Deregulation has been a disaster for UK buses – research has shown that it has translated into higher fares, worse services and a fall in bus use and lower pay for bus workers. In the big…Read more…
Unions aren’t to blame for the Southern Rail situation. They’re trying to help.
After much delay (it was completed in December) the DfT have finally published the Gibb Report into the causes of and solutions to the problems that beset the Southern Rail franchise. The report is complex and covers a huge amount of territory in its 1…Read more…
The stats are in on rail privatisation… it’s not looking good.
Privatisation has cost the taxpayer over £50bn in unnecessary costs. A joint study by Essex University and Queen Mary’s University has confirmed what unions and passenger groups have been saying for years. Privatisation has been a colossal waste of money. The conclusions are damning. The “hugely…Read more…
‘Most popular policy’
Extortionate rail fares that never fail to rise above the rate of inflation now seem as British as dreary weather. Europe, however, is known for having friendlier climes and superior…Read more…
Super fare price hike for rail users
As commuters return to work today facing fresh price hikes, shocking new research shows that regular UK travellers are paying up to six times more of their salary on fares than passengers who enjoy…Read more…
Passenger safety threat
Plans to strip Network Rail of complete control of England’s railway tracks are a retrograde step that raises the spectre of the Hatfield train crash in 2000 which happened under the watch of…Read more…
Accessible transport for all
Congress hailed the announcement by London mayor Sadiq Khan last week that London TravelWatch would undertake a review of ticket office closures, a move that was the subject of an emergency motion on…Read more…
Railway infrastructure: a no-brainer for Britain
Since at least the financial crisis the TUC has argued for increased infrastructure spending as part of a coherent industry plan. From 2010 the coalition government did the opposite, cutting spending with no coherent strategy. In economic terms the con…Read more…
Rail: nationalise now
As services dangerously deteriorate, rail fares have continued to rise, outstripping wages by more than double since 2010, a new analysis has found. As it was announced today (August 16) that…Read more…
Vote of confidence
The £1bn contract to build trains for the newly awarded East Anglian rail franchise by Derby-based Bombardier was hailed as ‘a vote of confidence’ in UK manufacturing by Unite today (August 10)….Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn’s speech to Unite Policy Conference
Jeremy Corbyn’s speech showed how much his own views align with Unite policies. He got particularly strong applause for his commitments to renationalise the railways and repeal the Trade Union Act. He also talked about the Workplace 2020 discussions ab…Read more…
‘One way ticket to disaster’
Network Rail – a public body operating UK rail networks – has begun selling off assets valued at £1.8bn in a bid to make up for a massive government funding shortfall. But a new report…Read more…
‘So much for the Northern Powerhouse’
Trade unionists and MPs gathered in Manchester yesterday (March 31), to warn that state funding for northern England’s railways is set to fall by over 85 per cent during the next 10 years, with dire…Read more…
Unfair fares are up
This week (January 4) rail fares increased to the anger of commuters, who have been left to pick up the cost of rail privatisation. The increase of one per cent increase to season tickets and…Read more…
The People’s railway
Unite has welcomed Jeremy Corbyn’s proposed people’s railway describing it as “an end to business as usual for failed companies in a failed system.” The new Labour leader has indicated he…Read more…
Fares still unfair
Regulated rail fares are set to rise by 1 per cent in January, after inflation figures released today (August 18) show an unchanged Retail Price Index (RPI) in July. Over the last two years,…Read more…
The East Coast Mainline: Why was the government so quiet about one of its great successes?
Organisations generally want to celebrate their successes. A bit of boasting burnishes an organisation’s public image, as well as boosting the reputations of its staff, management, and promoters. Some organisations even celebrate their failures. The Royal Bank of Scotland, majority owned by the UK…Read more…