TRAIN conductors went on strike in York today over plans to scrap traditional roles.
The RMT union staged a protest outside the York Railway Station over Northern’s proposals to reduce the number of guards.
The union says guards are needed to protect passenger safety and act in emergencies such as derailments, and provide assistance to disabled passengers.
The dispute is similar to the one which has wreaked havoc on the Southern network.

York Press:


Commuters travelled on busy services as trains did not run before 7am and stopped after 5pm, disrupting journeys home.
However, Bill Rawcliffe, RMT’s York and District branch secretary, said the public had been very supportive of the strike because they were concerned about the impact an incident would have on them if trained conductors were no longer on board.
He said: “I’ve been involved in this a long time and I’ve never been on a picket line that has had so much support from the public.
“We didn’t get one negative comment and I’ve never known that before.
“We don’t want to go on strike or disrupt services but we can’t just sit there and allow them to implement these changes.
“People have tried to trivialise this by saying the strike is about who will open and close the doors, but it’s not about that.
“The public understand that and they don’t want to be on a train with someone who isn’t safety trained.
“People have told us about the times they have been on the train and they wouldn’t have got the help if a trained conductor hadn’t been there.
“The travelling public overwhelmingly want a person on that train.”
The 24 hour strike action relates to plans by York-based train operator Northern to introduce 98 new trains towards the end of 2018 that will allow drivers rather than guards to control doors and have other duties. 
Mr Rawcliffe says he is eager to sit down with bosses as soon as possible.
Northern said its plan to run 980 services, or around 40 per cent of its normal timetable during the day, was “working well” by mid afternoon.
Paul Barnfield, regional director, said: “By 12.30pm, 448 trains had arrived at their destinations, helping customers get to work in major towns and cities across the North.
“On behalf of Northern I would like to thank our customers for working with us and altering their travel plans.
“I would also like to thank all of our people who have worked so hard to run our trains.”
To check journey times during strike action go to www.journeycheck.com/northern/