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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2021 :: RMTnews
7
The Scottish government has
announced that Scotland’s
railways will be nationalised
next year after transport
secretary Michael Matheson
said that “the current
franchising system is no
longer fit for purpose”.
The government was also
drawing up further
emergency agreements with
both ScotRail and the
troubled Caledonian Sleeper
franchise from April to
September amid the fallout
of the Covid pandemic, with
support estimated to cost
£173.1 million.
The ScotRail franchise run
by Abellio will be taken over
by the state’s operator of last
resort when its contract
expires in March 2022. The
move comes after the Welsh
government took its railway
network into public hands by
ending the Keolis-Amey
franchise in February.
Two major franchises in
England, LNER and Northern,
are already run by the
government through its
operator of last resort, and
the Office for National
Statistics said in 2020 that rail
services had been in effect
nationalised due to the level
of Treasury support.
RMT general secretary
Mick Cash welcomed the fact
that ScotRail services would
be run in the public sector
within a year.
“We have long
campaigned for the Scottish
government to utilise its
existing powers and take
Scotland’s rail passenger
services into public
ownership and this
announcement represents a
clear victory for this
campaign.
“The Scottish government
is looking to extend the
Abellio ScotRail Emergency
Measures Agreement until
September 2021 but, rather
than propping up Abellio for
any longer, RMT is calling on
the Scottish government to
have the Operator of Last
Resort in place from
September this year.
“Public ownership of
ScotRail will deliver significant
benefits for Scotland’s rail
workers, passengers and
taxpayers and help enable
the creation of an affordable,
accessible and sustainable
rail network that contributes
to Scotland’s decarbonisation
targets.
“In light of the
announcement, RMT will be
seeking urgent discussions
with the Scottish government
to ensure that all ScotRail
workers’ jobs, pay and
conditions are protected
throughout this process and
once they transfer to the new
operator,” he said.
The Scottish government
had already announced in
2019 that it would enforce an
early break clause in Abellio’s
original 10-year franchise
after years of poor
performance and industrial
disputes.
A yet-to-be-published
review of Britain’s rail system
by Keith Williams has already
indicated the end of the
traditional franchising system
but passenger train services
are still being contracted out
under emergency recovery
measures agreements.
SCOTRAIL TO BE
NATIONALISED
RMT calls for a speeder
transition for Scotrail
being returned to the
public sector