FUNDING FOR LOCAL BUS SERVICES HALVED IN SOME REGIONS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2020 :: RMTnews 9 R MT has endorsed a report published by the TUC which exposes the fact that funding for local bus services has been cut by over half in some English regions since 2010. RMT said that the report will provide important ammunition in the union campaign for expanded and publicly-owned bus services across the UK. The analysis shows that across England as a whole funding for bus routes is down by £154 million (-14%) as a result of Conservative cuts to local government funding. Council funding for key local services – including transport – has been slashed by £7.8 billion since the turn of the decade. The impact of these cuts is borne out by shocking reports of services ripped to shreds by RMT members on the front line. More than 3,000 local bus routes in Britain have been lost or reduced over the past decade. This is despite the fact that almost 60 per cent of journeys on public transport in Britain are made on buses. Meanwhile, private bus companies have continued to pay out dividends, despite cuts to service. The TUC report says that despite cuts to local services private bus operators are still paying large sums to shareholders. In 2017 around £150 million was paid out to shareholders of Stagecoach, First, Go Ahead, Arriva and National Express – the five biggest private bus companies. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the TUC research revealed that the privatisation and deregulation of the bus industry had failed. “Despite massive cuts to services since 2010, the private bus companies have continued to pay out hundreds of millions in dividends to shareholders. “We need a national bus strategy underpinned by public ownership and I welcome the commitments from the Labour Party to restore the bus routes axed by the Tories and allowing councils to take their bus networks into public ownership,” he said. A nalysis by RMT reveals that the German state- owned operator of London Overground paid out more than £4 million to shareholders last year while axing ticket offices. Detailed analysis by the union of the latest accounts for Arriva Rail London which operates London Overground and is planning the wholesale butchery of ticket offices, reveal that the company more than doubled its profits last year, to £9.5 million. In the same period, it paid out a massive £4.5 million in dividends to shareholders. The union said that with the boardroom awash with cash it was nothing short of a scandal that Arriva are planning to rip apart passenger services at station level in a drive for even fatter profits. Overall, the company’s income, which mainly comes via a concession payment from the publicly funded TfL, increased by £25 million. Despite already making millions in profit, the company is further attempting to drain money out of London Overground by closing ticket offices, cutting ticket office hours to the bare minimum, and failing to permanently fill the hundreds of vacancies that exist across the network, risking passenger safety, security and accessibility. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that it was clear from the figures that the company cared much more about profit than London Overground passengers. “It is a disgrace that the private operator of London Overground is paying out millions in dividends to shareholders, while being in receipt of a large publicly funded concession payment. This is just more evidence of the failure of our privatised railways. "It is nothing short of a scandal that Arriva Rail London is continuing to force through ticket office closures and cuts, which will disadvantage passengers, to extract as much profit from London Overground as possible. "Once again, I am calling on the Mayor of London to intervene and halt these damaging cuts and closures to ticket offices. A failure to take action is an insult to London Overground passengers. 'Our rail services should be run as a universal public service, not as a money- making machine,” he said. FUNDING FOR LOCAL BUS SERVICES HALVED IN SOME REGIONS LONDON OVERGROUND PROFIT BONANZA