I am a retired railman of almost 50 years' service. My father was a guard for the LBSC railway company, then the SR Company and then during the war years.

During this long period, the train guard had a very important role and still has. However, things change and so do the guard's duties.

In those very early days, he was made responsible for running signals, as was the driver, and could be reprimanded for not "pulling up" a driver if he was going by a signal or danger.

A guard knew his "road" as well as the driver and if he was a freight guard he would also have to know his gradients.

Those trains were loose-coupled and the guard was responsible for keeping the couplings taut, otherwise the train could become divided.

Most freight guards became passenger guards, too, so they were top-class railwaymen in their own right.

In those early days, the guard had an enormous amount of parcel traffic of all sorts to be responsible for, plus Royal Mail, which at that time was handled so efficiently.

He was also responsible for the timing of the train over its journey. He had to keep a record of every train he was in charge of and submit this to his head office the same day.

If the guard was unable to put down any loss of time to signals, workmen working or any mishap, he would present his driver with a "lost time ticket" at the end of the journey, for which he was answerable to the divisional manager.

He was also responsible for his passengers and the train in the event of any mishap, particularly the rear of the train.

Of course, the present-day guard does not have the same responsibilities but there should be a guard on every train for the safety of the train itself and the passengers it is carrying.

I was still working for the railway when they introduced the role of conductor guards.

This kept the guard fully occupied checking tickets while still being in charge of the train and the safety of the passengers.

A guard is a must on every train. For a start, there are more disruptive passengers now.

If a driver is killed or injured, involved in an incident or taken ill while driving, who is left to deal with the passengers? Nobody?

The Ministry of Transport and the Safety Executive should insist guards be on all trains.

-V A Ganoer, Balcombe