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RMTnews :: july/august 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 8 TAKEN FOR A RYDE: Publicly-subsidised train companies that run services on the Isle of Wight have paid out well over £1 million in the last ten years to lease 1938 ex-London Underground trains. Island Line runs between Ryde and Shanklin and pays £140,000 a year to HSBC Rail for the six pre-World War Two trains that don’t even have scrap value. T he government has finally taken the first step towards an inquiry into the excessive profits made by the three companies that lease the rolling stock on Britain’s railways. The Department for Transport believes the charges are uncompetitive and has referred the matter to the Office of Rail Regulation after holding talks with the rolling-stock companies (Roscos) since last year. The firms, Angel Trains – owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC Rail – owned by HSBC, and Porterbrook – owned by the Abbey Group, lease trains and carriages to rail operators for about £1 billion a year for a combined profit of over £165 million. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the rolling-stock companies had been making a mint out of leasing public assets back to the R MT put the environment at the heart of the campaign to protect and expand the railways with an agenda-setting “sustainable case for rail” parliamentary seminar where keynote speakers included Rail Minister, Derek Twigg. Over 100 participants from a wide range of backgrounds participated including rail workers, members of parliament, trade unions, civil servants, passenger groups, environmental organisations and rail companies. RMT Parliamentary Convenor John McDonnell MP set the context for the seminar stating that, in advance of next year’s rail white paper, it was important to make the environmental case for rail. TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O’Grady said she was glad that RMT had brought together a broad-based campaign. She said transport policy and rail are central to the debate on climate change. RMT General Secretary Bob Crow made the point that RMT represents bus, road, shipping and freight workers and believes in a fully integrated transport system where groups complement each other rather than compete. Rail Minister Derek Twigg argued that a busy railway is a sustainable one and the network was very busy last year. He said the government was committed to long-term planning and areas that were being looked at include the use of different fuels, regenerative braking, lighter trains without compromising safety, hybrid trains, more efficient driving and the case for further electrification. There were still challenges ahead and he said he was willing to listen to ideas and suggestions. Stephen Joseph, the Director of Transport 2000, told the seminar oil-based travel was expensive, suffered from supply shocks due to weather and political instability and fluctuating prices. He said railways need to be at the centre of sustainable land use patterns. Kelvin Hopkins MP made the case for dedicated UK freight routes. He said we were at the beginning of a new railway age and needed the capacity to cope with increased numbers of passengers and volumes of freight. Chief Executive of the Rail Safety and Standards Board Len Porter gave a detailed presentation of the extensive research the RSSB was undertaking to ensure that rail was a sustainable form of transport. There was time for debate and discussion and the meeting concluded with a commitment to share information and influence the government and to reconvene in a year’s time. A more detailed note of the seminar and supporting paper work can be found by visiting the political section of the RMT website. IEEP STUDY The seminar saw the publication of the “sustainable case for rail” a research paper commissioned by RMT and produced by the Institute for Public Policy Research. The paper argued that fragmentation and a lack of coherent policy-making are preventing Britain’s rail network playing what should be a key role in delivering a healthier environment and sustainable development. The ‘modal share’ of the car is higher in Britain than in any other European country, yet a “far from coherent” policy framework “tends to ignore the potential role that rail could play in the development of more sustainable communities and transport”. The paper says that the environmental edge held by rail over other transport modes provides an opportunity for the development of a sustainable transport system that is being missed by a lack of joined-up government. PUTTING THE CASE FOR RAIL RAIL ROLLING-STOCK PROFITEERS FACE INQUIRY