To be honest I'd like to see that excess labour re-employed (where feasible) as on-train staff for any service designated "Intercity" currently lacking a guard. For one thing it would help distinguish the train from the bus by having a dedicated customer side staff member (especially when so many halts are unstaffed now) but the retasked staff would need to take a firm line on stuff like people not respecting seat reservations etc.
I'd love to see what intercity staffing ratios are like here in Canada by comparison, where there are usually two-crew locos and about one staff member per carriage but I think that's in part because of high floor trains being used at low floor platforms (dictated by the freight railways) and thus passenger assistance being needed at the one door per carriage normally opened at each station.
|