NO TO RAILTRACK MARK TWO!

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2011 :: RMTnews 7 RMT is warning that pressure from the business sector is building up for the re- privatisation of rail infra- structure in a move which would drag the industry back to the days of Hatfield and Potters Bar with the creation of “Railtrack two”. Suggestions have been circulating in the media that Merseyrail and Scotrail could be the testing grounds for infrastructure privatisation. RMT has raised serious concerns that recent Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) analysis into the efficiency of Network Rail was carried out by an organisation called Railconsult - a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty Rail, who would clearly be beneficiaries from any move to break up and sell off Network Rail. In a letter to the National Audit Office, RMT general secretary Bob Crow warned that Network Rail was being set up for privatisation through a mixture of poor quality research and pressure from the private sector. “We believe the ORR’s approach to Network Rail efficiency is far from thorough, narrow in scope and has been compromised by its relations with vested interests. “The McNulty review into the future efficiency and structure of the railways is jointly sponsored by the ORR which means the rail regulator’s shortcomings, which have already seriously damaged the rail industry, will lead to a poor deal for the taxpayer and passengers,” the letter said. Bob Crow said that no-one believed in reform of Network Rail more than RMT – the union wanted to see the organisation transformed into a public body to deliver the highest quality of public service free from the greed of the private sector. “However, all the drive from the private sector is to rip up the publicly-owned infrastructure and re-privatise it in an action replay of the Railtrack experiment that led to avoidable disasters on our railways. “All the dice have been loaded to achieve that outcome and RMT will continue to expose the manoeuvring that is going on behind the scenes, and fight for a genuinely, publicly- owned railway system that ends the rip-off of privatisation,” he said (see page 14/15). NO TO RAILTRACK MARK TWO! RMT warns that rail privateers are ramping up pressure for Network Rail privatisation FRESH CALLS FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY ON GRAYRIGG ANNIVERSARY T here were fresh calls for a public inquiry last month on the fourth anniversary of the Grayrigg train crash near Kendal that killed one and injured many others. A Rail Accident Investigation Branch inquiry ruled that the Glasgow-bound train left the West Coast Main Line at nearly 100 mph in 2007. But a public inquiry into Grayrigg and a similar earlier accident at Potters Bar was ruled out in 2009. RMT executive member for the north west Craig Johnston said that an inquiry was needed as structural deficiencies remained. “Some say four years is a long time but we should just forget about it but that’s what happened after Potters Bar –then we had Grayrigg,” he said. Westmorland MP Tim Farron agreed that there should be an inquiry into the links between two different points-related disasters. “There is clearly a management and systems failure to securely monitor points and there is no evidence that adequate systems are now in place,” he said.