YOUR recent correspondent – Pointless PR exercise (Keighley News, September 14) – misses the point about local train guards helping disabled passengers. The guards will be more able to assist when they are freed from having to operate the train doors. They are to be redeployed more usefully – not sacked.

Many trains around the country already operate quite safely with the driver controlling the doors including the whole of the London Underground.

Our local train conductors seem to only want to operate the doors (at which they are very slow) and make tedious announcements. They should be collecting fares: many go uncollected, lost revenue.

I owe Northern Rail quite a sum myself because I’ve been unable to pay on journeys from stations without a ticket office such as Steeton and Crossflatts as the conductor has just remained in the back cab of the train, even on very quiet evening journeys.

As for providing security on the trains, conductor guards are the first to run away when there is any rowdiness/drunken behaviour, something to do with “not confronting”. My own holiday plans are disrupted by the forthcoming guards’ strike on October 3 – is it not the case that the strike is not about safety but about the guards protecting their currently easy job?

JOHN HEATON Ickornshaw Cowling