I’ll quote The Telegrapgh article as per forum rules
What absolute nonsense that article is. The RMT were happy with driver open driver close (DODC). It’s a combination of ASLEF and SWR that were unhappy with the images being shown on the DOO monitors. In the grand scheme of things it’s added 3 months to a project that’s already 6 years late. Covid, units not meeting specifications, questionable positioning of where the windscreen wiper “parks” all contributed to the delays.
Some may argue that ASLEF have intentionally dragged their heels and that these units would have flown into service on a true DOO operator, and that is possibly true as they’d be seen as an improvement to the previous driver’s environment. For some reason ASLEF reps on SWR are particularly risk averse, with many ECS services now requiring a guard or the RA from platform staff when interacting with the PTI, so when combining this change to operation and the reps aversion to risk, it’s not really a surprise everything is going to be scrutinised.
Unions derail train upgrades in row over who should close doors
RMT demands put brakes on rollout of South Western Railway’s new £1bn fleet
1
Gift this article free
The Arterios were designed for driver-only operation until the RMT insisted guards had to be employed on them Credit: Jas Lehal Media Assignments/PA
Gareth CorfieldTransport Correspondent
23 April 2025 5:58pm BST
A trade union row over who should close doors has delayed a new fleet of trains from entering service.
The RMT trade union has demanded that its guards are responsible for closing the doors on South Western Railway’s £1 billion Arterio train fleet.
However, the new fleet is designed for drivers to both open and close the doors, rendering guards’ jobs obsolete.
Previously the union held 78 days of strikes over the issue.
Training for drivers, who were being taught how to open and close doors on their own, has been delayed.
The new trains were supposed to have entered service in 2019, but have been plagued by repeated delays.
These included the pandemic, as well as another trade union’s objection to the size of its windscreen wiper and software problems.
Proportion of SWR trains arriving on time, relative to all operators in Great Britain
Moving annual average of arrivals within a minute of scheduled time
SWR franchise starts
Pandemic
Source: ORR
The Telegraph can reveal that the latest setback means the 90-strong Arterio fleet will not be fully deployed until as late as 2027.
Thanks to the delays, passengers will be forced to cram onto what one pressure group spokesman described as “rolling stock that’s over 40 years old and without air-conditioning, toilets or even any plug sockets or tables”.
It comes four weeks before SWR is taken over by the Government as the first part of Labour’s flagship rail nationalisation policy.
Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, is summoning the bosses of SWR’s current corporate owners to a meeting next week over the train delays, although it is unclear what First Group and MTR can change within the next four weeks before they hand over control to civil servants.
The RMT insisted that guards were needed to close the doors because it claimed that drivers could not fully see the platform at some of SWR’s stations, potentially leading to passengers getting trapped in doors, Rail magazine first reported.
SWR confirmed that drivers will now open the doors at stations, while guards are responsible for closing them again.
SWR cancellations are soaring
Quarterly cancellations score*
SWR franchise starts
Pandemic
2,163
2,507
2,850
2,065
2,284
2,570
2,584
2,771
3,816
2,843
3,416
2,923
3,034
4,403
3,442
5,701
2,571
3,410
4,916
3,898
3,748
5,333
5,775
7,344
1,074
2,656
3,272
2,051
3,212
3,022
3,889
4,503
2,729
3,354
3,677
4,203
4,486
2,832
6,292
4,595
4,302
5,210
6,688
*counts a full cancellation as a whole and a partial cancellation as half|Source: ORR
Gareth Bacon MP, the shadow transport secretary, branded the union’s demands as “ludicrous”.
“The blame here lies squarely with the unions,” he said. “The RMT held the rollout hostage with days of strikes, forcing through a compromise that is utterly ludicrous.
“These trains were designed to boost reliability and cut unnecessary staffing costs, but union pressure has derailed that plan.
“Labour’s refusal to stand up to their union paymasters shows they will never succeed in delivering savings on the railway – meaning that their promise to make fares more affordable wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.”
Jeremy Varns, a spokesman for the SWR Watch passenger group, condemned the delays to the Arterios and said that short-formed services would result in misery for commuters.
“Travellers will continue to be crammed into overcrowded carriages, in many cases this will be on rolling stock that’s over 40 years old and without air-conditioning, toilets or even any plug sockets or tables,” he said.
“Passengers have never paid more for turn-up-and-go travel yet the service is sliding ever further backwards. If we’re expected to use 40-year-old trains, perhaps ticket prices should revert back to those from the 1980s?”
Long-running dispute
Formally known as the Class 701 train, the Arterios were designed for driver-only operation until the RMT trade union insisted that guards had to be employed on them, triggering a long-running series of strikes.
The issue was supposed to have been settled in 2021 with an agreement that drivers would operate the new trains’ doors – opening and closing them – but with guards kept on board for customer service duties.
A handful of the new trains are currently operating on SWR but the full fleet of 90 will not enter service for at least “the next 18-24 months”, a letter sent to Mr Varns by the Department for Transport said.
“Until the Arterio fleet is introduced SWR must use its existing fleet. While it plans to utilise all its fleet for passengers, there are times when unplanned maintenance results in units being taken out of operation sometimes resulting in short-formed services,” the letter added.
SWR’s existing fleet includes a mixed bag of trains, with some having been introduced during the days of British Rail. One train is so old that SWR painted it in heritage British Rail livery last year to celebrate its 40th birthday.
An SWR spokesman said the company is committed to drivers both opening and closing the doors in the future, adding: “We are sorry that the Arterio rollout is taking longer than previously expected.
“As has been well documented, as well as introducing a new set of trains, SWR is introducing a new method of work with our drivers responsible for opening and closing the doors. In order to do so, the drivers rely on effective CCTV cameras and in-cab displays down the full length of the 10-car train to make the judgment it is safe to depart.
“Many of the 98 stations the Arterio will serve were built more than 150 years ago, with the Victorian infrastructure creating some specific challenges in guaranteeing a consistently clear image for the driver, under all light conditions.
“While we complete those works at our stations, we’ve taken the decision to re-phase our training programme in order to bring as many Arterios into customer service as quickly as possible.”
An RMT spokesman said: “Despite the previous government’s attempts to de-staff trains, the evidence is clear: a safety-critical guard is essential for ensuring a secure journey for passengers, responding to potential emergencies and safe operation of the train.”
What absolute nonsense that article is. The RMT were happy with driver open driver close (DODC). It’s a combination of ASLEF and SWR that were unhappy with the images being shown on the DOO monitors. In the grand scheme of things it’s added 3 months to a project that’s already 6 years late. Covid, units not meeting specifications, questionable positioning of where the windscreen wiper “parks” all contributed to the delays.
Some may argue that ASLEF have intentionally dragged their heels and that these units would have flown into service on a true DOO operator, and that is possibly true as they’d be seen as an improvement to the previous driver’s environment. For some reason ASLEF reps on SWR are particularly risk averse, with many ECS services now requiring a guard or the RA from platform staff when interacting with the PTI, so when combining this change to operation and the reps aversion to risk, it’s not really a surprise everything is going to be scrutinised.
Last edited:
