Train travel will worsen under government plans, MPs warn

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/08/train-travel-worse-government-plans

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Trains will become more crowded and expensive and services will be cut under government plans for the railways, MPs have warned.

More than 100 MPs have signed an early day motion criticising government proposals to break up Network Rail and curb funding.

The motion warns that the government's plans will "worsen passenger services through the loss of thousands of frontline workers from trains, stations, ticket offices, safety-critical infrastructure and operational roles", and "will result in higher fares, cuts in services and more crowded trains".

The government has demanded that the industry make savings, with a view to cutting subsidies as well as pledging to end the annual above-inflation fare rises. Ticket office closures look certain after Justine Greening, the transport secretary, confirmed this year that she wanted the industry to deliver savings of £3.5bn a year by 2019. Responding to the review conducted by Sir Roy McNulty last year, she said passengers and taxpayers were picking up the tab for a "costly efficiency gap" and reform was long overdue.

The signatories say that proposals to break up the track operator, Network Rail, will make the railways more complex and less efficient and ignore the experience of European counterparts.

The motion, tabled by the Labour MP John McDonnell, has attracted cross-party support including the former Liberal Democrat leaders Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell. It urges the government to run the railway as a "public service" with "affordable fares and proper staffing levels".

The TUC has meanwhile highlighted figures from the rail regulator showing that increased fares have come while investment in the network by train operating companies has halved over the last five years, from £743m in 2006-07 to £377m last year.

The TUC deputy general secretary, Frances O'Grady, said: "MPs from across the political spectrum are voicing the concerns of thousands of their constituents who feel ripped off by private train operators who inflict heavy fare rises while cutting staff on trains and stations and keeping investment in decent facilities on trains and stations to a minimum.

"These same companies are now being rewarded by the government with longer franchises and more freedom to maximise profits while cutting staff and closing ticket offices, showing exactly where ministers' priorities lie – not with the passenger but with the executives and shareholders of the train operating companies."

The RMT union's general secretary, Bob Crow, said: "The scandal of rail privatisation, which has bled billions in private profit out of our transport system for the last two decades, not only continues but is set to worsen under the plans laid out in the government's McNulty rail review.

"This government has learnt nothing from the tragedies of the past and is allowing the profiteers to bleed the railways of desperately needed investment while creating the perfect conditions for another Hatfield or Potters Bar. It is a national disgrace."

The rail minister, Theresa Villiers, said: "There is a consensus in the rail industry that inefficiency and waste is costing hard-pressed farepayers and taxpayers too much. That is why the government has set out a roadmap for action alongside the industry to deliver real value for money so we can end inflation-busting fare rises and deliver a better service for passengers."