NO MORE GRAYRIGGS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2012 :: RMTnews 5 RMT members protested outside Preston Law Courts against rail cuts earlier this month as Network Rail was fined £4 million for causing a train to derail near Grayrigg in 2007, causing the death of one passenger and injuring 86 people. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £118,052 after pleading guilty to one charge under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The established reasons for the Grayrigg tragedy were bad management and unrealistic workloads – problems that RMT insists will worsen as the government roll-out its massive rail-cuts programme that will slice 30 per cent from budgets while protecting the profits of the private train operators. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that despite the hefty fine those directly responsible for the bullying and cuts culture that led to the tragedy of Grayrigg had got away with it. “In fact it is the the rail maintenance budget that will end up losing out as that is where the £4 million fine will have to come from. “Perversely, today’s outcome makes another Grayrigg more likely while those in charge at Network Rail at the time have been honoured and have gone on to make fortunes,” he said. Under the present set-up the Office of Rail Regulation, which brought the prosecution, is also the body demanding the cuts. “The ORR have a blatant conflict of interest as both financial and safety regulator in the twisted world of rail privatisation. “The ORR and the govern- ment are now demanding more cuts to staffing and maintenance as part of their support for the carve-up of the McNulty Rail Review, and RMT’s fight for safety on the tracks will continue,” he said. The union is also calling for justice for the rail workers who suffered months of anguish after being suspended following the Grayrigg disaster. Network Rail’s own report into the derailment found that “no structured assessment was undertaken to establish whether sufficient resources existed’’ and that “management systems employed…were not sufficiently robust”. But the lessons have clearly not been learned. Network Rail has already cut inspection frequencies and postponed infrastructure upgrades – dancing to the tune of a ‘safety regulator’ that also sets the budgets. The McNulty plan also envisages billions in cuts to the rail budgets in order to protect the profits and dividends of the privateers. Most dangerously, infrastructure will be divvied up among private train operators, for whom the first duty is to make profits for their shareholders: not just a new Railtrack, but a whole series of mini-Railtracks. NO MORE GRAYRIGGS Protest at Preston Law Courts against cuts as Network Rail fined millions for Grayrigg disaster