Guards row flares as train splits

Union leaders today renewed their call for a London rail commuter firm to retain guards, after a train divided just after leaving Fenchurch Street station.

The eight-carriage train came apart in the middle, leaving the rear half, with the guard, stranded on the track. There were delays while other trains were diverted.

Bob Crow, assistant general secretary of the RMT union, said: "Had the guard not been there, the passengers would have had no way of knowing what had happened or if they were in danger."

A c2c spokesman said there had been no danger of passengers falling out. He said the incident, last week, occurred as a result of human error when the trains were coupled up in the depot. Couplings on the entire fleet were checked as a further precaution, he added.

The company has been hit by a series of strikes ordered by the RMT over the role of guards, and the union is still in dispute with c2c over plans for driver-only trains.