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UK transport unions welcome renationalisation of east coast railway network
3 July 2009
UK unions have given the British government’s plans to renationalise the country’s east coast mainline railway service the thumbs up; the service runs from London in the south up to Scotland.
The government announced on 1 July that it would bring the east coast service, which has been franchised out to transport firm National Express, back into public ownership for a short-term period. It is anticipated that the franchise will then be put out to tender in 2010. It has been reported that the rail franchise could lose some £20 million (US$33 million) in the first half of 2009 and has been seeing passenger numbers dwindle. National Express had asked for its current contract to be renegotiated but the request was refused.
Keith Norman, general secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen commented: “Franchising is a pantomime that has moved from farce to folly. A handful of investors benefit and everyone else loses.”
Referring to comments by new rail minister Lord Adonis regarding the need to plan rail 20 or 30 years in advance, he added: “He was quite right – but it can’t be done within a system operated by short-term franchises and motivated only by profit. The planning needs to be dispassionate and designed to provide a public service – which means it must be in public hands.”
Welcoming the announcement, Bob Crow, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, said that this should not be a short-term measure. He urged the government to strip National Express of its other franchises and use the opportunity to begin the process of renationalising the rail network.
National Express itself faced a deficit of £1.2 billion (US$1.9 billion) by the end of last year; some 750 jobs have also been axed. Meanwhile, a takeover bid by FirstGroup was rejected.
As well as operating in the UK, National Express also runs businesses across Spain, Canada and the US. The ITF has set up a union network with affiliates in all those countries. A recent network meeting made the company’s financial difficulties one of its focal points.
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