RMT members are currently voting on a proposed settlement of their Driver-Only-Operation dispute at Greater Anglia that would see a second safety-critical member of staff (i.e. a conductor or guard) on all trains that currently run with one, with some of the operation of the train doors passing to the driver.
Drivers at London North East Railway have also recently accepted an offer to operate the new "Azuma" trains currently being prepared for introduction. This agreement includes drivers releasing the doors on arrival at station stops, with the guards then taking over and carrying out the remaining platform duties.
At Merseyrail, talks continue at ACAS behind closed doors, with no information being released as they progress.
At South Western Railway (formerly South West Trains), RMT has just announced a string of new strike dates on the 26, 28 and 31 July and 4, 11 and 18 August. According to the union, SWR have deliberately wrecked their talks with the union over DOO at ACAS.
Finally at Northern, the union has suspended its strike scheduled for 21 July after an apparent movement on the part of the company Arriva Rail North. For the first time, the union is reporting that the company is now willing to engage in talks over the DOO dispute that include the option of keeping a second safety-critical member of staff on every Northern train.
That the company has made this concession is testament to the steadfastness of RMT members at the franchise, in the face of almost universal disregard for their picket lines by members of drivers’ union Aslef and a well-developed strategy of recruiting scab guards from the ranks of lower and middle management and back office staff.
However, there is still a long way to go before a settlement is reached and given the aforementioned behaviour of SWR, any optimism must be cautious.