SWT slammed for drive towards un-staffed stations to maximise profits

RAIL UNION RMT today slammed Stagecoach, owners of the South West Trains franchise, for a new round of staffing costs that will leave ticket office closed at evenings and weekends at 24 station across Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset.

RMT has warned that the cost cutting plans being bulldozed through on South West Trains will lead to a massive deterioration in customer service and will seriously increase the risk of assaults at stations at evening and weekends.

Last year Stagecoach announced pre-tax profits of £170 million and confirmed that they would be axing jobs and making other cuts in a bid to maximise the returns to their shareholders regardless of the impact on services and passenger safety.

Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said:

"There is no doubt that Stagecoach on South West Trains are itching to move to un-staffed stations with people replaced by machines because they see that as the way of pumping up their multi-million pound profits regardless of the impact on public safety, customer service and their own hardworking staff.

"This is rail franchising in action – profits are all that matters and they see staff and passengers as pawns in a giant game of Who Wants to Be A Multi-Millionaire.

"The threat of attacks at un-staffed stations is well documented and the Government should be stepping in and taking action against these train operators who are prepared to leave the public dangerously exposed in the dash to line their own pockets."

RMT confirms dates, ballot for national rail operations staff industrial action

RAIL UNION RMT today confirmed that a ballot for national industrial action involving Network Rail operations staff across the country will begin next Thursday – 4th March.

The ballot, which will involve all signalling and supervisory members, centres on three issues:

• The company's plans for operational staff to take over responsibilities in relation to T3 possessions – the critical safety arrangements allowing for works on a section of track - previously undertaken by maintenance staff.
• The company's breach of national agreements through the imposition of rosters at certain locations
• The company's failure to adhere to the agreed Promotion, Transfer, Redundancy and Resettlement (PTR&R) arrangements.

RMT has sought unequivocal assurances on each of these three serious issues but, despite considerable correspondence, Network Rail has failed to provide them.

An RMT ballot for national industrial action involving 13,000 Network Rail maintenance staff began yesterday – 25 February.

Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said:

"Network Rail appear to believe that they can rip up national agreements at will and simply impose new working arrangements on our members. They also appear to believe that they can ignore long-established arrangements on redeployment and redundancy.

"On top of that Network Rail are prepared to scrap the tried and tested safety measure of placing detonators at either end of a track possession and to shift responsibility on to operational staff. This dangerous move is all about saving money and is bound up with their drive to axe up to 1500 safety-critical maintenance jobs.

We have worked long and hard to try and nail down assurances on these issues from the company but have hit a point-blank refusal and we now have no alternative but to ballot for action."

ScotRail staff prepare to strike this weekend RMT lays out damning safety record

As drivers, conductors and sleeper train managers on First ScotRail prepare for the first dates in three weeks of strike action this weekend over the defence of the role of the Guards on the new Airdrie/Bathgate line, rail union RMT set out a summary of some of the key points of the safety case against Driver Only Operation which will form part of a detailed report to the Scottish Transport Minister.

While the detailed report will be submitted to the Scottish Government next week, RMT have today outlined some critical examples from the final document which reinforce the safety case against Driver Only Operation:

• Finnieston West Junction Derailment – September 1990

The presence of a well trained Guard and the role he/she can play in containing and minimising the effect of serious incidents was laid out by the then publicly owned Scotrail's report into the September 1990 derailment of a Motherwell-Balloch service at Finnestion West Junction.

The leading bogie of the rear coach derailed and ran for about 280 metres before coming to a halt after the Guard/Conductor alerted the Driver. No-one was injured in the incident. The prompt action of the Guard in alerting the Driver and in applying the emergency break, bringing the train to a halt, was crucial in preventing an even more serious incident from occurring.

• Newton Junction Collision– July 1991

The July 1991 collision at Newton Junction, between the Newton-Glasgow and Balloch-Motherwell services, in which both drivers and two passengers were tragically killed, further highlights both the essential role played by the Guard and the inadequate training given to Ticket Examiners in respect of dealing with serious incidents.

