Union Day of Action on Rail on Tuesday

In a letter to MPs and Councillors in the North the RMT union will warn that the three shortlisted bidders for the Northern Rail franchise are owned by Dutch, French and German state railways which means rail passengers in the North will be used as used a cash-cow to hold down fares and improve services for state run railways in France, Holland and Germany.

The letter (below) has also revealed new RMT research showing that since 2007 Northern Rail has sucked passengers dry to pay £179 million dividends to shareholders while Transpennine Express (TPE) has paid £213 million to shareholders.  That’s just shy of £400million which has been taken from railways in the North which could have been used to pay for fairer fares, new trains and more staff.

The letter warns that government plans for a new ten year franchise for Northern Rail and nine years for TPE  will continue the northern and TPE rail rip off for another decade.

The warning for politicians came as RMT, as part of its call for a national integrated railway under public ownership, launched a new campaign for a publicly owned People’s Railway in the North, which would mean,
 
• Every penny that is put into the railway will be invested in the railway
• Funding  fair fares, new trains and more services
• And more help for passengers: trains will keep their guard with proper staffing    for stations and ticket offices
• Proper democratic oversight by communities and councils, instead of rail policy in the North being dictated by private and foreign companies.‎
The campaign will be launched at stations across the North on 31st March (see stations and times below).  
 
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said,
"Tuesday is an important day in the union fight for a publicly owned railway and we will be out in force at locations across the North as we send out the clearest possible warning to MPs and Councillors that the new TPE and Northern franchises would ratchet up the scale of the great rail rip off if they are not halted in their tracks.

"Jobs, services and safety across the North are threatened with the cash saved used to hold down fares and expand services in other parts of Europe. That is the insanity of this Governments rail privatisation obsession laid bare and no politician of any party will be allowed by RMT to dodge the issue of public ownership as ‎the election approaches."

ENDS


Note
The TPE franchise is proposed to run for 7 years with an optional 2 year extension, the Northern franchise for 9 years with an optional 1 year extension.
RMT members and campaigners will be at the following stations on 31 March

YORK RAILWAY STATION -07.00 TO 09.00 AND 15.30 TO 17.00
*SHEFFIELD STATION - 07.30 TO 0900
*HULL PARAGON STATION - 07.45 to 09.00
*WAKEFIELD KIRKGATE STATION -  ‎07.00 to 09.30
*GRIMSBY TOWN‎ STATION - 09.00 to 10.30
*CARLISLE CITADEL STATION - 07.00 to 09.00
*WIGAN WALLGATE STATION - 07.30 to 09.30
*MANCHESTER PICCADILLY STATION
 07.00 to 09.00
(Meet at the bottom of the approach to Manchester Piccadilly)
*NEWCASTLE CENTRAL STATION 08.00 to 09.30
*BLACKPOOL NORTH STATION 16.00 to 18.00
*LIVERPOOL LIME STREET STATION 07.30 to 09.00
*LEEDS CITY STATION (two sessions) 07.00 to 09.00 AND 16.00 to 18.00

Letter to MPs and Councilors

Dear Colleague
Please support the campaign for a publicly owned Peoples Railway in the North
I am writing to express our extreme concern that the three shortlisted bidders for the Northern Rail franchise are owned by Dutch, French and German state railways which means rail passengers in the North will be used as used a cash-cow to hold down fares and improve services for state run railways in France, Holland and Germany.

This situation has arisen because of the right wing ideology of this Government which says you can have state operation of railways in Britain as long as it isn’t by the British state for the benefit of the British people.

 As you will be aware as well as Northern rail services, Transpennine Express Services (TPE) are also to be re-privatised by the Government.

New RMT research has found that since 2007 Northern Rail has sucked passengers dry to pay £179 million dividends to shareholders while Transpennine Express has paid £213 million to shareholders.  That’s just shy of £400 million which has been taken from railways in the North which could have been used to pay for fairer fares, new trains and more staff to help passengers.

To put this figure in context, it’s almost half value of the investment the government has said they will invest in Northern railways in the next five years and thirteen times the £30m station investment fund proposed by the government.

Now the Government wants to introduce a new ten year franchise for Northern and nine years for TPE which will continue the Northern and TPE rail rip off for another decade.

Passengers in the North will be appalled to know that as they endure being crammed into creaking cattle trucks they are not only being bled dry by the most expensive rail fares in Europe but foreign and private companies are to be given a green light to suck out even more profits which will be at the expense of rail services in the North.  

Indeed, a German Transport Ministry spokesperson has previously openly admitted that in relation to its state operator Deutsche Bahn, which owns one of the companies bidding for Northern Rail services, “we're skimming profit from the entire Deutsche Bahn and ensuring that it is anchored in our budget - that way we can make sure it is invested in the rail network here in Germany”
But there is an alternative. That is why today as part our ongoing campaigning for a national integrated railway under public ownership, RMT is launching a campaign for a publicly owned People’s Railway in the North. A People’s Railway would mean,
•
Every penny that is put into the railway will be invested in the railway
•
Funding  fair fares, new trains and more services
•
 And more help for passengers: trains will keep their guard with proper staffing    for stations and ticket offices
•
Proper democratic oversight by communities and councils, instead of rail policy in the North being dictated by private and foreign companies.