THE WORST RAILWAYS IN EUROPE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2012 :: RMTnews 17 A report published by the Just Economics think tank has found that rail services are less affordable, less comfortable, slower, more inefficient and more expensive here than in other European countries. The RMT-commissioned report, A Fare Return, reveals that two decades of private profiteering and underinvestment in infrastructure which has seen fares go through the roof, has dumped our railways at the bottom of the league compared to other parts of Europe. The research, a counter-blast to the McNulty rail review and the expected Government Command Paper, shows that on four out of six key indicators - fares, electrification, high speed and passengers to seats - the UK comes bottom or second to bottom. In other parts of Europe railways, now threatened with the EU privatisation model of fragmentation first implemented in Britain, are thirty to forty per cent cheaper to operate. Just Economics looked at the relationship between costs and outcomes, emphasising the importance of an expanded concept of value for money that reflects the full spectrum of what passengers are looking for from the railways, and what is good for society and the environment. It found that British railways are the poorest performer by some distance and figures show that rail services are: • Less affordable • Less comfortable • Slower • More inefficient • Less environmentally friendly "In terms of bang for buck, not only does the UK come bottom of the index of outcomes but it also spends a relatively large amount of money to achieve this woeful result," said report author Eilis Law. She said that underperforming railways carry a considerable cost both for passengers and for the public purse, whereas a more affordable, more comfortable and faster railway would generate £324 billion in social value - £9.2 billion a year - between now and 2050. "We also estimate that the social, economic and environmental benefits of achieving a modal shift from road to rail in terms of reduced congestion, accidents and emissions could potentially reach £154.8 billion by 2050. "When we combine this estimate with our previous figures showing improved outcomes for passengers we calculate that the total social value of the strategic shift that we propose in this report is in the region of £479 billion,” said Eilis Law. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the latest research showed that the failures of privatisation were costing Britain hundreds of billions of pounds in social value. "Instead of addressing that issue and looking at the cheaper and socially beneficial alternative of a publicly owned railway, McNulty proposes more cuts and even longer gold- plated franchises for the private train operators" he said. out a long-term transport strategy, framed by what it wants transport to achieve for the country’s citizens, its environment and its economy”. The economic benefits of a high-speed network are well documented. WS Atkins published research in 2006 which found that high-speed links from London, via Heathrow, to Birmingham and Leeds would cost £31bn to build and deliver benefits £63bn over a sixty year period. In August 2007, The Northern Way explained that the economic benefits of a high- speed link are substantial; they noted; “Research for the SRA in 2002/03 for example identified total benefits of a new high speed network linking London to the North West and North East and Scotland of £89.9billion giving a benefit ratio of over 2:1. The benefits comprised £20.6 billion in additional revenue, £64.4billion in non-financial benefits (welfare gains by users and non-users) and £4.8billion in benefits from freeing up capacity on the existing network”. In terms of creating jobs, the DfT’s HS2 London to West Midlands Appraisal of Sustainability documents forecasts that HS2 could attract 30,000 jobs in London and the West Midlands. Furthermore 1,500 operational posts will be created and 9,000 jobs constructing the line. Research published by KPMG in February 2010 suggests that a national high speed rail network could, as businesses become more productive and offer higher wages due to productivity improvements deliver up to 42,000 additional jobs. However, important as a high speed network is in the fight against climate change and the renaissance of the rail industry, RMT's view is that to simply invest on 'grand projects', to the detriment of the existing network, runs the risk of repeating some of the mistakes made on the French railway network in recent decades. The TGV network is rightly lauded across the world. However, investment in regional networks has often suffered, the result being inadequate local service provision and old rolling stock. Additionally, the track on the traditional routes has often been subjected to 'maintenance holidays' leading to widespread temporary speed restrictions; a further disincentive for people to make use of the local and regional services. Finally, manufacturing and maintaining the high speed stock represents an opportunity to create high skilled employment in the domestic train manufacturing sector, still reeling from losing out on the Thameslink rolling stock contract. The train building contracts for the high speed fleet have include the kind of social impact clauses that are routinely used in France and Germany as a mechanism to supporting domestic train manufacturing capacity and the impact of the contract award on the wider engineering supply chain. HIGH SPEED RAIL IN EUROPE (KILOMETRES) Country In Operation Under Construction Belgium 209 0 France 1, 872 234 Germany 1, 285 378 Italy 923 0 The Netherlands 120 0 Spain 1, 604 2,219 Switzerland 35 72 United Kingdom 113 0 Turkey 235 510 THE WORST RAILWAYS IN EUROPE