HIGH SPEED RAIL–RMT’S VIEW

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2012 :: RMTnews 16 Other than the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the new line will be the first major railway line built in Britain since the end of the nineteenth century. Indeed, Britain lags a long way behind other rail networks in high speed rail lines (see table). Commenting in August 2009 when the then Labour Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis, announced plans to speed up the drive for a high speed network, RMT General Secretary, Bob Crow said: “We welcome this important announcement on the development of high-speed rail which clearly demolishes the case for the environmental disaster which is the planned third runway at Heathrow. “If high-speed rail is the future we should stop throwing time, money and energy at the planned expansion of Heathrow and concentrate on pushing forward this progressive plan for green transport. “This plan would give a massive boost to manufacturing and green jobs on the railways and should be moved forward without delay. We would argue strongly for public ownership and a for a fares policy which actively encourages rail travel,” he said. A national high-speed rail network will deliver passengers from city-centre to city-centre, support economic regeneration, create tens of thousands of jobs and tackle environmentally damaging carbon emissions from domestic and short-haul flights. RMT’s view is that the high- speed network should extend into Scotland, connecting both Glasgow and Edinburgh, at the earliest possible time and Government should also develop plans for high-speed routes to the south west of England and into Wales. In order to ensure that unnecessary operational interfaces and fragmentation, which have had such a damaging effect on the railways since privatisation, do not hamper the development of a safe and efficient high speed rail network, HS2 should be integrated into a publicly owned, national network. That means there should be one infrastructure owner/controller across the whole network for both the new high-speed network and the ‘classic’ routes. As the June 2008 RMT- commissioned “Who says there is no alternative” report on high speed rail and Heathrow Airport expansion explains: “A high- speed rail network has most to offer as part of an integrated transport system, not replacing local and regional rail services, but linked to them. Integration offers the prospect of both train stations and airports becoming coordinated transport hubs. But integration will remain an unattainable goal under the UK current transport set-up: uncoordinated; deregulated; privatised. Government, in conjunction with local and regional authorities, needs to set HIGH SPEED RAIL–RMT’S VIEW Secretary of State for Transport Justine Greening recently confirmed the go-ahead for the London- Birmingham domestic high-speed rail line (HS2).