Railing against privatisation

RMT news – Rail against privatisation IT’S A RAP: RMT staged a series of local events at 20 rail stations to kick off the campaign on International Railway Workers Day on Monday March 7. RMT members handed out RAP postcards to send to MPs at Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Exeter, Bristol, Cardiff, Newport, Taunton, Portsmouth, Southampton and at various Tube station and at the main stations. 16 RMT kicked off a series of studies, reports and events to demonstrate the positive benefits of reversing the costly and disastrous Tory privati- sation in the 1990s. The campaign will also focus on proposals in the Railway Bill that will make it easier for the government to close down parts of the network and reduce services. In particular government plans for 56 “community” railways will lead to the run down for these lines. “RMT’s Rail Against Privatisation march aims to put the future of our railways firmly on the election agenda. We will also be convening a conference of passenger and environmental groups to save the railway,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. Mobile demo The campaign will include a national mobile demonstration and march from Glasgow to London from April 16 to 30 to coincide with the expected general election campaign (see meeting dates overleaf). The campaign will highlight the huge benefits of renationalisation for the electorate in terms of taxpayers’ expenditure, the environment, congestion and transport planning. It will seek to persuade the govenment to bring our railways back under democratic control. No Beeching mark two RMT has warned the government that it risks an electoral backlash if it continues to pursue Beeching-style attacks on rail services after transport secretary Alistair Darling again threatened the replacement of rural services with buses. “The original Beeching cuts started by replacing trains with buses, and when the bus BRITAIN’S specialist transport union kicked off the ‘Rail Against Privatisation’ campaign on International Railworkers’ Day earlier this month. RAP campaign k Rail against privatisation Public meeting Dover Come along and here RMT General Secretary Bob Crow and Dover MP Gwyn Prosser plus other invited guests Monday, April 4 at 7.30pm The Auditorium, Dover Discovery, Market Square RMT news – Rail against privatisation Fighting for Northern Rail services THE union has distributed 10,000 postcards for people to send to their MPs to ask them to back Early Day Motion 726. The EDM urges the government to use its powers under the Railways Bill to oppose any line clo- sures, job cuts and bustitution proposals which may arise from the ongoing review of services. The Strategic Rail Authority plans to review service and fare lev- els on the Northern Rail franchise and there are concerns that the review will lead to higher fares, replacing off-peak rail services with buses, line closures and job losses. As a result SRA assurances that the new franchise would “deliv- er greater value for money to taxpayers” and “bring to an end any remaining uncertainty over the future shape of rail services in the North of England” have been cast in serious doubt. A NEW RMT study shows average levels of nitrogen dioxide pollutant from road traffic in first months of 2005 was well above government targets. The study finds that in 28 areas of the UK the average levels of this harmful pollutant are above or just at the government target of 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air. Marylebone Road has the highest emmissions level in the UK where the average reading is 92 micrograms per cubic metre of air, more than twice the target level. The RMT study shows the mean emission level from each of the 110 automatic monitoring stations around the country in 2005 so far. Nitrogen dioxide aggravates respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis, dry coughs, and eye, nose and throat irritations. It may increase susceptibility to infections and lower resistance to diseases such as influenza. RMT General Secretary, Bob Crow, said the study showed that levels of nitrogen dioxide were too high and are damaging to those with respiratory and other health conditions. “The UK also releases 173 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, mainly form road traffic, making the UK the second largest source of this gas in the EU. “Reducing emission levels of pollutants and greenhouse gasses will entail less road transport. Thus, an expanded the rail and tram network is essential and public ownership of the railways is necessary to achieve this objective,” he said. Tackling pollution and global warming Air pollutant concentrations: Nitrogen dioxide Source: Defra Air Quality Archive Mean 2005 µg/m3 Average 33.2 Highest site value 92.0 Lowest site value 3.8 London Marylebone Road 92.0 London Cromwell Road 81.0 replacements were run down whole rural communities found themselves with no public transport links at all,” Bob Crow said. “Something like four out of ten clauses of the Railways Bill will make it easier for government to reduce rail services. “That is bad news for passengers and it is bad news for the environment,” he said. RMT has said that it is the escalating costs of privatisation that are leading to service cuts, and that is the problem that needs fixing. Bob also pointed out that while the Secretary of State has said that he is interested in what works, he was pressing ahead with the privatisation of South Eastern Trains, despite performing better and requiring less subsidy in the public sector. Nearly 100 MPs have already signed Early Day Motion 382 supporting the principle of public ownership and many have signed EDM 95 to retain South Eastern Trains in the public sector following a huge postcard campaign by RMT members and supporters. “The campaign aims to persuade the government that public ownership of the railways will provide a better deal for kicks off rap railagainstprivatisation travellers, taxpayers and the public generally. “Public ownership will allow proper transport planning to cope with increased demand for travel due to new developments and the need to reduce road traffic to get cleaner air,” he said. The union has consistently argued that cutting rail services, encouraging people back into cars and spending billions on new roads will make it far harder for the government to reach its own domestic emissions targets. How you can make a difference G Join in the campaigning activities in your area, see details overleaf. G Write to your MP, your local media and the government asking for a return of the railwat to the public sector G Contact j.croy@rmt.org.uk for campaign material, including postcards urging MPs to support a public railway and an end to the privatisation of Tube infrastructure G Visit www.rmt.org.uk 17