Impact stories
When Transport for New South Wales took Bob Newham, a train driver of 37 years, to South Korea to see how driver-only trains would work in Australia, he felt a wrenching sensation. “The way it was actually built, you couldn’t open the side doors to look out,” he says.
If someone falls between the train and the platform and the driver’s door is closed, no-one’s going to hear you scream.
It galvanised Bob and his union to fight back. To this day, no driver-only trains operate in New South Wales.