National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers (RMT)

BBC News: 17 August 2008

Workers who clean Eurostar have voted to strike on Bank Holiday Monday in a dispute over pay.

The pay dispute has been raging for a number of years

More than 120 members of the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out for 24 hours on 25 August.

The union wants a higher basic wage than the £6.37 an hour the staff, who work for contractor OCS, receive.

OCS was unavailable to comment. A Eurostar spokeswoman said services would be as normal and contingency plans would be in place if necessary.

Eurostar is expected to ferry about 140,000 passengers between London, Paris and Brussels during the Bank Holiday weekend.

Bitter dispute

The union and OCS management have clashed for some time over cleaners' wages.

Union officials said cleaners were not paid extra for working bank holidays.

In addition, RMT General Secretary Bob Crow argued there was no pension, sick pay and only the "bare minimum legal holiday entitlement".

He called the situation a "disgrace".

A strike was threatened in the run up to Christmas 2006 but was called off amid further negotiations.

Then, union officials had been demanding pay of at least £7.20.

This is a level that is regarded by the Greater London Authority as the minimum rate that a worker can live on to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their family in the capital.

Posted on 4:22 PM | Permalink

Wilts & Glos Standard: 12th August 2008
By Andy Woolfoot

COMMUTERS are being called upon to join the fight for better rail services in Gloucestershire.

Rail users travelling to work tomorrow at Kemble Station will be given leaflets and asked to sign petitions supporting Gloucestershire County Council’s campaign to add an extra track to the existing single line railway between Kemble and Swindon.

GCC says the extra track will help trains run on time, provide better business links and boost the local economy and switch more freight from road to rail improving congestion and the environment.

In June the Government’s Office of the Rail Regulator refused to provide funding for Network Rail’s proposals to double the railtrack, effectively putting the scheme on the backburner for several years.

County council bosses hope that this campaign can bring enough pressure on the ORR to bring the scheme back on track.

Cllr Julie Girling, GCC Cabinet member for the environment, said, "We have been lobbying constantly on this issue for many years and yet no-one outside the county seems to be listening to us.

"Without the extra track there is a real danger that the growth in new housing will far outstrip new jobs leading to a slowdown in the local economy, more people commuting out of the area and the inevitable knock-on effect of more congestion and carbon emissions."

In an Adjournment Debate on June 30, Transport Minister Tom Harris confirmed his awareness of the underlying issues and invited the rail industry to re-submit its business case to the ORR.

He also offered the assistance of his officials at the DfT for the re-submission of the case.

To register your support for the campaign visit www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/railpetition or fill in the coupon below and send it to Freepost RRYJ-GCLA-TLHR, Gloucestershire County Council, Environment Directorate, Shire Hall, Gloucestershire, GL1 2TH.

Posted on 10:35 AM | Permalink

RMT: August 12 2008

FOUR DAYS of strike action by some 12,000 Network Rail maintenance workers scheduled to begin on Friday have been suspended by Britain’s biggest rail union after Network Rail agreed to further talks tomorrow.

A face-to-face meeting between RMT general secretary Bob Crow and Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher on the long-running dispute over harmonisation of terms and conditions is also to be scheduled as soon as possible.

The union, which has already mounted two weekend strikes, was due to escalate its action after a breakthrough made in earlier talks was vetoed by Network Rail at director level.

“We have been seeking meaningful talks with Network Rail and a face-to-face meeting with Iain Coucher in order to get negotiations back on track,” Bob Crow said today.

“Network Rail has now responded positively, and to allow fresh talks to take place the RMT executive has today suspended the four-day strike scheduled to begin on Friday.

“The ball is now firmly in Network Rail’s court and we now expect the company to demonstrate that it is prepared to negotiate with us properly and in good faith.

“Our members have already shown quite clearly where they stand with two weekends of rock-solid strike action, and Network Rail should be under no illusion that they remain determined to win a harmonisation package that delivers fairness and justice,” Bob Crow said.

Posted on 4:58 PM | Permalink

Railway People: August 12th 2008

Rail entrepreneur Pete Waterman is leading calls for the establishment of an employer-led National Railway Skills Academy.

‘We need a thorough-going national railway apprenticeship scheme,’ says Pete. ‘Too many schemes are light weight, paper-based and impracticable. We need people who understand everything about railways from ballast and embankments to overhead catenary and computing. And we need it now.’

Surge in demand

Waterman’s call comes as infrastructure companies square up to the surge in demand this summer for more railway engineers and technicians. With work on Crossrail expected to start early next year and projects on Thameslink and the London Underground forging ahead, Britain’s acute skills shortage could seriously hamper the UK’s fast expanding rail industry.

