Archaic rules for rail transport mean nine workers needed to “switch contacts”

Mick Lynch, secretary general of the Railway, Maritime and Transport Workers’ Union (RMT), said he was not opposed to the change. “What we have here is an unreasonable program of massive wage cuts, job cuts and cuts in our conditions,” he said Monday.

But industry sources suggest otherwise. Another example they cite is the renovation of Birmingham New Street Station, which began in 2010.

Prior to the reconstruction, the train’s crews were based in a “dark and damp” room in the bowels of the 19th century station.

After the restoration of the £ 750 million station began in 2010, the crews were relocated to Guildhall in central Birmingham for a short walk.

An industry source said: “The union has insisted that we renegotiate the walking time allowance, the time paid from leaving the train to arriving in the canteen – time that is not part of their holiday.

“[But] the union used a driver with a crowded leg and measured them from the end of the longest train, in the farthest part of the station, to reach Guildhall, “the source added.

“And even then, not through the back exit to Guildhall, which flows directly across the road from the station, but all the way around the building to use the main entrance where the elevators were located.

“The new walking time was set at 12 minutes.”

The walk takes one minute, according to Google Maps. Meanwhile, maintenance teams are not allowed to cross the border.

This means, for example, that if there is a malfunction on the Kings Cross to Potters Bar and there are no staff available to repair it, a member of the Euston line close to Watford cannot enter the breach.

“[If] “The Euston team, which did not have calls at its patch, could have jumped 500 yards to King’s Cross to solve the problem in a short time,” the source said.

The list goes on, they added. “Our specialized teams will not share vans or equipment, so we can’t send one van with a mixed team, we have to send two or more for each job. Specialized teams will also not cooperate even if they do not help to unload the team of another team. ”