NEVER AGAIN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2019 :: RMTnews 14 Twenty years after 31 lives were lost in the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster, Britain’s biggest rail union said that government policy was in danger dragging the railways closer back towards the same poisonous cocktail of conditions that led to the tragedy on October 5 1999. Ladbroke Grove was one of a number of disasters under the watch of the privatised Railtrack that led to its abolition and the creation of the publicly-owned Network Rail. However, RMT is warning that a return to casualisation, a myriad of contractors and sub-contractors, long-hours and fatigue – all driven by a cuts and austerity environment on the railway – was in danger of turning the clock back. The Ladbroke Grove rail crash, also known as the Paddington rail crash, remains one of the worst rail accidents in Britain and the second major accident on the Great Western Main Line in just over two years, the first being the Southall rail crash of September 1997. Both crashes would have been prevented by an operational automatic train protection (ATP) system, wider fitting of which had been rejected on cost grounds. This severely damaged public confidence in the management and regulation of safety of Britain's privatised railway system. 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 2019, the government, through their drive for cuts, are 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 constant talk of re-privatising infra-structure in association with the greedy train companies is rapidly dragging us back to the edge. “In addition, the Cullen Inquiry into Ladbroke Grove highlighted the safety critical role of the guard and yet we are still having to fight the battle to halt the axing of the guards from our trains and the move to driver only operation in a lethal operation driven by a combination of pure greed and political ideology. “If the government thinks 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 where the vast sums sucked out of the system in profits are re-invested in safe rail for all,” he said. NEVER AGAIN! On the 20th annversary of the Ladbroke Grove disaster RMT steps up calls for safe rail for all