Ambitious rail projects overseas from Dubai to Dublin soak up the international rail skills base causing further headaches for rail chiefs.

Gordon Brown meeting

‘A high-profile national railway skills apprenticeship scheme run by and for railway employers that gets young people building a worthwhile career anywhere in the railway industry has to be good for all of us,’ says Pete.

Recently Waterman met Gordon Brown and put his idea to the prime minister, urging government backing for the scheme. ‘It‘s no good pumping money into quangos and agencies, I told him. We need a national nuts and bolts scheme run by us, the employers, for the good of the whole industry.’

Waterman speaks from experience. The one time locomotive fireman is also chairman of the London and North Western Railway Company based in Crewe. LNWR maintains Class 86 and Class 90 locomotives for Freightliner and Voyagers for Bombardier Transportation. With more business piling up LNWR needs skilled engineers to cope with demand.

‘The staff just aren’t there,’ says Pete. ‘That’s why we want to create the National Railway Skills Academy. This will provide detailed and thorough railway apprenticeships at three levels of entry: First for school leavers aged sixteen who have just completed GCSEs. Secondly for graduates fresh from university looking for a career with plenty of different opportunities. Thirdly for non-academic folk looking to develop a solid rewarding career in one of Britain’s most vibrant industries. The NRSA will have schools in Derby, York, Crewe and London.’

We need a national scheme

The NRSA will complement existing schemes; LNWR itself runs apprenticeships at Crewe. ‘Companies like Network Rail and Tube Lines have excellent apprenticeship schemes but we need a national scheme that attracts people to the industry generally.’

‘Working in railways is hard, I know from experience. There’s lots to learn, miles to travel and you’re working all sorts of hours. You won’t pick it all up on a two week familiarisation course. A good apprenticeship deepens and expands the body of knowledge acquired.’

Stable, secure, well paid and worthwhile

‘A career in railways offers endless variety, all sorts of different challenges and yet it is stable, secure, well paid and worthwhile. Who wants to be a nine-to-fiver anyway? The railway is a growing industry which is itself working hard to keep valued staff and develop people potential.’

The National Railway Skills Academy marks a turning point in the development of new railway staff, equipping the industry for the changes and expansion that lies ahead. ‘Together we can build something durable and concrete rather than just papering over the cracks in the plaster,’ says Pete who will be talking more about the National Railway Skills Academy when he introduces the RailStaff Awards 2008 at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on 1st November.

Posted on 10:39 AM | Permalink

Western Mail: Aug 11 2008
by Rhodri Clark,

INVESTMENT in a flagship Welsh railway scheme was skimped after the number of people using the trains was “woefully underestimated”, an AM claimed yesterday.

Last week the reopened Ebbw Vale railway passed its first six months of operation, with figures showing it has carried more than a quarter of a million passengers.

With 44,000 passengers a month, the trains have not only doubled the forecast of 22,000, but have even smashed the 2012 target of 33,000 passengers.

But while the success of the £30m Welsh Assembly Government-funded scheme has delighted officials, there is concern that the scheme missed out on further investment because of the inaccurate forecast.

During the construction phase, a decision was made to provide just three miles of double track instead of nine. That rules out any additional services over the line – including a link to Newport, an omission that has been strongly criticised – without major expenditure.

Providing nine miles of double track in the original project would have been relatively cheap, because the entire railway was a construction site. Now the work would take place on a live railway, with expensive additional safety measures required.

Blaenau Gwent AM Trish Law is now seeking urgent talks with transport minister Ieuan Wyn Jones to see if remaining elements of the rail scheme, which could help ease “gross overcrowding” on the line, can be speeded up.

“Clearly there has been an under-investment in the development and restoration of the rail link between Cardiff and Ebbw Vale,” she said.

“While we need, for example, a greater length of double track, the cost is going to be significantly more than it would have been had these matters been addressed during track construction.

“Set against the need for more investment in the line that already exists is the need to invest in the missing links – the Newport spur and the extension of the line to both Ebbw Vale town and Abertillery.

“It is evident that passenger forecasts have been woefully underestimated. I get many complaints of standing-room only and grossly overcrowded trains.

“I shall be writing to Arriva to see if there is adequate rolling stock and to see what can be done to alleviate the problems.

“Having said that, I am delighted that the demand for passenger services between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff is so great.”

Blaenau Gwent council, which implemented the project to reopen the line for the first time in more than 40 years, said the train’s popularity reflected increased activity in the local economy.

