1 September 2020
RMT Press Office:
RMT responds to Government extension of emergency measures on Great Western Railway
Senior Assistant General Secretary Mick Lynch said;
"It's vital that the Government continue to finance our railways as the broken privatised system has shown it simply cannot withstand a crisis. With Ministers pushing their back to work drive we need stability and long-term assurance and planning rather than ad-hoc short-term emergency measures. The private, franchise system is not able to deliver that as the current de-facto nationalisation of the railways has shown as clear as day.
"What is completely unacceptable though is these bailouts all taking place behind closed doors with zero transparency and zero accountability to the taxpayer.
"Also if these bailouts are done on an individual operator by operator basis it will entrench the fragmentation of our railways when what we need is a publicly owned railway funded in the national interest not those of privatised shareholders."
ENDS
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