YP Letters: Trains don't need guards - stations need staff

I’M sure Jarvis Browning (The Yorkshire Post, July 21) means well, but I suggest that none of his reasons for employing expensive guards on trains are really that valid.

Helping a disabled person to board a train is a task better suited to station staff. Buying tickets should be done before passengers board a train.

The same goes for collecting and/or checking tickets and providing information on train services.

Stations should therefore all be manned as long as trains are running. Even these days, I suggest that fights between passengers on trains are pretty rare. Employing a full-time guard on the off-chance that such an incident might one day happen is a bit like having a fire engine parked outside your house in case your chip pan bursts into flame.

Similarly, if a passenger is taken ill, it is unlikely that a guard would possess the necessary medical skills to help them. If an incident does occur, any passenger can alert the driver and get help from the next station up the line (which would of course be manned – train companies please note).