EUROSTAR – CHANGES TO SAFETY CERTIFICATES

Our ref: HSR

Head Office Circular: NP/84/24

9^th April 2024

To: The Secretary

ALL BRANCHES

REGIONAL COUNCILS

 

Dear Colleague

EUROSTAR: CHANGES TO SAFETY CERTIFICATES

Eurostar International Limited submitted an application to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), for a Substantial Change to its Part A and Part B certification in the United Kingdom, together with its Part B Safety Certificate for the Channel Tunnel.

RMT, via our local Health and Safety Representative Sister Sian Harman, has highlighted a number of concerns to the ORR.

During disruption crew find it extremely difficult to receive accurate information and often the staff working there are not up to speed with either train crew local arrangements or train driver local arrangements. This means that crew are often asked to work trains without minimum breaks and against our rulebook. 

Recently there have been many occasions where the lack of staff means that there is no one available in the control centre. 

There was a serious incident on November 30^th 2023, when the 9114 pulled the overhead wires down just on the HS1/ET border. The control centre should have been the main point of contact during such a serious incident, but this did not happen. 

RMT has raised many concerns with moving this centre to Brussels.

At its meeting on 2^nd April 2024, your National Executive Committee noted adopted the following report from its Health and Safety Sub-committee: 

We note the contents of the letter from our Health and Safety Representative Sister Harman which has been sent to the ORR.

 

The General Secretary is instructed to write to Sister Harman thanking her for her work on this, to place response from Eurostar and any further developments back before this NE.C

Branches and Regional Councils to be advised accordingly. 

I am acting in line with these instructions. Please bring this circular to the attention of all relevant members.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Michael Lynch

General Secretary