The report into the collision explained that it was the guard on the Balloch-Motherwell train, and not the ticket examiner, who notified the signaller that a serious incident had occurred and who requested that the overhead power supply be switched off. The guard went on to safely evacuate the train and the adjacent track.

m/f

• Branchton Derailment and Collision – June 1994

Railtrack's November 1994 report into the circumstances surrounding the June 1994 derailment of the Wemyss Bay-Glasgow Central train at Branchton underlines RMT's concerns.

Staffing on the train was provided by a Driver and a Ticket Exmainer, the same arrangements ScotRail is proposing for Airdrie-Bathgate. The accident itself was caused by the deliberate placing on the line of approximately nine reinforced imperial troughing lids from the S&T troughing route by vandals. The driver of the train and one passenger died as a result of the incident.

Evidence given to the inquiry into the incident by the Ticket Examiner, who in the report was rightly praised for his efforts to protect the train, raise the alarm and look after distressed passengers, indicated he had received a three week general safety course at the time he joined the railways. The course did not deal with accident procedure or train evacuation and the Ticket Examiner was also not trained in personal track safety or in the use of detonators.

• Near fatal incident avoided on Driver Only Operation service at Strood – December 2009

Only the intervention of an alert RMT safety rep, who happened to be on the platform at the time, avoided a near-certain fatality after a passenger slipped and fell down between the train and the platform. RMT has raised the incident with the Rail Accident Investigation Bureau and continues to campaign against the running of Southeastern's high speed services through Kent with Driver Only Operation.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"Despite all the spin and hot air from ScotRail it remains the case that the dispute on their services, and the strike action this weekend, is simply about the company compromising safety by axing the Guards in order to save money.

"The company are prepared to ride roughshod over the terms of their contract with the Scottish Government, rip up existing agreements with the unions and ignore the overwhelming safety case against Driver Only Operation simply to save £300,000 that they can add to £18 million that they paid out in dividends to shareholders last year.

"We are striking for passenger and staff safety on Scottish railways and we challenge Scotrail to join us for meaningful talks aimed at settling this issue on the basis of existing agreements and the contractual commitments that they signed up to when they took on this franchise."

RMT confirms dates for ballot for national rail strike.

RAIL UNION RMT today confirmed that a ballot for national industrial action involving rail maintenance workers across the country will begin next Thursday – 25th February.

The ballot for action is over the threat of redundancies as part of a national drive to axe up to 1500 safety-critical maintenance jobs, a failure to follow existing redeployment procedures, a threat to use external contractors to carry out existing in-house maintenance work and a failure to communicate planned changes as part of the on-going Network Rail maintenance re-organisation. The ballot will be run in parallel with a vote for action by sister rail union TSSA.

RMT have repeatedly warned that the rail maintenance jobs massacre will threaten the safety of passengers and staff and have compiled a dossier on the impact of current unfilled vacancies – the latest example being a prohibition notice on works in South Wales due to a shortage of key workers.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"We are balloting for a national strike because we know that the threat to axe jobs and compromise safety standards makes another Hatfield, Potters Bar or Grayrigg disaster on the UK rail network inevitable.

"We have warned Network Rail repeatedly that if they don't lift the threat to jobs and rail safety that we will have no choice but to take action. They have ignored those warnings and so the ballot will begin next week.

"I have no doubt that the British people will understand that you cannot take reckless gambles with rail safety in the name of "efficiency" and to hit financial targets on the bottom of a balance sheet.

"We are calling for an overwhelming yes vote in this ballot but remain committed to talks with Network Rail aimed at reaching a settlement to this dispute that puts the safety and security of passengers and staff right back to the top of the agenda."

Flagship European freight depot at Trafford Park in North West to close Saturday

RAIL UNION RMT today slammed the hypocrisy of rail freight company DB Schenker and the government over their warm words on green jobs and the future of rail as final preparations are made to close the flagship European-hub freight depot at Trafford Park this Saturday with the loss of nearly 20 jobs.

