Railway workers to lobby Parliament over rail cuts

Railway workers to lobby Parliament over rail cuts

21 February 2024

RMT will hold a 'Rail Cuts Cost Lives' rally and lobby MPs at Westminster next Wednesday.

The event will begin at 1pm and will see railway workers bring pressure to bear on the government to ensure our railway has the funding it needs to run safely and effectively.

Network Rail intends to make £1.2bn worth of cuts over the next 5 years to renewals expenditure which will have a negative effect on safety and performance.

The government also intends to:  

- Abolish the Track Renewal Service (TRS) organisation within Network Rail supply chain cutting 500 highly skilled jobs and outsourcing operations to private infrastructure companies

- Cut maintenance work on track, signalling and other assets at a time of increased degradation of railway infrastructure at a time of extreme weather events such as the one which caused the Carmont 2020 rail disaster

- Reduce railway renewals and an increased reliance on railway maintenance which will lead to an increase in safety risks and a reduction in performance.

In a recent survey of Network Rail maintenance of RMT members, a vast majority believe that there is an increased risk of a major rail safety incident occurring on the railway within the next two years due to broken rails and ageing infrastructure.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Our rally and lobby of Parliament marks the next phase of our campaign to prevent harmful cuts to our railway infrastructure.

"These cuts if they go ahead will make the railways less safe and further impact on the performance of the network.

"Cracked rails are being reported alongside extreme weather events which have led to disasters like Carmont in 2020.

"It is vital we maintain the pressure on the government to deliver the right funding package for our railway infrastructure and politicians have a duty to their constituents to add their voices to our campaign."

END

Notes:

The Rally on Wednesday 28 February will take place at 1pm Old Palace Yard, SW1P 3JY which is opposite Parliament. The lobby of MPs will follow the rally.

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