SAFETY CONCERNS ON SCOTLAND’S RAILWAY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2021 :: RMTnews 7 RMT has welcomed Members of the Scottish Parliament raising much needed awareness of safety concerns on Scotland’s railway. Concerns grew following reports that Network Rail in Scotland has over 200 infrastructure vacancies whilst at the same time some of the biggest private rail infrastructure contractors including Babcock Rail, SPL Powerlines, Story Plant and AMCO were ploughing ahead with redundancies, posing safety concerns with Scotland’s rail infrastructure. MSPs have tabled Parliamentary Questions and a Motion calling on the Scottish government to ensure the safety on Scotland’s railway by protecting and increasing vital infrastructure jobs on Scotland’s railways to keep Scotland moving as the country moves into the next phase of the Covid-19 crisis. In the motion the MSPs say they are “alarmed that these reported rail infrastructure redundancies and unfilled vacancies will adversely impact on the quality of the rail network and passenger safety”. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the union was concerned about the double whammy of significant vacant posts in Network Rail Scotland while private contractors were making vital railway workers redundant is putting huge pressure on an already stretched workforce. “We’d like to thank those MSPs who have shone a light on this and we now need cast iron guarantees from the Scottish government that they will ensure those vacant posts are filled as quickly as possible and that there will be no more redundancies by private contractors and ensure there is a proper strategy to protect and increase vital rail jobs in Scotland,” he said. Dear First Minister, We are writing to you regarding the future of Scotland’s rail passenger services and to call on the Scottish Government to take these services into public ownership from January 2021. Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19, the Abellio Scotrail franchise was providing neither value for money nor an acceptable level of service for passengers. You, of course, recognised this and last year stated that Scotrail was in ‘the last chance saloon’. The Covid-19 pandemic has, of course, created substantial and unprecedented challenges for Scotland’s railways, and passenger numbers remain significantly lower than pre- pandemic levels. The Scottish Government has, through Emergency Measures Agreements, provided significant additional funding for Scotrail and the Caledonian Sleeper, who would otherwise have become unviable during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this support from the Scottish taxpayer, it is business as usual for the private operators who still stand to profit from Scotland’s railway through being paid a fee for operating services. We firmly believe that when the current Emergency Measures Agreements expire in January 2021, rather than extending them, the Scottish Government should use the powers that it has to take Scotland’s rail passenger services into public ownership via the Operator of Last Resort (OLR). As you know these powers can be used when the rail operator is no longer able to run the service and is a course of action the Welsh Government has recently taken to protect its rail services. 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 FUTURE OF SCOTLAND’S RAIL PASSENGER SERVICES REDUNDANCIES: Apprentices at a Babcock training base in Blantyre, Scotland. SAFETY CONCERNS ON SCOTLAND’S RAILWAY