Come clean on plans for railways, Government urged as cuts bite

THE Government is being urged to “come clean” on its plans for the railways amid continued cuts in services.

Train operators including South Western Railway and Greater Anglia have made announcements this week about revisions to their timetables.

Fewer passengers are travelling on the railways and companies are being affected by Covid-related staff shortages.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) has written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying it wants answers on whether the Government plans to slash £2 billion from the operating costs of England’s railways.

The union is also seeking assurances that job losses on the railways will not be compulsory.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “The Government must come clean on its plans for our railways. Passengers and staff deserve to know what’s happening to their services and their industry and what level of rail services the Government wants our country to run.

“The Government severance programme for staff across our railways put the cart before the horse - trying to get staff out of the industry without having plans for what operations need to be staffed.

“Our railways are crucial to our economy, our fight against the climate crisis and in keeping our country connected. Cutting our railways would cause greater harm.”

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), said: “No-one should underestimate the impact that Covid is having on transport staff and there is a logic to adjusting services accordingly.

“However, any attempt to use this crisis to cynically bulldoze through permanent cuts to services and staffing levels would meet the stiffest resistance from this trade union.

“The current situation exposes existing shortages of staff.”

Victoria Jones South Western Railway announced this week that it was cutting services