No problem; let alone wrong solution

East Coast, the public company running the East Coast Main Line has, to April 2012, returned £640m to the Treasury since returning to the public sector in 2009. Passenger numbers are up and growing, customer satisfaction is high and increasing, it is a highly valued, critically important transport service to the people and businesses of the north east.

At a time when the economy is fragile, business confidence low, it is reasonable to ask why the government would even consider taking a risk by opening up ECML to private sector bidders for the franchise. There have already been two major private sector failures on this line; National Express ended its contract in 2009 after taking over from GNER, who had reneged on their franchise arrangements three years earlier.

The government claims to have learned lessons from the West Coast Main Line franchise fiasco, which saw the loss of tens of millions of pounds just to see Virgin Trains end up with an extended contract. There is little confidence in the industry that the government has learned those lessons and there are legitimate concerns among rail unions that the latest series of franchising exercises could cost over £100m; this at a time when the Chancellor is looking at reducing public expenditure.

Last Wednesday was the 50^th anniversary of the Beeching Report. This report led to massive reductions in local railway services and regional lines. This is the complete opposite trajectory we need to be moving in today if we are to secure any progress on affordable and sustainable transport, it would be socially, economically and environmentally beneficial to be opening many of the existing, but unused, local rail lines in this region, but there is little sign of investment in these areas.

Despite inflation-busting price rises, instead of investing in rail the government and Train Operating Companies seem hell-bent on a six-year programme of cost-cutting, a decision which will lead to major reductions in staffing across the industry and also to a serious deterioration in customer satisfaction and subsequent patronage, following the recommendations of the McNulty report. 'Action for Rail', a coalition of rail industry trade unions and passenger groups, estimate that the proposals could lead to the loss of over 20,000 jobs, including guards, ticketing and maintenance staff, the closure of 675 ticket offices and a further 50 per cent increase in unstaffed stations.

This is not what rail passengers want and these changes will raise significant concerns among the travelling public. Personal security is a real concern for many late night passengers, especially in remote stations. Reasonable staffing levels providing some additional confidence as well as being a valued source of information and advice is one of the factors people rate most highly in their journey experience.

Instead of improvement and expansion, the rail industry looks set for more risky privatisation and further cuts; the Coalition Government are getting this one wrong too.

Kevin Rowan

Regional Secretary

Northern TUC