I have been driving trains for 25+ years now (not southern) and on the questions we posed to management about driver only trains it was explained to us in no uncertain terms that it is cheaper to pay compensation for a passenger death than it is to employ guards preventing death and injury. That’s what the train companies are only interested in, better 1 death than paying some people to prevent that death, cold hard business I work in nowadays
it was explained as this : if 1 person dies the company may pay say £1million compensation, if that company employs say 500 guards over all its region at a base £26000 excluding the overtime they do that’s a wage bill of £13million p.a. As long as you dont kill 13 or more a year youre in profit, that was how it was justified to us.
Anon
