Rail unions crisis summit

23.04.09

A rail “jobs and fares” crisis summit will be held next Tuesday between Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon and Britain’s three main rail unions.

It has been called after a wave of job losses in the private rail companies who have cut back on service levels while announcing off peak fare rises of up to 11% from next month.

Over 2,500 jobs have been axed in the past three months as the rail companies have cut ticket offices and scrapped long distance dining cars in a bid to maintain profits during the recession. Go Ahead today were the latest company to announce higher profits while warning of more job losses.

“We are seeing jobs and services being sacrificed just so these companies can maintain their high profits,” said TSSA leader Gerry Doherty.

“It is a myth to say passenger numbers are falling becase they are not. They are still rising albeit at a slower level than during the boom years.

“But the companies are using the recession as an excuse to cut back on services like ticket offices and get rid of staff who they should keep on to serve customers. They are putting their profits once again ahead of the passenger who faced a 6% overall fare rise in January and faces yet another one in off peak fares next month.”

The unions will ask the Transport Secretary to order the companies not to cut services or jobs while passenger growth is still going up. He should enforce franchise agreements on ticket office opening times and not allow them to be replaced by more expensive ticketing machines.

They will also ask him to ban the rail companies from increasing off peak fares whenever they choose. They want such increases restricted to once a year as already applies to regulated peak time fares and season tickets.

“We want the Transport Secretary to stand up for passengers and staff rather than allowing these comanies to get away with murder during the recession,” added the general secretary.