[Travel] Southern Fail - Strike tomorrow and Thursday

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

I'm ashamed to be part of Aslef and ashamed to be a train driver today. I can at least say with a clear conscience that I voted against the deal but clearly a vast majority of my colleagues have had enough of the dispute and wanted it all to be over. Whilst it may not have been totally about the money, there is no denying that it now looks like we rolled over because enough dough was flashed in front of our faces. Contrary to what many on here have claimed, for me it was about safety, it was about accessibility and it was about making sure everyone got to their destination with someone guaranteed to be there if they needed them or if the driver became incapacitated. It was never ever political for me (other than it was obviously the Tory government who were pushing it through but had it been Labour I would have been equally opposed) and I took absolutely no pleasure on the very few days we did strike from inconveniencing passengers. Make no mistake, although we've been doing this for a while, from today the railway is a less safe method of travel. It may not be today, tomorrow or even this year but at some point there will be a major incident directly attributable to DOO and to all those who have delighted in this news and have been willing this "modernisation" to go through, well let's hope it's not you or a loved one who's involved and I hope it's not me driving. I'm genuinely extremely upset today and I can only apologise to anyone who is in a wheelchair or who needs help getting onboard and to my conductor colleagues and to anyone travelling alone late at night who may feel insecure because I feel we've let you down.

Thanks for posting. Your comments throughout this dispute have been very helpful.

Unlike you, for the majority of drivers, it seems that wave enough money and the safety issue slips from the mind.