blog Public services Rail Union RMT vow to fight for East Coast to remain in public ownership 
Blog
Rail Union RMT vow to fight for East Coast to remain in public ownership
Despite the failure of National Express to run an effective service on the East Coast Mainline, and the re-nationalisation of the route a couple of weeks ago, the Government have announced that this nationalisation will be short lived as yet another private company will be allowed to operate the line from May 2011.
This comes as another disappointment after the government failed to utilise the cross-default clauses on National Express’s C2C services. Although the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has announced that National Express will lose the East Anglia contract after 2011, he had previously been considering stripping the failed company of their other contracts with immediate effect.
Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said:
“Despite the blatant failures of privatisation on the East Coast, and despite the massive costs and disruption to the taxpayer and the users of the route, the government have now waded straight back in like compulsive gamblers with plans to take another punt with a private operator in just eighteen months time.
“This obsession with rail privatisation defies all logic and will be a massive vote-loser for Labour at the next general election with their core supporters. Recent polls show that over 70% of the British people oppose rail privatisation and yet they are being ignored by the politicians who seem to think our transport services should be little more than a cash point for the big private operators.
“RMT will fight hard for the East Coast to remain in public ownership and for the rest of railways to be run as public services not as an opportunity for the train operators to make a fast buck at the travellers expense.”
