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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2021 :: RMTnews
6
A coalition of organisations
and MSPs has called on the
Scottish government to take
Scotland’s rail passenger
services into public ownership
from this January 2021 when
the Scotrail and Caledonian
Sleeper Covid Emergency
Measures Agreements expire.
The letter is signed by 14
organisations representing
Scotland’s rail workers,
passengers, disabled people,
pensioners, environmentalists,
civil society and 20 cross-party
MSPs.
The signatories highlight
that the Covid-19 pandemic
has created ‘substantial and
unprecedented challenges’ for
Scotland’s railway, and that
the Scottish Government has
provided significant funding
for the operators during this
period. Yet, despite this
support from the Scottish
taxpayer, the private operators
Abellio Scotrail and Serco
Caledonian Sleeper ‘still stand
to profit from Scotland’s
railway through being paid a
fee for operating services’.
The letter to Scotland’s
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
goes on to say
that“Appointing a public
operator in the New Year
would provide greater stability
and resilience for Scotland’s
railways. It would also end
profiteering and provide
greater value for money for
taxpayers and passengers by
ensuring all funds are
reinvested into creating an
improved and more affordable
railway that can play a greater
role in connecting
communities and reducing
carbon emissions.”
The letter is signed by the
following organisations: RMT,
Aslef, STUC, TSSA, Unite the
Union, Association of British
Commuters, Bring Back British
Rail, Common Wealth,
Disabled People Against Cuts,
Friends of the Earth Scotland,
Get Glasgow Moving,
Platform, Scottish Pensioners
Forum, We Own It.
The letter is signed by the
following MSPs: Jackie Baillie
MSP, Claudia Beamish MSP,
Neil Bibby MSP, Sarah Boyack
MSP, Neil Findlay MSP, John
Finnie MSP, Rhoda Grant MSP,
Iain Gray MSP, Daniel Johnson
MSP, James Kelly MSP, Johann
Lamont MSP, Monica Lennon
MSP, Richard Leonard MSP,
Lewis Macdonald MSP, Pauline
McNeill MSP, Alex Rowley
MSP, Mark Ruskell MSP, Elaine
Smith MSP, Colin Smyth MSP,
David Stewart MSP.
NATIONALISE SCOTLAND’S
RAILWAYS NOW!
Coalition of organisations and MSPs call for
public ownership of rail from this month