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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2014 :: RMTnews 18 Fifteen years after 31 lives were lost in the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster, RMT is warning that government policy is dragging the railways back towards the same poisonous cocktail of conditions that lead to that tragedy on October 5 1999. A £4 million fine was handed down to Network Rail for Railtrack’s role in the crash which left 31 people dead and 400 injured. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that RMT would never allow those responsible to forget that it was the creation of the privatised Railtrack and the drive to cut corners in the name of profit that led to the disaster at Ladbroke Grove and the wholly preventable loss of life. “It remains a national scandal that those who created the conditions that led to Ladbroke Grove were able to skulk away without prosecution. “Privatisation, fragmentation and a complete absence of corporate responsibility were at the heart of the Ladbroke Grove tragedy and now, in 2014, the government, through their McNulty Rail Review, is dragging us right back to that same toxic mix. “The proliferation of private agencies and contractors, often employing casual staff on zero hours contracts, and the opening of the way to privatise infra- structure in association with the greedy train companies is rapidly dragging us back to the edge. “The Cullen Inquiry into Ladbroke Grove highlighted the safety critical role of the guard and yet the government that is using the current round of franchising to axe the guards from trains and move to driver only operation in a lethal operation driven by a combination of pure greed and right-wing ideology. “If the government think that RMT will stand back while they ignore the lessons from the recent history on our railways then they should think again. “RMT will use every tool at our disposal to both fight the current cuts and to demand the total renationalisation of our railways,” he said. UNLEARNT LESSONS 15 years on government rail policy drags us closer to a repeat of the Ladbroke Grove disaster