A spokesman said: “The number of passengers using the Ebbw Valley railway is currently twice that forecast in 2002. This is very good news.”

Arriva Trains Wales commercial director Mike Bagshaw said: “There is no doubt of the popularity of this service, which has exceeded all expectations.

“Saturdays and the holiday periods are the most popular times to travel on the line and we have put on extra carriages at these times to cope with demand. Performance has also been high, with more than 96% of trains arriving within five minutes of the published time.”

The passenger numbers could easily have been higher. The service was meant to start in December, bringing crowds of Christmas shoppers on board, but was delayed until February 6.

Two of the six new stations, Crosskeys and Llanhilleth, opened months later. Easter was exceptionally early and cold, and the spring and summer weather have not been the best for days out.

The credit crunch may also have held back the number of commuters using the train, by stopping many Cardiff workers buying houses near the new stations.

A WAG spokesman said: “The new link shows our commitment to a strong role for railways in a greener 21st-century Wales. It will also act as a catalyst for economic regeneration.

“Network Rail is currently carrying out a feasibility study on behalf of the WAG to look at options for running a service between Ebbw Vale and Newport.”

Posted on 12:44 AM | Permalink

Press Association: 11 August 2008

Thousands of rail passengers have objected to plans by a leading train company to cut the opening hours of some of its ticket offices.

Consumer group Passenger Focus said it feared the proposals by South West Trains (SWT) to reduce opening times at 114 stations would lead to passengers paying more for off-peak tickets.

SWT has said it planned to install more and better ticket machines, but Passenger Focus said there was still a need for station staff.

See also:

Unions welcome Passenger Focus objection to SWT ticket-office cuts

RMT: August 11 2008

Government urged to block ‘unpopular and unjustifiable’ attack on services

BRITAIN’S TWO biggest rail unions have given a warm welcome to the objection to plans by South West Trains to slash ticket-office opening times at 114 stations lodged today with the government by rail users’ watchdog Passenger Focus.

RMT and TSSA joined forces over the last few weeks in a campaign to urge passengers to protest to Passenger Focus over plans that would leave dozens of stations without ticket offices all weekend, and dozens more without cover in the evenings and early mornings.

Passenger Focus has the power to challenge the planned cuts and today urged the government to instruct SWT to shelve them, and it revealed today that it had received thousands of objections from passengers (link to press release below).

The two unions have today also asked the Department of Transport to ensure that the company respects the wishes of its passengers, and are urging objectors to do the same.

“This is a good day for passengers and rail workers alike, and Passenger Focus is to be congratulated for putting the case against cuts that are as unjustifiable as they are unpopular,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“At a time when passenger numbers are growing and footfall through stations is at record levels we need to see more staff on stations, not fewer, and we have written to the DfT urging it to uphold the objection lodged by Passenger Focus,” Bob Crow said.

“The support for this campaign from all over SWT’s franchise area has been overwhelming, but it won’t be over until we know these plans have been abandoned,” TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said.

“It is important that objectors now to write to the DfT asking the government to respect passengers’ wishes and tell SWT that its ticket-office cuts are not on,” Gerry Doherty said.

ends

The Passsenger Focus press release can be found at:

http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/news-and-publications/press-release.asp?dsid=1841

The Full Passenger Focus objection can be found at:

http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/news-and-publications/document-search/document.asp?dsid=1839

Early Day Motion 1969

South West Trains ticket offices

Tabled by Alan Whitehead and signed by 23 others before the summer recess:

"That this House notes with extreme concern plans by South West Trains to close ticket offices and cut ticket office opening hours at 114 stations; believes that such cuts cannot be justified when these stations have seen a combined increase in passengers of nearly 27 per cent. in the last year; is further concerned that the cuts will dramatically increase the number of stations that will lose their ticket offices entirely during weekends and will leave stations unstaffed at weekends and in the evening making railway stations and passengers who use them feel less secure; believes that replacing staff with ticket machines will also reduce the quality and range of services available to passengers; and calls on South West Trains immediately to withdraw its plans."

Posted on 12:33 AM | Permalink

Transport Briefing: 04/08/08

Delivery of the 1,300 new carriages as part of the government's High Level Output Specification (HLOS) for Britain's rail network is to be split into three phases.

The move, revealed in an update to the Department for Transport's High Level Output Specification (HLOS), is designed to facilitate a complex plan to cascade existing carriages within and between train operating franchises which will be unleashed by the arrival of new rolling stock.