A similar plan by DB Schenker will also see the axing of all 44 jobs at their Falkland freight depot in Scotland with the operational closure of that site as well.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said today:

"DB Schenker are trying to claim that they are mothballing the Trafford Park and Falkland depots but that's just pure media spin. If you sack the entire workforce and stop running trains in and out of a freight depot then as far as we are concerned that depot is closed and that's a cold, hard fact.

"With today's unemployment figures showing that there are still two and half million people unemployed with the jobless claimant count at a thirteen year high, the axing of these two depots, with the loss of over sixty jobs in total, is a massive kick in the teeth for the rail freight industry in the UK and is a bitter blow for both the North West and Scotland.

"These plans also make a mockery of the government's green agenda to maximise the use of rail for freight transportation.

"RMT is looking at the full range of options for a renewed campaign to defend rail freight as part of our overall fight to stop the jobs cull on the railways."

First Scotrail “bang to rights” over broken promises on Driver Only Operation

RAIL UNION RMT today produced the text of a letter dating back to November 2004 which has caught First Scotrail bang to rights over their broken assurances to the union on the introduction of Driver Only Operation (DOO).

The letter, from Mary Dickson the then Managing Director of Scotrail, says:

"….I do recognise your Trade Union's concern that Driver Only Operation would not be extended. I can give you an assurance firstly that First ScotRail will not, during the current franchise, be removing conductors from any of the services on which they are now present. Secondly, with regard to future potential services…..I will make it clear to those leading the developments….that your Trade Union strongly opposes the Driver Only mode of operation. I will also ask that the Trade Unions be involved in early consultations on such services so that any potential future difficulties can be identified and resolved at an early stage."

The key paragraph comes on top of legal opinion sought by RMT last week which confirmed that a 2001 agreement that commits Scotrail not to extend Driver Only Operation remains in force.

A series of strikes involving RMT Scotrail driver and conductor members and RMT Scotrail sleeper train managers will begin this weekend as the union fights to retain the safety-critical role of the Guard.

Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary said today:

"It's about time that Scotrail stopped the posturing and the penny-pinching and admitted that they have given firm commitments to the retention of Guards which they should have the decency to honour.

"First Scotrail is attempting to rip up agreements with RMT which date back to 2001, and all for the sake of saving £300,000 which is the cost of keeping the Guards in place on the Airdrie-Bathgate line. It's a small amount to pay for passenger and staff safety and is a tiny fraction of the £18 million that First Group paid its shareholders in dividends last year."

RMT demands immediate halt to job cuts as Network Rail gets Prohibition Notice.

RAIL UNION RMT today called for an immediate halt to Network Rail's plans to axe up to 1500 safety-critical maintenance jobs after it was revealed that the company has been served a Prohibition Notice by the Office of Rail Regulation over a shortage of lookouts to ensure safe track working in South Wales.

In the Prohibition Notice, served by Dr Liesel von Metz, HM Inspector of Railways, it says that:

"I am of the opinion that there is an immediate risk of harm to the trackworkers undertaking foot patrols on the railway line between Cardiff Central and Aberdare, Rhymney, Treherbert and Merthyr Tydfil. I have therefore served Prohibition Notice P/LVM/20100205/01 on Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd, requiring that the activity of crossing structures with no place of safety under RZ(Red Zone) conditions be ceased."

RMT have repeatedly warned that the maintenance job cuts planned by Network Rail, which are already being implemented by the non-filling of vacancies, would have lethal consequences. The South Wales Prohibition Notice reinforces the union case.

RMT have assembled evidence of cuts in numbers and frequencies of essential inspections and maintenance works the length and breadth of the country that mirror the situation in South Wales that has led to the intervention of the Inspector of Railways.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said today:

"The Inspectorate has given Network Rail a red card in South Wales and slapped the highest sanction it can on them other than dragging them into Court. That is how serious the shortage of staff has become and we know from reports from our members that we are facing the same lethal cocktail of planned staff cuts and unfilled vacancies right across the country.

