(20 Nov 2016, 10:36 am)James101 wrote Southern aren't proposing to go DOO - they're proposing to downgrade the guard's role to customer care assistant. This would remove operational duties such as door operation but they would remain onboard to assist in any emergency/first aid situation. Of course this reclassification would mean a change in pay and conditions for those who are currently guards. It's the RMT's purpose to campaign against such changes but they're hiding behind safety issues in order to win public favour as passengers wouldn't stand for so many unreasonable strikes when every other sector in the economy has faced cost-cutting already. 

The link you provide is as much an argument for DDO as against it. In the most extreme of circumstances, the process in place worked - the train stopped itself and so were others around it and a person was sent to investigate. It's pure speculation to suggest the driver could have saved by a guard's presence. But while we're talking about c2c; they're the holder of a British Safety Council Sword of Honour - not bad for a guard-less operation. 
https://www.c2c-online.co.uk/about-us/la...d-for-c2c/

As you say the wrong thing here is losing pay and T&Cs that have been fought for.
I really cannot believe how anyone can think drivers operating doors is safer than a guard being 100% focussed on it (ie not driving a train) who can then stop the train should anything go pear shaped with dispatch, as what occasionally happens.

Regarding c2c - yeah it's a good thing trains nearby were stopped, brilliant! But what if it was the last train of the day with no others about? Having a guard on board means you've always got another member of staff nearby. Not pure chance that there was one two minutes ahead.
Yes the poor driver did die but after what was inevitably minutes of cardiac arrest. Had a guard been there to carry out CPR, or make an announcement for anyone trained in First Aid on the train to make themselves known - undoubtedly in less time than it was for everything to be arranged through the signaller, it could have been a better outcome; not worse.