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RMTnews :: march 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk
8
Violence on trains has risen by
43 per cent in the last five years
according to British Transport
Police figures.
Over 6,350 violent offences
were recorded in England and
Wales in the last year compared
with 5,905 in 2003/2004.
Cumbria, Cleveland,
Northamptonshire saw rises of
300 per cent while Northumbria
suffered a rise of nearly 400 per
cent.
This shocking rise in violence
on Britain’s public transport
network has prompted calls for
better security and an end to the
scandal of unstaffed stations.
RMT has said that rail
workers and passengers clearly
want adequate staff on duty on
every station whenever it is
open and a guard on every
train.
However, the economics of
privatisation means ever more
stations without staff and
constant attempts to undermine
the safety role of the guard.
A recent RMT report by
Professor Jean Shaoul of
Manchester University The
Railways in a Third Term found
that returning Train Operating
Companies to public ownership
could release significant public
funds that could be reinvested
in our railway.
UNDER PUBLIC OWNERSHIP:
• Subsidies and fare revenues
would no longer be drained
from the industry as returns
to private lenders and
investors. Dividends paid
annually by TOCs to parent
companies averaged £170
million in the years 2001-
2003. In 2004 total profits
soared to £290 million, a 20
per cent increase on the
year before
• There would be no need for
tendering processes
currently costing £3 million
to £4 million each and
averaging out at one a
year– nor would the cost of
preparing bids need to be
factored into the cost of
running services as TOCs
currently do
• Less resources and
bureaucracy would be
needed for administering
and monitoring contracts –
the government does not
publish a breakdown but a
conservative estimate might
be to suppose that
“franchise management”
accounts for a third of its
operating budget, saving
£30 million a year
• Professor Shoal estimates
that total savings of
returning the Train
Operating Companies to
public ownership would
amount to more than £200
million a year
Therefore, talk of massive
investment by the private sector
is a myth – the truth is that the
private sector drains at least
£800 million out of our railways
every year.
Every penny invested in our
railways ultimately comes from
fare-paying passengers and tax-
payers, and every penny should
be used to improve the network.
The work done by Professor
Shaoul shows that bringing the
train-operating companies alone
back into public ownership will
release more than £200 million
a year to invest in safer stations.
That would allow projected
spending on improving station
infrastructure to double, with
CAMPAIGNING FOR SAFER
photo copyright © Justin Tallis
Returning Britain’s train-operating companies to
public ownership would release £200 million for
improving station security and more than 1,600
extra station staff