A train driver whose sacking has prompted a 56-day trade union strike fell asleep at the controls and failed to officially report it, it has emerged.
The Aslef union organised the eight-week walkout at Hull Trains from March 31 after one of its members was dismissed.
Mick Whelan, the general secretary, condemned Hull Trains for its “failure to act responsibly” and suggested the driver had been sacked because he had reported a “safety concern”.
But a letter seen by The Telegraph reveals the unnamed driver had experienced “fatigue matters” while at the controls of Hull Trains’ 125mph services on more than one occasion.
Aslef is demanding that the driver be fully reinstated to his job, but Hull Trains bosses believe he poses an unacceptable safety risk to passengers. Martijn Gilbert, the managing director, said the discovery of the fatigue incidents presented “a safety risk that we could not ignore”.
A fun euphemism, don’t you think? As with “the wrong type of snow” how lovely it is that the British railway system enriches our language.
Given that I live in foreign I’ve long wondered what the correct English for that little postprandial is. Now I know, I suffer a “fatigue incident” after lunch.
Is the ASLEF shop steward called Fred Kite, by any chance ?
In the dim and distant past when Private Eye was still funny the union in question was regularly referred to as ASLEEP.
How prescient.
Never fallen asleep myself, but on the old stock you could stand up or open the window when driving to ‘freshen up’ if you were feeling tired, but you can’t do either on the 720’s and the air con can’t be turned off.
Hull Trains 802’s look like they don’t have opening windows.
One driver on the night runner decades ago told me he remembered stopping at Wickford and Hockley but doesn’t remember stopping at Rayleigh. No one moaned so he guessed he must’ve done…………
Tiredness is a well known thing – there is a Fatigue Index the train planners use when designing the diagrams and rosters, but there have been (still are?) nightmare shift pattern changes, for example finishing a Saturday shift at 2am on Sunday then coming back for a 4am start Monday morning.
And reading that article in the Torygraph reminded me of the reality of Gell-Mann amnesia……….
Now I know, I suffer a “fatigue incident” after lunch.
You could also refer to the time-honoured military practice: Egyptian PT
Well, there is a well-documented thing called a “micro-sleep” which often lasts only a second or so and of which you’re usually unaware, except that you sometimes realise that you don’t remember just having driven on that bit of road, etc.
It seems to have been a contributing factor to several train crashes including the Moorgate tube, the Croydon tram, etc. Train drivers seem prone to it. I wonder why?
‘Mick Whelan, the general secretary, condemned Hull Trains for its “failure to act responsibly”’
This reminded me of a feeling I often had when I was working: a sense of weary pity for Union reps, because it was their duty to come up with an excuse for their team, whatever the useless thick incompetent cunts had done.
“Mick Whelan, the general secretary”: when the new Irish Free State was ethnically cleansing its Protestants should we have ethnically cleansed our Irish?
There would have been a cost: I might not exist, for instance. But in general it would surely have left us with a healthier society and, after all, “population swaps” were a popular European enthusiasm in the 20th century.
Come to think of it, why do the Irish get their knickers in a twist about Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians: have the Irish ever offered a confession and an apology for their own antics?
Simon Neale,
The problem with the rail workers is they think they’re god all bloody mighty. And they just ain’t now with remote work.
They generally give unions a bad name. Like coach drivers went on strike over pay, and it was a couple of days. And they took a slightly higher, sensible offer. The RMT were demanding something like 11% when income was falling. “Well, we worked throughout COVID”. Yeah, lots of us did, you entitled motherfuckers. You don’t get a huge bonus for doing your job adequately.
Beeching II. Shut down all the loss-making lines. Not because it hurts the rail unions, Although that is a pleasant bonus.
56 day strike / eight week walk out.
Presumably, those drivers will only get paid for ten months out of twelve this year (assuming the Tele hasn’t buggered up the report).
How much is it costing ASLEF?
The train driver was sacked because he WAS/created a safety concern.
How many passengers must die in train crashes before Mick Whelan thinks that drivers need to capable of doing the job for which they are paid?
You could also refer to the time-honoured military practice: Egyptian PT
Or inside of the eyelid inspection.