"We are heading for a major disaster out on the tracks if Network Rail don't slam the breaks on the maintenance job cuts programme. The Government cannot stand idly by while safety-critical posts are either axed or left unfilled in a reckless gamble with staff and passenger lives."

RMT warns of Eurostar disruption far worse than the problems at Christmas

RAIL UNION RMT warned today that the disruption to Eurostar services in the run to Christmas will be repeated many times over if EU mandarins are allowed to force their rail competition directive onto the route through the Channel Tunnel.

RMT has already recorded its concerns over the series of issues that led to the service breaking down between 18^th to 22^nd December – specifically the delays in implementing contingency plans and in removing the defective trains from the tunnel.

However, RMT are warning that the EU rail directive, which could open up the Channel Tunnel to a privatised free for all, would unleash total chaos with potentially lethal consequences.

European companies thought to be eyeing up the Channel Tunnel route, including German rail giant DB Schenker, do not run rolling stock compatible with the escape system operational in the tunnel. The doors do not open adjacent to the escape pods into the service tunnel potentially making it impossible for passengers to escape a serious incident.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"We have raised our detailed concerns over the failures that contributed to the breakdown of services on the Eurostar in the run up to Christmas and we are discussing those issues with the company to ensure that the lessons are learnt and that there is no repeat in the future.

"However, the failures between the 18^th and 22^nd December are nothing compared to the catastrophic impact that the deregulated free for all being lined up by the European Union would have on the Channel Tunnel.

"Companies would be allowed to milk the service for every penny that they can – jacking up fares and compromising safety in the dash for profits. We would be staring down the barrel of a disastrous failure way over and above anything that happened just before Christmas."

Rail safety - not European rail privatisation - Lille protest April 13

Rail safety – not European rail privatisation – Lille protest April 13

Dear Colleague, 

Rail safety – not European rail privatisation – Lille protest April 13

RMT, along with transport unions in other European countries, is calling on the European Railways Agency (ERA) to give a clear commitment that rail safety and jobs will not be sacrificed in the interests of competition and profit.   

As a first step we are calling for a mass protest at the offices of the European Railway Agency in Lille, France on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 11.00. It is essential that RMT members play as full a role as possible in this demonstration, which we have been instrumental in calling.

We are calling on all transport unions and organisations that defend public transport and the environment to oppose the systematic destruction of national rail networks, jobs and safety standards brought about as a result of the implementation of European Union rail liberalisation packages.

Full details of arrangements will be sent out shortly. Please put this date in your diary. 

Yours sincerely,

Bob Crow

RMT General Secretary

Legal advice shows Scotrail in breach of agreement, says RMT

Union welcomes MSPs' call to block indemnity for First Scotrail

THE 2001 agreement that commits Scotrail not to extend driver-only operation remains in force, legal opinion obtained by Scotland's biggest rail union confirms today.

Advice from RMT's lawyers confirms that First Group is wrong in law to argue that it is not bound by an agreement with the union made by previous franchisee National Express.

Angus McPherson of Drummond Miller has told the union that the agreement is "clearly" protected by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations and therefore remains in force.

Mr McPherson cites Regulation 5a, which makes it clear that any collective agreement between a 'transferor' (in this case National Express) and a trade union it recognises that is in force immediately before the transfer continues to have effect after the transfer just as if it had been made between the 'transferee' (First Scotrail) and the union. (opinion in full below)

RMT today also welcomed a call tabled by MSP Elaine Smith in the Scottish parliament not to use public money to compensate First Scotrail for any losses or fines incurred as a result of the dispute.

The motion (text below), welcomes recent dialogue between Scottish ministers and RMT on the safety issues involved and supports the Scottish TUC's view that it would be "wholly wrong" for public money to be used to support employers during industrial disputes.

