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wrote to the union setting out his concerns which had been raised with ORR in light of the RMT’s campaign saying that: “The regulator [ORR] welcomes Network Rail’s aspiration to cease the use of zero hour contracts for any safety critical staff”. All well and good you might think accept that once again the two-handed role of the ORR, as both regulator and budget holder, raises its head with Network Rail contradicting the letter to RMT from Mr Burns with their own plans to reduce track staff by 800 in the next control period by …”making greater use of Tier 2 contractors…”. Yes, those same zero hours agencies. So what sort of railway do we really want if the past 20 years have been a period of wasted opportunity and profiteering that has dragged our industry into the headlines for all the wrong reasons. There’s no better starting point than the policy that polls show is supported by 70 per cent of the population – public ownership. It is the right thing to do and fiddling around the edges with madcap schemes like “fair franchising” and “deep alliances” is just more of the same old same old that dragged us through the mire in the first place. So what if we have to take on the EU over the issue of who runs and owns our railways? Why should German and French state operators be allowed to keep their fares low by buying out UK franchises and bleeding the British passenger for every penny they can while spineless politicians from all parties stand on the side lines claiming that there’s not a damn thing they can do about it? The infamous EU directive 91/440/EEC began the process of rail privatisation across the EU when it was introduced on July 29 1991. This directive orders member states to separate train operations and rail infrastructure in order to dismantle state rail industries in favour of market competition. It stipulates: • Operational autonomy for railway operators • Separation of the infrastructure from operations in order to create an internal market • Open access for international undertakings • Introduction of track access charges John Major's Conservative government privatised British Rail on this model after the Tories removed Margaret Thatcher who actually opposed rail privatisation. After the Tories kicked Maggie out like a dog in the night, the Tories went ahead and The Railways Regulation 1992, was introduced under Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in order to comply with the directive. There have been three EU rail packages imposed since then and a 4th rail package is being discussed to finally remove all vestiges of national government involvement from any meaningful control of their rail networks. This is despite the fact that electorates have demonstrated time and again that they want their railways in public sector where they belong. RMT remains committed to the investment needed to bring Britain's railways out of the slow lane, including High Speed, electrification and the increased capacity required to meet the continuing surge in passenger demand. But High Speed rail has been delayed by political wrangling for decades while other parts of Europe have raced ahead and all the warning signs are now flashing that modernisation is going to be stalled again as the row continues. The truth is that if the profits and dividends bled out of rail by privatisation for the last twenty years had been reinvested into modernisation and infrastructure we would have expanded rail to keep pace with increasing passenger numbers. The nation that gave the railways to the world is miles behind other countries through a generation of political ineptitude and profiteering with passengers crammed into overcrowded services. RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2013 :: RMTnews 11 1957 European Commission establishes plan for a common transport market run on the basis of “free competition” and the “principles of the market economy” as written into the Treaty of Rome. 1965 The Council of Ministers proposes a common strategy to “ensure the implementation of the principles of the market economy” in transport. 1972 Commission brings sea transport into the common strategy to operate on the “principles of the market economy”. 1983 European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) lobby group www.ert.be draws up plans for Trans-European Transport Networks (TENs) strategic transport corridors complete with privatised railways. 1991 EC introduces rail directive 91/440/EEC on July 29 1991 demanding the separation of infrastructure and operations, open access for international undertakings and the introduction of track access charges. 1993 Tory government privatises British Rail along the lines of the EU directive. The Railways Regulation 1992 introduced under Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in order to comply with the directive. 2001 First Railway Package demands ‘liberalisation’ of EU rail freight, implemented in Britain in November 2005 2004 Second Railway Package demands open access for all types of rail freight services by 2006 and establishes a European Railway Agency to implement EU directives. 2007 Third Railway Package demands ‘liberalisation’ of passenger rail services requiring open access in all EU member states by January 1 2010. 2009 Lisbon Treaty removes the national veto in over 60 new areas including transport, transferring decisions to Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) allowing member states to be outvoted. 2012 First Railway Package ‘recast’ to establish a single European railway area and outlaws member states from using the "holding model" to manage rail infrastructure and train operations within the same parent company 2013 European Commission publishes a Fourth Railway Package which requires the compulsory competitive tendering of all rail services. 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