STOP THE EAST LONDON LINE SELL-OFF

RMTnews :: september 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 14 WHAT YOU CAN DO • Write to Mayor Livingstone expressing concern at the plans and to your MP to ask them to sign early day motion 2398 against the sell-off of the East London Line. Model letters are below and can be downloaded from www.rmt.org.uk under campaigns. • Become a supporter of the campaign to defend the East London Line. Email: info@rmt.org.uk. Ken Livingstone Mayor Of London City Hall The Queens Walk London SE1 2AA Dear Mayor Livingstone East London Line Privatisation As you will be aware the London Underground's East London Line is due to close in December 2007 in order that work on the Phase 1 extension project can be completed by 2010. Despite the opposition of senior London Underground management, Transport for London has announced that they wish to the see the East London Line Extension operated by a private train operating company. On 7th June TfL announced that four private sector bidders (National Express; MTR Laing; NedRail; and Govia) had been short- listed to operate the North London Railway and the extended East London Line. I welcome the important role that the extension will play in creating a world class transport infrastructure in preparation for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, but I think that the needs of London will be better served by the line remaining in the public sector. Opposition to the privatisation of rail services is fully supported by the rail unions, the TUC and Labour Party policy. A number of London Labour MPs have already signed an early day motion to keep the East London Line in the public sector. TfL’s partial justification for the privatisation is that it wishes to link the East London Line with the North London Rail. However there is no physical or technical reason why this cannot be done by retaining the East London Line within London Underground control. Private train operators have been a disaster for Britain’s railways; whilst subsidy and profits have increased, services remain worse than those provided under public ownership. This mistake should not be repeated with the East London Line. I want all public subsidy and fare box revenue spent on improvements to train services, not profit for greedy train operators. The Public Private Partnership on the London Underground has already created a fragmented network with frequent service disruptions caused by late running engineering works. Any moves to privatise the East London Line will exacerbate that fragmentation. There may be a view that this is a one - off privatisation of Underground passenger operations but the proposals could be the thin edge of the wedge. Once one line is privatised it’s easier to argue for the privatisation of more tube lines. I look forward to hearing from you on the points I have raised. Yours sincerely XXXXXX MP House of Commons Westminster London SW1A 0AA Dear XXX East London Line Privatisation The East London Line, used by 10.4 million passengers a year, is currently part of the London Underground network. In December 2007 the line will close in order that phase 1 of the East London Line Extension project can be completed. The line will extend north into Hackney and South to West Croydon and is due to re-open in 2010. However, once re-opened, it is proposed that the Line will no longer be operated by the publicly owned London Underground Limited but will instead be privatised and run by a private sector rail company. Already the Public Private Partnership on the London Underground has created a fragmented network with frequent service disruptions caused by late running engineering works. The decision to privatise the East London Line will exacerbate that fragmentation and could be the thin-end of the wedge with other lines and services being threatened with sell-off in the future. Furthermore, the privatisation of the national rail network has proved to be an expensive failure. Subsidies and unit costs have soared and in 2004/05 the private train companies made operating profits of more than £300million. I believe that it would be wholly wrong to make the passengers and staff who travel and work on the East London Line suffer the same failed privatised experience. Early Day Motion 2398 has recently been tabled in the House of Commons and as one of your constituents I would urge you to sign the motion and support the retention of the East London Line in the public sector. I look forward to your reply. ACT NOW TO STOP THE EAST LONDON LINE SELL-OFF P rivatisation has proved an unmitigated disaster for Britain’s railway network. The Public Private Partnership on London Underground has also created a fragmented network with frequent service disruptions. That is why RMT is campaigning against moves by Transport for London to privatise the East London Line by 2010. RMT believes that privatisation will exacerbate fragmentation and will be the thin end of the wedge, with other lines and services being threatened with sell-off in future.