Wheres Bob Crow ? Wheres the Unions when you need em ? A profitable rail network being sold off ????? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Britains East Coast main line set to be sold off to French government consortium Britains only state-run railway - the flagship East Coast line - is expected to be sold off to a consortium headed by the French government this week. Speculation mounted in the City that the London to Scotland East Coast main line from London to Edinburgh that a deal was about to be sealed. And a bid by Channel Tunnel rail operator Eurostar International and sister company Keolis – both controlled by France’s state-owned rail firm SNCF – is front-runner to win the contract for the route. Labour MPs and rail unions reacted with fury, but a Department for Transport spokesman said that no decision had been made yet. Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, said the decision to re-privatise the East Coast line was “right-wing Tory dogma being put ahead of the best interests of passengers.” The RMT rail union recently published research showing that 20 of the UK’s 27 private rail franchises, the equivalent of 74%, are now owned by foreign state-owned or state-backed railways mostly from France, Germany and the Netherlands. The East Coast line is currently owned by the taxpayer and controlled by the government via a specially established company called Directly Operated Railways (DOR) in Whitehall. Profits go back to the taxpayer rather than to shareholders. The state-run East Coast mainline has generated a bumper £1bn windfall for taxpayers over five years since 2009 when it was taken over from National Express which handed back the keys claiming it could not pay the premiums. East Coast paid a record £235m back to the government in its final full year as a ‘nationalised’ company – up 12 per cent on the previous year. Mick Cash, RMT general secretary, said: “It is a national disgrace that the government is about to confirm that it is bulldozing ahead with the re-privatisation of the East Coast Main Line. “This is pure industrial vandalism and the strong rumour that the French-state operator is in poll position to mop up this vital, strategic North/South route says it all. “This Government is happy to have state ownership of our railways as long as it isn’t by the British state, in the interests of the British people.” And Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA transport union, said: “This has got nothing to do with improving services but everything to do with sheer political spite. “Here we have the best-value franchise, which has returned £1 billion to the taxpayer over the past five years, being sold overseas because it is a public sector success story. “Rather than allow that to continue, the Tories would rather see it in French hands. They don’t want the voters having the chance to keep it in the public sector by voting Labour in May.” mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britains-east-coast-main-line-4696048
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 11:06:52 +0000
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