Full c2c timetable to be restored from Monday

FULL services are to be restored on the c2c route from next Monday (10th December) as the RMT union dispute concerning the Driver Only Operation (DOO) of trains and the future role of the guard on the c2c route is effectively over.

Now that 99 per cent of c2c guards have signed an agreement with the company not to take part in any further industrial action over these issues and to support and facilitate the implementation of the DOO scheme next summer when the full fleet of new sliding-door Electrostar trains is in service, the company is able to restore all its timetabled services from next Monday (10 December).

c2c restored full peak services six weeks ago when additional guards were recruited, but still had to operate a reduced off-peak and weekend service while uncertainty over potential RMT industrial action remained. As 85 per cent of c2c's customers use the services to commute to London, 25,000 people every weekday, most have been unaware of the dispute still existing.

Route Director David Taylor said: "I very much regret the disruption and frustration the industrial action has caused our passengers in past months and am pleased to report that we will be able to return to our full timetable of services from Monday.

"With the dispute now effectively behind us, it is important to look forward to the New Year with fresh optimism. c2c, with a totally new fleet of state-of-the-art modern trains and massive investment on stations throughout the network, will be well placed to lead a much needed and overdue renaissance in rail travel for Essex."

This latest development comes in the wake of a year-long study into DOO and the publication a fortnight ago of a detailed independent report for the Railway Safety organisation.

It confirmed DOO was a safe way to operate trains and declared it was even safer than non-DOO trains when the Train Protection Warning System is fitted, as it will be on c2c's new fleet of Electrostar trains.

The RMT dispute on c2c, which had been going on since the end of June saw a series of 24-hour and 48-hour strikes, spread over up to three days, together with overtime and rest day working bans staged by the union, who claimed DOO was not safe and guards should remain on all trains.

Under c2c's DOO plans, guards will stay on 12-car trains with safety-related train dispatch duties. And there will be customer service staff on board many other trains in addition to the driver, who will do more than existing guards now, such as walking the length of the train to help passengers with journey information, any access difficulties and ticket checking.