FROM THE RMT'S WEBSITE

APRIL 29: HUNDREDS OF rail workers and supporters will march through London tomorrow (Saturday April 30) demanding an end to rail privatisation and the cancellation of the disastrous Tube PPP.


The demonstration and rally will welcome the 25 RMT Rail Against Privatisation marchers as they reach the capital two weeks after leaving Glasgow.

The demonstration will assemble at 12:00 midday at Whitehall Place, SW1 for a march to Camden Town Hall, where a public rally will begin at 15:00

Rally speakers include Tony Benn, RMT general secretary Bob Crow, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, CWU general secretary Billy Hayes and PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka.

“The RAP marchers have had a great reception in the 14 towns and cities they have already visited,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“The message they have received, loud and clear, all along the way, is that Britain wants a publicly owned railway.

“That is what rail users want, it is what the unions want and it is what the Labour Party overwhelmingly voted for – and it is about time that choice was put before the British people.

“There is a huge rail rebate to be had from bringing rail back into the public sector.

“RMT has shown that public ownership can release huge funds to help get projects like Crossrail started, put staff back on our deserted stations, keep rural railways on track and promote a fairer fares policy,” Bob Crow said.

ends

Notes to editors: The RAP national mobile demonstration started in Glasgow on April 16 and has passed through Edinburgh, Newcastle, Durham, York, Hull, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Derby, Nottingham, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Northampton, with public meetings off the route in Dover, Cardiff, Bristol and Exeter.

The failure of privatisation: In 1993-94 before privatisation over 90 per cent of trains on the publicly owned national network ran to time. In the year to 31 December 2004 the privately owned railway could only deliver 82.8 per cent on time.

£4.5bn in public subsidy now paid to the railway is more than three times the public subsidy paid to British Rail.

A recent report by the Independent think tank Catalyst calculated £800m a year is taken out of the industry as returns to private lenders and investors – a total leakage of more than £6bn since 1996.

The benefits of public ownership. According to Catalyst small transitional costs of taking the railways back into public ownership would subsequently reap huge savings for the taxpayer.

Savings would be accrued from reduced bureaucracy and an end to leakages to private providers of finance.

On a conservative estimate overall immediate cash savings of taking Network Rail, TOCs and Roscos in public ownership would be £500m a year. In addition on a conservative estimate taking renewals back in house would save £400m per annum.

So public ownership would deliver total savings of £900m a year of or £4.5 bn over the lifetime of a Labour Government.

Catalyst also argue that private sector investment would not be threatened as all private sector investment is ultimately paid from by tax payers and fare payers.

Consequences of continuing with privatisation. Catalyst warn“without direct public control over costs, money spent in support of the rail industry will prove unsustainable, creating pressure to shift the burden to passengers through fare rises and cuts to services.

Indeed the Railways Act passed by Parliament recently will make it easier to reduce the size of the network raising concerns over line closures, service reductions and job losses. The SRA’s Community Rail Development Strategy could result in further cuts to our rural and branch lines.

Closing lines and services will further prevent the government from reaching its domestic emissions targets. In addition the Royal Academy of Engineering has recently estimated road congestion costs the UK £15 billion a year.

Concern over services and fares has been heightened by reported comments by the Department of Transport's Director of Rail Strategy and Resources, Mark Lambirth, who recently warned senior rail industry figures that: ‘What you people have to understand is that the future is about service cuts and fares increases".