"First Scotrail is attempting to tear up an agreement entered into in good faith by RMT in 2001 which expressly precludes any extension of driver-only operation," the union's general secretary, Bob Crow, said today.

"It would be scandalous if First Scotrail were to be handed Scottish taxpayers' money to bankroll it against industrial action, not least because the firm has engineered the dispute.

"It takes six months to train a guard, and it is absurd of Scotrail to suggest that this dispute is merely about who opens the doors. First Group gave its shareholders £18 million in dividends last year, yet it would cost only £300,000 to keep guards in place on the Airdrie-Bathgate line

"I hope that MSPs will support Elaine Smith's motion, and I hope that rail users in Scotland will look beyond First Scotrail's disinformation and recognise that we are in dispute to protect their safety as well as our members'," Bob Crow said.

ends – notes follow

Notes to editors: More than 550 RMT guards and drivers at First Scotrail will strike for 24 hours on February 20, March 1 and March 13 after voting overwhelmingly for action against plans to impose driver-only operation on the new Airdrie-Bathgate line.

Sleeper-train managers will strike for 24 hours from 20:01 hours on February 21, February 28 and March 14

RMT members voted for action by a margin of nearly five to one on an 82 per cent turnout. (Yes: 379, No: 80).

Motion tabled by Elaine Smith MSP, February 11, 2010

S3M-05722 Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Scottish Labour): First ScotRail Industrial Relations— That the Parliament understands that a provision exists in the First ScotRail franchise agreement that provides the Scottish Government with discretionary powers to reimburse the company for revenues lost due to industrial action; supports the position of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) that it is wholly wrong for public funds to be used to support private companies such as First ScotRail in disputes with trade unions; also agrees with the STUC that the provision and use of such powers is not conducive to good industrial relations as it weakens the incentive for private companies to reach agreement; further supports the view of the STUC that such powers should not be used in the event of industrial action in the current dispute between First ScotRail and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT); welcomes the fact that the Scottish Government has been in dialogue with the RMT over the issues involved in the dispute, and believes that the interests of constituents in Coatbridge and Chryston, passengers, rail workers and Scotland would be best served by an early and agreed negotiated settlement to end this dispute.

Supported (to date) by: Mr Frank McAveety, Bill Butler, Marlyn Glen

Opinion from Angus McPherson, Managing Partner, Drummond Miller LLP

Dear Sir,

Driver Only Operation

Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment Regulations 2006

Collective Agreement between RMT, First Scotrail and their Predecessors

I have been asked to advise on the applicability of the TUPE regulations to the Collective Agreement currently in force between your members who are employed by First Scotrail Limited and their employment transferred there from previous train operating company franchise holders in Scotland since 2001, when the current Collective Agreement was varied between the then employers and the union.

It is clear that the terms and conditions of the Collective Agreement as amended from time to time are protected by Regulation 5a which stipulates that any collective agreement made by or on behalf of the transferor or of the trade union recognised by them in respect of any transferring employees that is in force immediately before the transfer shall have effect after the transfer insofar as it applies to any relevant employees just as if it had been made in or on behalf of the transferee with the union.

It therefore follows that the Collective Agreement in relation to Driver Only Operation, has survived the transfer from National Express to First Scotrail and has the same effect now as it did before.

Yours sincerely

Angus McPherson

Managing Partner

For and on behalf of Drummond Miller LLP

RMT calls for investigation and halt to cuts after another overhead failure.

BRITAIN'S BIGGEST rail union today called for an investigation into Network Rail's maintenance failings on the West Coast Mainline after the latest in a series of overhead line failures put a stop to train services
in both directions.

 

RMT has also demanded that Network Rail suspend plans to axe 1,500 maintenance jobs as part of a cost-cutting plan that the union says would lead to repeated chaos and could precipitate a major rail disaster.

 

The union is already preparing to ballot up to 12,000 maintenance members over the threat to jobs.RMT warns that the latest overhead line failure, at Berkhamsted, is the third in just three months and represents
the shape of things to come if Network Rail goes ahead with its planned cuts.

