The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Rail passenger numbers below 20% of usual level
Passenger numbers at major railway stations were below a fifth of usual levels as services were hit on the second day of rail strikes.
Network Rail said the amount of people using its stations on Tuesday, the first day of this week’s strikes, was 12-18% of normal, and there was a similar situation yesterday.
Edinburgh Waverley, London Euston, London Paddington and Liverpool Lime Street were among the stations with far fewer passengers than a typical weekday.
Broadband provider Virgin Media O2 said “millions more people are working from home” this week. It recorded a 10% increase in usage on Tuesday.
Around 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at
Network Rail and 13 train operators walked out again yesterday as the bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions continued.
Just one in five trains ran, and were mostly restricted to main lines, with around half of the network closed.
Services started later than normal at 7.30am and were due to shut down early at 6.30pm.
Last trains were much earlier than normal, such as London Euston to Glasgow at 1.30pm.
The disruption will continue today, with only 60% of trains running, mainly because of a delay to the start of services as signallers and control room staff will not turn up for overnight shifts.
Members of the drivers’ union Aslef on Greater Anglia walked out yesterday in a separate dispute over pay.
Boris Johnson branded the strikes a “terrible idea”.
The prime minister said: “I just think it is important to remember that these strikes are unnecessary.
“I think people should get around the table and sort it out.”
He added: “This is a government that is investing more in railways than any previous government in the last 50 years.”
Downing Street also urged the unions to call off the strikes, while saying it was a “question for the unions” whether to go ahead with tomorrow’s action.
Steve Montgomery, who chairs the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, was asked why rail workers are not being given a guarantee that reforms will not lead to compulsory redundancies.
He told BBC Breakfast that will depend on the extent of reforms, the popularity of voluntary severance schemes and how many workers can be retrained.
He added: “We believe that once we work through with the reform, that we can hopefully accommodate everybody who wants to stay within the organisation.”
More talks aimed at ending the dispute were held yesterday but no resolution was reached.
Kevin Groves, head of media at Network Rail, told Times Radio Breakfast: “Negotiation is about give and take, and at the moment the RMT are just take, take, take.”
RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey said he thinks “the public is behind us”.
He told the PA news agency: “They understand it’s a scandal that billions are being ripped out of our industry at the same time workers are being punished.”
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: “Our analysis suggests the RMT figure of train operator profits isn’t accurate and is based on projections, rather than reality.
“The figures published by the Office of Rail and Road tell a different story.
“Last year, 20 train operators made a total of £75m in profits, with a profit margin of only 0.6%.
“Staff costs for train operators went from £3.1bn in 2017-18 to £3.6bn in 2019-20.
“This is partly due to an increase in staff, but also reflects pay increases in that period, despite the RMT claims that staff haven’t had any pay rises.”