Tomorrow, Thursday 27 October, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) coordinates a European campaign day on the need to keep train crews on-board of trains. Under the slogan “Your safety and comfort are our priority” ETF affiliates will set up actions in 11 European countries to raise awareness about the crucial role of on-board train personnel for passenger safety.
On-board staff is not only controlling the passengers’ tickets. Train crews play a vital role in ensuring the safety of passengers and railway workers, they are specially trained for dealing with degraded situations or accidents and assure travellers’ comfort by providing assistance to all categories of passengers. Recent events, such as the attack on a Thalys train in the summer of 2015 or terrorist threats have demonstrated even more the need to keep staff on-board of trains.
With the on-going liberalisation of the railway sector comes the introduction of the so called “disruptive” new business-models adapting low-cost models already existing in civil aviation and road transport. It tends to enlarge the use of “shadow trains”, trains with only a driver on board and even develop experimentation of driverless trains. This short term financial logic, sacrificing safety to reduce costs, is in contradiction with the growing need for safety of passengers and railway workers in the railway stations and on-board of trains.
Sabine Trier, Deputy General Secretary, highlights that “safety remains our main priority to develop a sustainable railway public service with highly skilled on-board personnel”.
ETF affiliates will be campaigning in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
For further information, please contact ETF Deputy General Secretary, Sabine Trier (Tel: +32 (0)2 285 46 67; s.trier@etf-europe.org)
