Rail unions warn over cuts threat to safety

12 April 2012

Union leaders today raised "serious safety fears" over rail maintenance if the transport budget is slashed under government plans to curb public spending.

The Rail Maritime and Transport union warned that maintenance and renewal work on the railways would be "savaged" if cuts of up to 40% went ahead.

The union attacked government policies on the railways, saying that procurement of rolling stock was being scrapped, fares were set to increase by up to 10 per cent and developments such as high-speed and electrification were being shelved.

Secretary Bob Crow said: "With cuts of up to 40% in the transport budget, we are looking at thousands of job losses amongst the staff who operate and maintain services, with dire consequences for passenger safety as corners are cut.

"It is crystal clear that modernisation and upgrade works will be axed, with high-speed, electrification and Crossrail all on the butcher's block.

"With the Government also planning to raise fares by up to 10%, it doesn't take a genius to see that the state-funded racket of rail privatisation is being protected from the scorched-earth economics of the ConDems.

"The public will be forced to pay through the nose to travel on condemned and crowded trains on creaking and dangerous track while the private rail companies are laughing all the way to the bank."

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