Train operators expected to gain new rolling stock under phase one include National Express East Anglia, TransPennine Express and First Capital Connect.

The three phases cover vehicles that will be delivered through variations in the terms of existing franchises. In addition, 'other' vehicles will be procured separately. These include trains for the Thameslink Programme, vehicles for the new yet-to-be-awarded South Central franchise, and the 106 Pendolino carriages recently ordered for the West Coast Main Line and due to enter service by 2012.

According to the DfT the plans are not fixed and the progress of rail infrastructure projects or supply chain constraints among train manufacturers or rolling stock leasing companies could lead to adjustments in the phasing.

Previously the DfT has agreed orders for 317 new carriages (Southern 92, London Midland 217 and Chiltern 8) which are due to be delivered between 2009 and 2011.

High Level Output Specification (HLOS) Plan Update July 2008

Phase TOC/Scheme Additional Vehicles Routes
1 National Express East Anglia 188 London to Stansted, Cambridge, Ipswich, Norwich and Essex suburbs
1 TransPennine Express 42 Newcastle and Middlesbrough to Liverpool via Leeds and Manchester; Manchester to Cleethorpes via Sheffield; Blackpool to Manchester
1 First Capital Connect 1 61 London to Cambridge and Herts
1 London Midland 1 16 London to Milton Keynes and Northampton
2 First Great Western 52 Bristol area; London to Thames Valley
2 c2c 40 London to south Essex
2 South West Trains 105 London to SW suburbs, Windsor, Reading, Surrey & Hants
2 London Midland 2 51 Birmingham area
3 Northern Rail 182 Manchester , Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool & Newcastle local services
3 First Capital Connect 2 24 London to N London and Herts suburbs
3 London Midland 3 26 Birmingham area
3 Arriva Cross Country 6 Birmingham to Leicester
3 East Midlands Trains 3 East midlands
Other First Capital Connect KO1 44 Brighton to London to Bedford
Other First Capital Connect KO2 126 Sussex & Kent to London to Beds & Cambs
Other South Central 106 London to South London, Surrey and Sussex coast
Other Southeastern 110 London to SE London & north Kent
Other Chiltern Railways 12 London to Bucks & Birmingham
Other Virgin West Coast 106 London to Birmingham, Manch, Liverpool & Glasgow

TOTAL 1300

Posted on 12:18 AM | Permalink

Derby Evening Telegraph: 09-August-2008

A FORMER Transport Minister has called on the Government to give a £1.4bn train-building contract to Bombardier.

John Spellar (pictured), who was Minister for Transport from 2001 to 2003, said the Government must live up to Gordon Brown's slogan – British jobs for British workers – by awarding the contract for new Thameslink trains to the Litchurch Lane-based firm.

The Labour MP has warned that industry in Derby and across the Midlands would be hit if the order went to one of the other bidders – all of whom are based outside the UK.

And Bombardier chairman Colin Walton said that if the company secured the contract, it could mean hundreds of new jobs for the company and its supply chain, as well as a huge cash boost for the region.

The company, which has been building trains for more than 150 years, has a team of 100 employees preparing the ground for the bid, which will be submitted next year.

The other companies invited to tender for the contract – to build 1,100 carriages for the line between Bedford and Brighton – are French firm Alstom Transport, Siemens of Germany and the Japanese-owned Hitachi Europe group.

Mr Spellar said: "This huge order doesn't just mean jobs in Derby but right across the Midlands through the supply chain.

"The Department for Transport needs to take seriously the Prime Minister's slogan – British jobs for British workers.

"If a company wants to sell trains to the German railways, the rolling stock has to be built in Germany, and if a firm wants to sell trains to the French railways, the trains have to be built in France.

"We should be looking after British industry in the same way."

It was at last September, at the Labour Party's annual conference, that Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised that the Government would strive to create "British jobs for British workers".

But yesterday, Mr Brown's office said it could not comment on anything to do with the Thameslink contract while the tendering process was under way.

Bombardier chairman Mr Walton said he thought British companies bidding for contracts in Britain were not in such a strong position as, for example, German companies bidding for contracts in Germany.

"European regulations are interpreted and enforced differently in different countries," he said.

"Mr Brown is the Prime Minister and if he says the way forward is British jobs for British workers, then we welcome that, though we haven't seen much evidence of it yet."

Mr Walton has no doubts about what the benefits to the region would be if the contract was won.

Economic studies carried out by the company suggest that for every £1 put into Bombardier, £2 would be put into the regional economy.

"In Bombardier and its supply chain, I would be surprised if it did not mean hundreds of new jobs."

