Nobody on here is arguing that the eradication of non CDL slammers by the TOCs nearly 20 years ago didn't make a big difference to safety, the figures speak for themselves. What I would like now are some good old hard facts, if they are available. Firstly I would like to know the figures for injuries and deaths caused by slam doors ( CDL or not) in use by charter operators since their eradication from the network by the main TOCs, secondly the same figures for WCR specifically and finally the figures for WCR operation of the Jacobite in isolation. Personally speaking I think these are very relevant, if I have missed them or other similar facts can somebody bump them please.
I am somewhat sympathetic to your position, but I don't think the question can be answered simply. Or rather the simple answer seems to be zero, zero and zero. BUT
Back in 2014, the ORR was considering whether fitting of CDL to slam door stock used for charters on the main line was really necessary. Then came the fatalities at Balham (442) and Twerton ( HST). Those events caused a rethink leading to their 2019 decision that the exemption regime would end in 2023. The relevance of those two sad events to stewarded charter operations is of course arguable.
Also, where you have rare events such as these, it is also relevant to consider 'near misses' in which category there are at least three in the public domain, one at Bath spa station, one at York station and one at Reading. Those could have resulted in injury but didn't.
Then you come to the question of what the appropriate mitigation is--- are window bars, stewards and internal door locks enough, what does CDL add? Does the risk change justify the cost? Whatever you or I may think, the regulator decided it did and when legitimately challenged at the JR, its position was comprehensively upheld.
So where we are now is that WCR are seeking a further temporary exemption on the basis of ORR's need to consider WCR's application which seeks to demonstrate that, in the circumstances of the Jacobite, CDL adds nothing to the overall safety case. But that looks like an attempt to rerun the JR.
There is a good fifteen minute review of this on the Green Signals podcast #26, the double act by Nigel Harris and Richard Bowker.