RAILWAY workers must fight for fully staffed stations with the same ferocity that saw off plans to axe guards, Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Cash said today.

As the union launched its new Save our Stations campaign, Mr Cash said there was much to be learned from the guards’ disputes across numerous private train operators.

Recent attempts to expand driver-only operation (DOO) have only got off the ground on Southern Rail which was the first company to take the axe to guards’ roles in recent years.

Other companies have either backed down or entered into negotiations over retaining jobs.

RMT says progress in these disputes has been the result of members’ willingness to take sustained strike action.

Earlier this month the union marked the third anniversary of the start of the guards dispute, saying Southern was alone among operators in its “stubborn and point-blank refusal to enter serious discussions.”

Speaking at the union’s station grades conference in Dunfermline, Mr Cash said the DOO dispute had been “not just about saving guards on trains, but it’s about how we perceive the future of our industry.”

He told delegates: “We’re going to see the same argument on stations. The Save our Stations campaign we’re launching is on the same debate. We need to now turn round and broaden the issues to other grades – and [ensure] that we get ahead of the attacks we know are coming.

“We didn’t wait for the bosses to introduce their brand new trains to take industrial action – because as soon as they introduce the new trains they can run them without a guard.”

Mr Cash also rubbished claims made by train companies that there is less need for staff nowadays.

“As many people travel for leisure today as they do for work,” he said.

“That means they need more support. It actually means we’re in a situation where you need more, not less staff.”

The conference unanimously endorsed a motion to demand that “industrial action be explored” over understaffed Tube stations.

Another resolution backed by delegates called for booking office closures to be fought “by any means.”