RAIL FRANCHISE CHAOS ROLLS ON

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2020 :: RMTnews 8 The Northern rail network could be renationalised after years of late and cancelled trains, according to the transport secretary Grant Shapps who has said that the current franchise cannot continue as it is. He told the Commons transport select committee that first steps had been taken towards taking the Northern rail network back into public hands and asked the Northern franchisee, the German-owned Arriva, and the government’s operator of last resort to draw up proposals to improve the service. Highlighting that barely one in two Northern trains ran on time, Shapps said: “I consider that it cannot continue delivering in the current delivery method”. The Northern network is operated by Arriva Rail North, which is owned by the German railway company Deutsche Bahn. The region extends from Nottingham to Northumberland and from Stoke-on-Trent to Carlisle. Passenger dissatisfaction rocketed in the summer of 2018, after a new timetable was introduced without planned infrastructure improvements being made and with insufficient drivers trained. On January 2 – the day that higher fares have come into effect – Northern has cancelled at least a dozen trains, including links from Carlisle to Morpeth and Blackpool North to York. At a protest against fare rises at King’s Cross station in London, RMT general secretary Mick Cash called for all franchises to be nationalised. “It’s another year, another decade, yet we’re still paying for the failures of rail privatisation. “I hope by the end of this decade we’ll get public ownership brought back in and we’ll be able to use the money we save not paying shareholders in dividends and profits, and put all the money back into the rail network. “However, while Grant Shapps is big on talk about Northern Rail, he is short on detail and this has all the hallmarks of a dead cat being slung on the table to distract from the fare rise scandal. “If he was serious he would set out a timetable for removing the Northern Rail franchise from Arriva and their replacement with the public sector operator,” he said. Labour shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald agreed that all rail franchises like Network Rail should come under government control. “Northern Rail’s incompetent operator should have been stripped of its contract years ago over its abysmal performance record. The government’s refusal to do so has meant massive inconvenience for rail passengers and damage to the region’s economy,” he said. Mick Cash also said that the recent announcement from the Scottish government that it will not extend the Abellio Scotrail franchise past 2022 was a significant development. “It is clear from Scotrail’s performance to date that it has failed to deliver an acceptable rail service for Scotland. “While we await the outcome of the UK government’s Williams Review, what is needed now is a firm assurance from the Scottish government that it committed to running Scotland’s railway in the public sector and RMT is committed to working with the Holyrood on this issue,” he said. The West Coast main line also came under new management last month when Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains company finally lost the franchise after 22 years and was replaced on the line by a new operator called Avanti. Avanti is a consortium involving FirstGroup based in Aberdeen and the Italian state railway operator, Trenitalia which is steadily increasing its presence on Britain’s rail network. Virgin had to resort to legal action in 2012 to retain the West Coast franchise after it was awarded by the Department for Transport to FirstGroup. But FirstGroup has now finally got their hands on the West Coast. Mick Cash said that it a fresh lick of paint and a new livery would not solve the same old nonsense created by privatisation. “The only long-term solution to the great rail rip-off is public ownership and it is frankly disgusting that the public route wasn't even considered by the Tories when Virgin were banned from the railway. "As ever on the private rail franchise merry-go-round this is very much "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" for RMT and we will take whatever action is required to defend our members jobs, pay and conditions,” he said. RAIL FRANCHISE CHAOS ROLLS ON Northern to be stripped of franchise, Abellio Scotrail franchise not extended and FirstGroup get hold of West Coast main line SAME OLD BOSS: an Avanti West Coast train departs from London's Euston Station for its inaugural journey along the West Coast Main Line (WCML) last month.