Changes to sign on times deferred

The RTBU has been successful in deferring a proposal to remove the additional six minutes sign on time afforded to Suburban drivers for their train preparation procedure until the OPCREW rostering system is optimized later this year.

Members will be aware from previous editions that RailCorp are intending to remove the additional 6 minutes on the basis that upgrading its Safety Critical Documentation system and adding “stopping patterns” to drivers’ diagrams removes the need for drivers to perform this safety check.

RailCorp originally intended to remove the 6 minutes from every diagram, which would be a clear financial loss to members. Deferring the decision until after the OPCREW rostering system is optimized means that any financial losses resulting from the proposal will be been limited to the normal changes which occur as a result of any OPCREW optimization process.