NO TO EU RAIL PRIVATISATION

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2014 :: RMTnews 5 ‘No to the privatisation of rail services across Europe’ was the message taken to the European parliament in Strasbourg last month by rail unions. The EU’s Fourth Railway Package imposes the tendering of rail passenger services and the separation of train operation from infrastructure management in every member state. The TUC Action for Rail campaign warned that the EU plan would permanently expand the control that overseas rail companies have over the UK’s rail services. It warned that the package also makes it impossible for any UK government to adopt an alternative to privatisation, ruling out successful publicly- owned and run services such as the East Coast Mainline. The rail package imposes the EU model for rail of privatisation and fragmentation across Europe which was first imposed in Britain under EU directive 91/440 20 years ago, creating huge inefficiency and costs. While the Tory/Lib Dem government has ruled out public ownership of the railways, Action for Rail is concerned that foreign state-owned rail companies are using this as an opportunity to make a profit. Of existing UK rail companies, Arriva is a wholly- owned subsidiary of the German national rail company Deutsche Bahn, Keolis is majority owned by the French national rail operator SNCF, and Abellio is owned by the Dutch state operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen. According to a recent study by the Centre for Research on Socio-Economic Change for Arriva Trains Wales, subsidy exceeds private revenue from fares, with the state contributing 60p in every £1 of revenue. The report finds that privatisation is not value for money for taxpayers as Virgin West Coast Trains would not make a profit from the West Coast Mainline without state support, and Arriva Trains Wales would not run at all. Since the start of the franchise in 2003, Arriva and Deutsche Bahn (Deutsche Bahn AG acquired Arriva in 2010) have extracted £75 million in dividends. Government plans to privatise East Coast Mainline could see the company taken over by Keolis and Eurostar through their joint bid. Action for Rail argues that it would be far more efficient for rail services to be directly run and operated by the public sector. Action for Rail chair TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said that imposing the rail privatisation system that was so clearly failing across Europe would be a disaster for passengers and taxpayers alike. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that as a result of the disastrous EU model Britain now had the highest rail fares in Europe, a culture of cuts and profiteering and the growing use of contract labour and zero- hour contracts. “That is no future for public transport here or anywhere else in Europe, we need publicly- owned and accountable transport services that serve people before profit,” he said. NO TO EU RAIL PRIVATISATION Unions say EU rail privatisation model no future for public transport