banner unionsafete

Rail Cuts Put Safety On The Line

Drastic jobs cuts on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) will create a maintenance and safety crisis that could lead to new rail disasters, RMT has warned.

The rail union says its research has uncovered that nearly half of the maintenance job cuts planned by Network Rail will be on the line, a franchise operated by Virgin Trains and the busiest rail corridor on the UK system. The figures obtained by the union show a total of 1,448 Network Rail maintenance jobs have been identified for the axe, with 650 of these on the WCML.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: 'With the well-documented history of infrastructure problems and failures on the West Coast Main Line it simply defies all logic that Network Rail could even be considering axing 650 maintenance jobs as part of their national cost reduction plan. We should also remember that the Grayrigg disaster occurred on the WCML and that reports into that incident fingered systemic problems with the maintenance regime.'

He added: 'Under those circumstances alone it beggars belief that Network Rail could be even considering hundreds of maintenance job cuts. RMT is committed to fighting the national jobs cull across Network Rail and we will be drawing in political and public support across the country for what is an important battle for safety and reliability on the rail network.'

Source:TUC Risks



Designed, Hosted and Maintained by Union Safety Services