Railing against privatisation

14 RMT news – Rail against privatisation Railing against privatisation DEATH RAIL: How the Daily Mirror reported on slapdash renewal work still being carried out by the private sector S HODDY track renewal work by private contractor Mowlem near Watford on the West Coast main line led to shut down as emergen- cy repairs were carried out by Network Rail last month. For 12 hours before the glaring errors were discovered trains were travelling up to 100 mph over the affected tracks. Clamps were missing, bolts were not properly tightened, sleepers were twisted and sections of rail were mis- aligned, just the sort of circumstances that led to disasters like Hatfield and Potters Bar. Mowlem, which has since been sus- pended from the £25 million contract, handed control of the track back to Network Rail after weekend work on Monday January 10 after one of its supervisors signed the job off claiming the track was “fit for purpose”. However, signal staff at Watford shut down the line after a driver reported a “rough ride”. Network Rail, which has brought all maintenance back in-house to improve safety and efficiency, sent out their own inspectors and maintenance team to carry out emergency work. A Network Rail spokesman said: “The piece of track in question had seem- ingly deteriorated throughout the day after work was carried out”. RMT general secretary Bob Crow described the incident as a “disgrace in an industry in which safety should come first”. “Only some decisive action by rail- way professionals – and a good slice of luck before they were alerted – pre- vented a potentially massive accident. “The private sector has been booted Just as RMT launches the Rail Against Privatisation campaign, another near disaster caused by shoddy track renewal work by private contractors has come to light FOR A PUBLICLY OWNED RAILWAY (see overleaf to see how y www.rmt.org.uk www.rmt.org.uk rap railagainstprivatisation out of rail maintenance. So why allow the crazy patchwork of contractors, subcontractors and agencies wreak havoc on renewals?” he asked. He said that the incident underlines just why all track work needs to be brought back in-house. Labour MP and RMT parliamentary convenor John MacDonnell said that it was time the entire industry was brought back into public ownership, including the train operating compa- nies and the lucrative rolling stock companies. “How many more passengers will have to be killed by this disgraceful fragmented system before the government acts? It is time this fiasco is brought to an end,” he said. G If you have a horror story about rail privatisation tell the union on 0800 376 3706 or email info@rmt.org.uk LAST month also saw further chaos on London Underground after Tube privateer Metronet failed to complete night engineering work on the Central Line, stranding 100,000 passengers. The Circle, District and Hammersmith and City lines also failed to open on schedule. A London Underground spokesman said: “We have been far from impressed with Metronet’s performance this week. “Today’s problems on the Central line follow yesterday’s on the District and Circle lines, all of which are the responsibility of Metronet,” he said. A full investigation is taking place but it has since transpired that work replacing the Central line track was sub-contracted to rail privateer Balfour Beatty. The continuing failures by Metronet and Tube Lines have not stopped the privateers making combined profits of nearly £100 million during the first year of the part-privati- sation alone. They have contracts to maintain the track for 30 years. The union said that Network Rail had taken maintenance work in-house precisely to avoid the type of thing now occurring on the Tube. In this election year RMT has launched Rail Against Privatisation, a major national march and campaign for public ownership of the railways and an end to the part-privatisation of London Underground. Starting in Glasgow on April 15 and culminating with a rally in London on April 30, there will be events, meetings and rallies along the route, as well as in other towns and cities around Britain, involving every RMT region. For more information regularly check the RMT website. RMT news – Rail against privatisation END PPP www.rmt.org.uk www.rmt.org.uk rap railagainstprivatisation End PPP TWISTED SLEEPER: This sleeper is deformed and several clips are not secure LOOSE CLIP: Loose clip not holding the rail LOOSE BOLTS: Two rails that need welding are held by a clamp resting on ballast and the bolts are not tight MISALIGNED TRACK: Two pieces of track don’t line up 15 rap railagainstprivatisation Don’t forget to send off your freepost postcards enclosed in this magazine