Unions criticise retention of public sector involvement

The leaders of all three of the largest rail unions were united in their condemnation of Keith Williams’ remarks concerning ongoing private sector involvement.

Having long argued that train operations should be brought back into public ownership, they believe that the collapse of franchising at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic serves to reinforce their position.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash criticised the independent chairman of the rail review for being “more interested in saving rail privatisation” than improving Britain’s railways.

ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said that the Williams Review “does not engage with the fundamental problem that rail is a natural monopoly - a monopoly that should be run as a public service”.

He added: “This crisis has underlined the fact that we need to bring the wheels and the steel back together in a verticallyintegrated national network run for the benefit of passengers, taxpayers, businesses and staff in the public sector.”

TSSA Leader Manuel Cortes adopted the same position as Cash and Whelan, while also interpreting Williams’ reference to the McNulty Review as an indication that thousands of staffing cuts could now be pursued across the network in order to reduce costs.

He said: “You cannot cut your way to a safe, reliable and environmentally friendly service which will increase passenger numbers.

“We need a long-term view for our railways which breaks from the failure of privatisation, which has sucked profits out of the industry and morphed into an inefficient muddle of operators. Instead, we need a simplified, publicly-run railway which delivers for our country.”