11 December 2014
RMT Press Office Photo ©Jess Hurd / RMT
As rail union RMT continues the campaign against plans for the Northern and Trans-Pennine franchises that threaten services, safety, jobs and massive fare increases it warned today that massive gaps in the rolling stock availability could mean that old London Underground trains may press-ganged into service as yet another stop-gap solution.
The government has now been forced to confirm in writing last week’s Autumn Statement that the Invitations to Tender (ITTs) for the new Northern and TransPennine franchises will be delayed into February at the earliest but there are now growing uncertainties at the DfT about the current TPE franchise extension and problems over the electrification in the Region that look like dragging on well into the new year.
The influential Rail Business Intelligence bulletin has reported today that a combination of delays to the electrification programme, alongside a shortage of diesel units and major problems under the procurement process of securing new stock under current timescales, has thrown up a whole series of practical problems that were omitted from the tub-thumping rhetoric of George Osborne in the Autumn Statement.
With what was taken by many as a concrete assurance on the replacement of the unpopular and clapped out Pacers already blown away by another key paragraph in the Autumn Statement which refers only to “encouraging” bidders to replace the units it is now becoming clear that all that will happen is that the Pacer’s, a temporary solution from the eighties lashing a bus body to some rail bogies will, in fact, be “modernised” and not replaced at all.
Now, to fuel the prospects of the North receiving a sub-standard rail service for many years into the future RMT has been made aware of a proposal to convert London Underground D78 rolling stock, units that are already well over 30 years old and which are being de-commissioned by LU, into diesel operation for use in the region, raising a whole series of additional safety fears and effectively replacing one 30 year-old lash up with another.
Out on the streets, the union’s Chritsmas offensive, gathering support from the public, continues. The latest schedule of events is set out as follows, with RMT promising lively demonstrations and post-card distribution as part of the union’s on-going campaign.
ROTHERHAM
FRIDAY 12th DECEMBER 2014
11.00 - 13.00
Meet Outside Rotherham Railway Station
BARNSLEY
FRIDAY 12th DECEMBER 2014
14.30 - 16.30
Meet Outside Barnsley Railway Station
HULL
SATURDAY 13th DECEMBER 2014
09.30 - 11.30
Meet Outside the front of Hull Paragon Railway Station
MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE
SUNDAY 14th DECEMBER 2014
11.00 - 14.00
Meet Outside the Arndale Centre, Manchester - Market Street Entrance -near Boots Chemist
YORK
MONDAY 15th DECEMBER 2014
16.00 and 18.00
Meet outside York Station
YORK
TUESDAY 16th DECEMBER 2014
07.30 -09.00.
Meet outside York Station
SUNDERLAND
THURSDAY 18th DECEMBER 2014
11.00 - 13.00
Meet Outside Sunderland Railway Station (Taxi Rank Entrance)
NEWCASTLE CENTRAL STATION
THURSDAY 18th DECEMBER 2014
15.45 - 18.00
Meet Outside Newcastle Central Station
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
“The Government’s whole franchise timetable for the Northern and TPE routes has descended into chaos. We now know that the pledges to replace the clapped out Pacer’s has been exposed as nothing but hot air as the Government strategy for rail across the North unravels before their eyes and that they are also being forced to consider replacing one lash up with another by press-ganging 30 year old London Underground stock into service raising serious safety issues.
“While George Osborne has been spouting yet another stream of rhetoric about a “Northern Powerhouse” in his autumn statement the real truth is that the whole region can expect a sub-standard, bodged-up services for many years to come. RMT activists and our supporters in the community will continue to be out in force across the region marking “12 Days of Christmas” with a renewal of our fight against the rail franchise carve up.
"Our message is clear, the fight to stop the outrageous attack on jobs, safety and services under the Northern and TPE franchise plans continues right up to and beyond the festive season and the union is sending out the clearest possible signal to George Osborne, his Government and Rail North that they need to scrap this attack on transport operations and to cut the hot air about improving services when they are actually condemning the North to years of rail misery.
“Let’s not forget that the core of the Government’s future plans for Northern and TPE is to axe jobs, restrict services, throw the guards off the trains and jack up fares while capacity to meet surging rail demand in the area is left to stagnate. That attack on the fare-paying public has already begun with the abolition of a wide range of off-peak fares and only an all-out and coordinated fight can stop the savage assault on rail in the North.”
ENDS
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Tagged with: northern, transpennine express, tpe, rail north
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