash". Have you ever been sacked unfairly? Did you say "Well, that's not right,but never mind, it'll make you happy if I say nothing". Have you ever been asked to do something dangerous at work? Did you say "OK, if it saves the boss money, that's fine".

I've heard all sorts of comments about Bob Crow, Leader of the RMT and the man Leading the Tube strike. From some of the comments, it seems he's the most despised man in London. As people struggle to get home from work, this is understandable, but is it fair? Firstly, lets ask ourselves, what is his job? It is to get the best possible deal for the members of his union. I was talking to someone today, who didn't realise that Union members lose pay every time they strike. They thought they got a full days money. When I asked them whether they thought they'd give up cash just to become unpopular, they had to respond that they'd not really though about it like that. To lose cash, most people only do it when they have a serious grievance. They wouldn't do it, just so Bob Crow could go on telly and upset everyone. According to Bob Crow, the sticking point is that staff have contracts which state that there will be "No compulsory redundancies". This is under threat. Management and the press are saying "no one else in the country has such a deal, so why should they?" Now I may agree if Bob Crow was trying to introduce the matter as a new policy. He's not, he's just insisting that the bosses at the London Underground stick to deals they've made before. These assurances were given in the past as part of a bargaining process, in exchange for other concessions. Bob Crow is only asking that agreements be honoured.

The country is in recession. Jobs are disappearing every day. This is not happening because Bob Crow is an awkward sod. It is happening because banks made lousy decisions. Many of our most respected financial institutions were only saved from complete collapse by government bail outs. People such as Fred Goodwin, nearly destroyed the country. He walked away with a multi million pound payoff, smiling into the sunset. There was outrage, but the bottom line is that he had a contract, so nothing could be done. If Bob Crow's members were offered the deal Fred the Shred was to walk, would there be a problem?

So what is the difference between Fred and the tube workers? Well Fred destroyed a company, RBS which was at one stage one of the worlds biggest banks. Thousands have been thrown on the dole queues. The Tube workers have done their jobs, moving Londoners to home and back. During terrorist outrages such as 7/7 they've shown extraordinary heroism. Whatever the reasons for the financial problems at London Underground, they are nothing to do with the tube workers. They are down to Gordon Brown & his PPP scheme, which collapsed. Again it was clever financial whizz kids, saying that the public sector was inefficient which caused the problems. Has Gordon Brown lost his job?

Boris Johnson's predecessor, Ken Livingstone warned Gordon Brown what would happen. He fought it tooth and nail. He lost and the scheme went through. Bob Crow, the RMT and it's members are now paying for the fall out. The banks were given multi billion bail outs. London Underground hasn't been. It seems cuts are order of the day. Unlike the billions given to the bankers, much of which has found it's way into fat bonus cheques for senior managers, the tube workers are now put in a position where their jobs are on the line.

Bob Crow is not an attractive character. He's not an oil painting, he's spiky and abbrasive. He doesn't care for pleasantry. He really doesn't care who he upsets in his mission to get a good deal for his members. If I was getting divorced, he's the type of lawyer I'd want. If I was getting threatened with the sack he's the type of union rep I'd want. His negotiating technique is to grab his opponent by the balls and squeeze till they squeal. Not nice, not pretty but crudely effective.

I don't know about you, but I wish someone had squeezed Sir Fred Goodwin by the balls until he squealed and gave his pension back. I'd be quite happy for that person to be Bob Crow.