Are guards on the railway the laziest people in the world?

Question

What exactly do they do? they open that little door when they get to a station and turn a key (that little door is gonna take a passenders eye out sooner or later), then they press another button when train ready to leave! Is that it! Oh they chat to their co workers a lot.

Come on its a joke isnt it? These lot have a job for life. They do the same thing day after day after day...... Heard one of them last week saying "blimey ive been seperating trains all week" whoa exciting stuff!

When the new trains came in the guards were claiming they were being treated like glorified Kit Kat sellers! Well THATS WHAT YOU ARE !!!!

Answer 1

it may be a simple job and easy going but its better than  not working at all at least they get off their backsides and go to work unlike  the millions of spongers that stay in bed all day  and only get up to draw their  giro  every fortnight

Answer 2

They are paid for what they know in an emergancy, they have to help with the cleanup/protect the passengers (same reason why Airline Cabin Crew are highly paid), also for the unsocial shifts (the guy I know who is a gaurd has shifts ranging from 4am starts to 2am finishes), they also check tickets and get abuse for that from the passengers

Answer 3

No way. They have to wear the most appalling uniforms & start work at the most inconvenient times & take abuse from all & sundry.

At least they work. Oh & not to mention sit through medicals & training to get their 25,000 a year.

Answer 4

Eeeeeasy, Skippy.  Have you talked to your doctor about maybe cutting back on the caffeine a tad?

Let's take a page out of the "Walk a mile in their shoes, blah, blah, blah" playbook.

On US railroads, most people only see the operating personnel as they cross the roadway in front of their car, either returning a smile and a wave or ignoring the oft repeated "You're number one", usually indicated by the international hand signal incorporating the extended middle finger of either or both hands.

In those instances, people often think, "What a job.  Just sit on your butt, move a few levers, monitor a few gages, and presto!  You are at your away from home terminal, and you got paid a chunk of change for doing it."

But they weren't there at 3:00 AM when the locomotive consist had to be put together, inspected, air tested, serviced with fuel, engine cooling water, supplies, drinking water, ice chests, etc., while wading through 2 1/2 feet of snow and ice at ten below zero.

Nor did they spend years developing the skills necessary to accomplish these tasks.  They were also absent for the thousands of hours spent reading and familiarizing (and in some instances memorizing) themselves with operating rules, locomotive ops manuals, general orders, track bulletins, etc.

Wanna have some real fun?  Make a locomotive inspection (required EVERY time you stop) or daily inspection (required by the FRA) out in the Mojave desert at 117 degrees.  (By the way, the "Yeah, but it's a dry heat" theory is a load of BS.)

I can assure you when that loooooong green shows up each payday, every penny of it was earned.

Or, in another analogy, the cop that wrote you a speeding ticket today is the biggest SOB on the planet.  But tomorrow, when some idiot plows into you on the "M", this same officer that is willing to risk his/her life to extricate you from your burning automobile, or provide CPR or other critical emergency health care, is pretty handy at that moment, and quite welcome.

So, don't judge by only what you see of the guard's activity.  There is much you don't know about how their day has been going.

Answer 5

My vote is the dept. of motor vehicles in NY, I had to sign something once at the counter, and the guy/clerk would NOT lend me his pen. The person behind me on line was kind enough to let me borrow theirs, and I thanked them for their kindness, I turned to the "CLUCK" at the counter before I left and said "You're a d**k" !

Answer 6

Train Guards are not lazy! they are there for your protection!

They are also responsible for train dispatch.

The guard is usually trained up in first aid, have the powers of arrest.

The reason that they wanted to strike when new trains were introduced was that their responsibilities, like train safety was being removed and given to the driver, which the drivers did not want.

When I talk about train safety. If a train was to break down the guard would place a warning system on the line to stop other trains, and then if the passenger have to disembark, he or she would be responsible for the passengers when they were trackside.

SO GUARDS ARE NOT LAZY.....WOULD YOU KNOW WHERE ITS SAFE ON A LINE OR BE ABLE OFFER FIRST AID TO A PASSENGER WHEN THEY ARE ILL? I BET THE ANSWER IS NO!

Answer 7

actually, the fact that you only see them press that "little button" is a good thing, guards are there to protect the train and its passengers if something goes wrong, like a dilailment, or death. Guards are trained up on such situations, they know their route like the back of their hand. if there wasnt a gaurd on board, would you know what to do in a crash situation? no, i thought not. don't knock people doing a very important job when you have no idea about that job.

Answer 8

Let me assure you they are not there to open a little door and close it again.

Railway Guards number 1 prority on the train you are travelling on is your safety.This comes from inside the train making sure everything and everywhere is safe, to making to protecting their trains in a emergency and also knowing what to do if there ever was (god forbid) a train crash because beleive me that lazy **** Guard is the one who is gonna be helping you.

Guards also have to learn how the trains mechanics work to a certain extent incase of any problems arising with the train, also have to learn "Route Knowledge", which means having to identify hundreds of miles of the Route in which the train is running by either signal posts, stations and other landscapes.

As well as dealing with all the apssengers on board the train dealing with delays which 99% are not anyones fault but they will be the ones finding out information for connections and missed services for passengers on board their services, as well as having to deal with fare evaders, abusive passengers even violent passengers, put yourself in their situtaion, your on a train with 50 drunk obnoxious, sometimes overbearing fans, that are giving people a hard time on the trains who has to deal with it....that lazy guard of yours who according to you is a "Glorified Kit Kar seller"

So next time you are on a train and see the guard coming to check your ticket just remember all the stuff he has to learn, and deal with daily to make your journey safe and pleasent.

and just a little P.S NO I AM NOT A GUARD.

Answer 9

you are talking shite pose a question when you know what you are talking about............

The Guard is Trained for 1 year, and has Safety Responsibilities,

They have to check the platform starter signal....

and if there is a incident, they have to ensure the safety of the passengers.. put up with drunk a/hole passengers and abuse.. thankless job.. taking orders from the driver and making the driver tea...

Answer 10

Thats all correct. They aren't called guards anyway nowadays, they are train managers and I think if you saw the size of their rulebook Basshead, then I think you'd take back all you said. They have the same responsibilty as drivers, if not more. You are correct, they do have an easy time the majority of time but when the s*!t does hit the fan, they probably do more work in a day than you do in a month.

Answer 11

no that must be our MPs