 

"Our reps are telling us that there were just three people on duty at the depot that covers Berkhamsted, and that the chaos was worsened by delays in getting skilled staff out to sort the problem," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

 

"We know that Network Rail has been chipping away at staffing levels and wants to reduce the complement of permanent staff on  overhead lines by a quarter.

 

"Despite the £9 billion upgrade to the West Coast line there are still clearly major problems, yet Network Rail is aiming nearly half of its proposed job cuts at the route.

 

"This is exactly the sort of chaos we have warned will be caused regularly if Network Rail goes ahead with its cash-driven cuts policy, and it must be stopped ,"

 

Bob Crow said.

DEFEND THE ROLE OF THE GUARD

February 4, 2010Circular No IR/42/10

Dear Colleagues

 

PROTECTION OF TRAIN CREW & SHUNTING GRADE MEMBERS

DEFEND THE ROLE OF THE GUARD

DEFEND THE TRAIN GRADES CHARTER MEETING IN DONCASTER ON
18TH FEBRUARY 2010

 

RMT is fighting tooth and nail to prevent the Scottish
Government and First Scotrail from removing Guards/Conductors and
introducing Driver Only Operation of the new rail service between Glasgow
and Edinburgh via Airdrie to Bathgate. If this happens it would be the
thin edge of the wedge leading to the removal of Guards on other routes
which has major safety implications.Last year Southeast Trains forced
through the partial introduction of DOO on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
This followed massive resistance from our Guard/Conductor members which
was thwarted by the anti union laws.Your Union believes that these two
attacks from the TOCs are not just an attack on Guards in Southeast Trains
and First Scotrail but are an attack on the grade as a whole. Both
Southeast Trains and now First Scotrail are insisting that the 2001 Guards
Agreement signed with every existing TOC, no longer applies. We must defend
the 2001 Agreement and the Operational Safety Role of the Guard.We have
called a forum for all Guards, Drivers and Shunters Company Council
Representatives in Doncaster on Thursday 18th February 2010 under the
title 'Protection of Traincrew and Shunting Grade Members' in order to
discuss this very serious situation.Release for these Representatives is
being obtained at the time of writing. Please ensure that all your Company
Councillors are fully aware of this meeting and are released to attend. It
is not for emotional nostalgic reasons that we must make the case for a
Guard in charge. The full safety and operational role of the Guard remains
as necessary today as it has always been. Further copies of the Traincrew
Charter are being printed and will be circulated for use in your Branches
and Regions. Please bring this to the attention of your colleagues. We
must remain vigilant.

Best wishes

Bob Crow

General Secretary

RMT handed dossier of rail safety failures to MP’s as unions lobby Parliament

RAIL UNION RMT handed a dossier of safety failures and maintenance cuts to MP's as rail workers lobby parliament this lunchtime in protest at plans by Network Rail to axe a further 1500 safety-critical jobs.

Hundreds of rail workers have contacted a confidential RMT email line to say lives could be put at risk. The dossier highlights the worst examples of where the scaling back of work and changing standards in preparation for the job cuts are already leading to a serious deterioration in safety.

These first-hand accounts make for extremely disturbing reading. Examples include: -

· Reduced track safety inspections

· Delaying the repair of faulty level crossings

· Reduced safety checks on railway signals

At 12.30pm today (27^th January) rail workers from across the UK will be outside Parliament sending out the clear message that "Rail Cuts Cost Lives" and calling on MP's and the Government to demand that Network Rail call a halt to the maintenance job cuts plans.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"We are sending a clear message to MP's that the rail maintenance job cuts are a lethal gamble, creating the perfect conditions for another Hatfield, Potters Bar or Grayrigg railway tragedy.

"The jobs to be axed are of those workers responsible for inspecting and repairing the track, signals, level crossings and overhead lines. They work 365 days a year, day and night in all conditions to keep the railway safe. Now they are going to be sacked as part of a so-called "efficiency" drive and we are calling on MP's of all parties to join us in a campaign to stop these fatally flawed cuts from being bulldozed through."

