KEEP SOUTH EASTERN TRAINS TICKET OFFICES OPEN

RMTnews :: july/august 2005 8 T housands of prepaid postcards are being distributed by the union for rail users and rail workers to send to MPs and the transport secretary to demand that any plans to cut services are scrapped. The postcard points out that, following the reprivatisation of Northern Rail services last year, plans were drawn up to impose deep cuts in timetables, replace trains with buses and increase fares. A Strategic Rail Authority review is now taking place and you can ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 351 which asks for services to be protected and points out that there is no appetite among commuters and rail workers for yet more cuts, ‘bustitution’ or massive fare increases. Postcards are available for distribution and campaigning. Don’t delay, make a difference and send your postcard to your MP. You can also: • Find the name of your MP by visiting www.locata.co.uk/commons • Encourage your family and friends and workmates to send postcards. Extra postcards can be obtained from regional RMT offices and Unity House by contacting info@rmt.org.uk or calling free on 0800 376 3706 • Write a letter to the government, your MP, or the local press R MT has launched a postcard campaign to stop South Eastern Trains slipping through major reductions in ticket office opening times and slashing station staff. SET is required to consult its passengers over plans to reduce ticket office opening hours so the union distributed thousands of postcards at major station to allow passengers to write to the Rail Passengers Committee and SET itself to oppose the cuts. The planned cuts would leave stations severely understaffed or not staffed at all for long periods and would cost 100 jobs at a time of heightened fears of violent attacks. Some ticket offices would be closed for ever and most would be open less often. Rail passengers want to see more staff on stations, not fewer, and at a time when passenger numbers are expected to rise by 28 per cent in the next ten years, RMT believes that the proposal is fundamentally wrong. Since Connex was removed from the franchise, SET has made good progress in restoring staffing levels that were slashed to the bone, but the latest plan threatens to throw the whole process into reverse. NO CUTS It all adds up to a worse service for the travelling public, and the prospect of less security and more vandalism and more assaults on passengers and our members. The Southern England Rail Passengers' Council and the London Transport Users' Committee have both condemned the planned cuts and closures in the strongest possible terms. Following RMT pressure, the consultation period was extended and the union is now awaiting the results of the exercise. RMT has lodged a formal complaint with the Information Commissioner over the Strategic Railway Authority’s refusal to provide information requested under the Freedom of Information Act over the future of the SET franchise, which is to be renamed the Integrated Kent franchise. KEEP SOUTH EASTERN TRAINS TICKET OFFICES OPEN “That this House remains deeply concerned that, despite public subsidy being more than three times the amount received by British Rail, passengers continue to endure far worse punctuality rates than under public ownership; welcomes the improvement in reliability and punctuality of South Eastern Train services since the decision of the Strategic Rail Authority in November 2003 to return the service to public ownership; notes the report by the Catalyst think-tank that public ownership of the railway would save a minimum of £500 million a year; is further deeply concerned that the Government intends to re-privatise South Eastern Trains; regrets that South Eastern Trains was not allowed to tender for this franchise, removing any public sector comparator; and therefore calls upon the Government to allow South Eastern Trains to submit a public sector bid to ensure improvement and value for money on the UK's rail network”. Ask your MP to sign early-day motion, EDM 395, on South Eastern Trains, tabled by Clive Efford MP: Save Northern Rail SAVE OUR RAILWAYS