12 October 2023
RMT Press Office:
RAIL UNION RMT has slammed short-sighted job cuts of nearly 500 posts in the crucial Track Renewal Service (TRS) organisation within Network Rail supply-chain operations as the latest act of the slash and burn culture developing within the rail infrastructure company.
The union has warned that the latest cuts come on the back of massive government funding cuts for Control Period 7 which means a decline in renewals for the next five years. This is despite the fact that the Office for Rail and Road has made clear that Network Rail should increase planned spending on renewals by £600 million.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the work of the High Output Renewals Team, which uses specialised in-house on-track machinery, was crucial to renewals work and it would be lost forever if the work is outsourced as part of the managed decline of the industry.
“These cuts represent further significant Network Rail cutbacks at a time when the industry needs to be developing its skill base not outsourcing the work to privateers.
“We have seen the impact of de-skilling and outsourcing on our railway network, a decline in safety and an increase in profiteering which combine to create a deadly concoction for workers and passengers alike,” he said.
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