Gerry Doherty, leader of the TSSA rail union, said:

"It seems unbelievable that we are pressing a Labour Government on railway safety more than eight years after the Potters Bar tragedy.

"We need to put safety first and that means making sure maintenance work-and maintenance jobs - are a number one priority, whatever the pressures on the public purse. Lord Adonis must tell Network Rail to cancel these job cuts."

TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:

"Network Rail needs to listen to its workforce who work hard to keep up rigorous inspections on the UK's railway network and who know that safety could be compromised if 1,500 maintenance workers are made redundant.

"While senior executives at Network Rail are paying themselves huge bonuses, they seem quite happy to cut crucial jobs on the railway, potentially risking the safety of passengers and other railway employees. Transport Minister Lord Adonis must step in to persuade Network Rail from putting large numbers of its highly skilled, productive workers onto the dole before the UK is barely out of recession."

Rail regulator intervenes in dispute over axing of 1500 rail maintenance jobs

RAIL UNION RMT today welcomed confirmation that the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) have directly intervened with the Government over the safety issues raised by the union over the threat by Network Rail to axe 1500 maintenance jobs.

In a letter to Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, in response to a dossier on the safety implications of the cuts compiled by RMT, Anna Walker, Chair of the ORR says:

"I can assure you that we have been scrutinising Network Rail's restructuring proposals for some time and we will continue to do so. We will make our own independent judgement on whether the proposed new structure can safely maintain the railway, and will take appropriate follow up and enforcement action if we believe safety may be compromised as a result of the changes.

"I have asked Ian Prosser, our director of railway safety, to report to the ORR Board on 16 February his conclusions and next steps on the RMT's concerns and he will then write separately to Bob Crow, to respond to the specific points he has raised……we expect assurance, confirmed by our own inspection activity, that safety will not be compromised as a result of changes made."

Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said:

"We welcome the intervention of the rail regulator in response to the RMT dossier and clearly Network Rail should call an immediate halt to the cuts process that has already left many depots short of staff as vacancies have been left unfilled.

"RMT will continue to collect reports from our members on the ground and will feed this in to the ORR and the Government to reinforce the safety case against these cuts. We have no doubt that the impact of slashing safety-critical maintenance staffing levels to the bone will have fatal consequences if Network Rail are allowed to get away with their plans."

Parliamentary Groups drive for First Capital Connect to be stripped of Franchise

LUTON NORTH MP Kelvin Hopkins, a member of transport union RMT's Parliamentary Group, today tabled an Early Day Motion demanding that First Capital Connect be stripped of their Thameslink franchise with the service taken in-house and "run as a publicly-owned and accountable public service for the benefit of passengers, taxpayers and railway employees."

Tomorrow afternoon (3^rd February) the House of Commons will hold an adjournment debate in which Kelvin Hopkins will be joined by other members of the RMT's Parliamentary Group in piling pressure on the Government to sack FCC and renationalise their franchise.

The Early Day Motion says:

"That this House notes the continued poor service on First Capital Connect and that consequently the company is in breach of its franchise agreement; is appalled that passengers have suffered this disruption whilst First Group's Chief Executive was paid over £1 million in 2009 and the company's profits have exceeded £800 million since rail privatisation; welcomes the fact that the Minister of State for Transport has confirmed that all options are on the table when considering the future of the franchise; and urges the government to take the franchise in-house and run it as a publicly-owned and accountable public service for the benefit of passengers, taxpayers and railway employees."

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"The time for threatening First Group over their Thameslink franchise is over. Now it's time for the Government to act, sack the company and return their operations to direct public ownership.

"This is a company that has made £800 million in profits since privatisation and whose Chief Executive was paid over £1 million in 2009. Not only is their Thameslink service a disgrace but on their Scotrail franchise they are prepared to rip up the safety rules and kick the guards off their trains. They are a disgrace and the sooner the Government dumps them the better."