Failure to secure the Thameslink contract, Mr Walton said, would not affect job security at the firm but it could mean job losses in the supply chain.

Tony Forster is managing director of Litchurch Lane, Derby, engineering firm Tecforce, which has received a lot of business from Bombardier. "A large contract like this for Bombardier would mean security for a lot of smaller firms into the next decade," he said.

Bombardier is also hoping to win two other big contracts.

The first is to provide 2,000 carriages as part of the Inter-City Express Programme and the other is to build 600 carriages for the London Underground's Piccadilly Line.

Posted on 1:36 PM | Permalink

BBC News: 8 August 2008

Network Rail chiefs could see their bonuses cut after a report commissioned by rail regulators suggested a raft of sweeping changes.

The report suggests amending the firm's bonus scheme and making it easier for board members to be dismissed.

Customers and politicians have criticised the fact that executives got their bonuses despite engineering work overrunning, and causing problems.

Last month, Network Rail decided to set up an enquiry into how it has been run.

Network Rail runs the UK's rail infrastructure, and instead of shareholders is controlled by "members" who are drawn from the rail industry and general public.

The board of directors are held to account by the members.

Concern

Earlier this year, Network Rail announced that its top three executives would receive bonuses running into hundreds of thousands of pounds, despite public anger over cancelled and delayed journeys during the new year.

Two executives received bonuses of more than £200,000, while chief executive Iain Coucher pocketed more than £305,000.

Furthermore, as part of a separate three-year incentive plan, two of the executives got an additional £153,000, while Mr Coucher received £205,000.

It is high time we ended the fat controller bonuses at Network Rail where the bosses reap huge rewards regardless of performance failures
Gerry Doherty, leader of the TSSA rail union

Network Rail has already been fined £14m by ORR for the various overruns, one of which was at Rugby and caused chaos on the West Coast Main Line.

The report into Network Rail was carried out by KPMG at the request of the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

In its report KPMG said that Network Rail's members had raised concern that executive remuneration did not follow an agreed process.

Among its conclusions, KPMG suggested forcing the board to write a public letter to explain cases where the firm had underperformed.

However, KPMG said that while most members were motivated by "sound intentions", others felt some members could be "influenced" by Network Rail's management board.

'Fat controller'

ORR chief executive Bill Emery said that he welcomed the report and it would help ORR to decide whether to make changes to Network Rail's licence condition on corporate governance.

Network Rail said it would "welcome any positive proposal that supports Network Rail's board - accountable to its members - to continue with its objectives of exercising best practice in corporate governance."

The company added:

"Network Rail has achieved much since it took over from the failed former licence holder, Railtrack. Our not-for-dividend model has delivered year-on-year improvements for passengers and freight operators...Network Rail has cut the costs of operating and maintaining the railway."

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said the bonuses received by Network Rail bosses had been "grossly unfair" and said it would be "nothing short of obscene" if they received even bigger payouts while some staff were currently fighting to save their jobs in the face of budget cuts.

Gerry Doherty, leader of the TSSA rail union, also attacked the executive bonuses.

"It is high time we ended the fat controller bonuses at Network Rail where the bosses reap huge rewards regardless of performance failures," said Mr Doherty.

"There should be no reward for failure - only for improved passenger service," he added.

Posted on 7:48 PM | Permalink

RMT Circular No: IR191/08

Dear Colleague,
As a result of the appalling attitude of Network Rail's Senior Management it has been decided by the General Grades Committee, after consultation with Area Council Representatives, to call further industrial action.

We met Network Rail on 22nd July in an effort to reach a deal that could lead to the suspension of the previous strike action. After four hours of intense discussions, it was felt that progress had been made on a number of issues, particularly on pay protection. This would have meant that those currently on more than the proposed new pay structure would have their wages protected and then enjoy rises in line with annual pay awards.

However, around two hours after the meeting broke up the agreement which was reached was vetoed by Network Rail headquarters. This was an absolutely outrageous state of affairs as we had received previous assurances that the management representatives attending the negotiations would have the authority to take the final decisions. I therefore wrote to Network Rail Chief Executive Iain Coucher asking for a meeting in order to establish just who from management is in charge of the harmonisation process. I am still awaiting a response to this request.

It is clear that there are individuals at Network Rail who have an alternative agenda from those we have been talking to over the table. This agenda is driven by the desire to make budget cuts, which in turn means a threat to safety standards and job cuts. Such cuts, which are also being made as a result of the cut in the budget from the Rail Regulator are also being used to protect management bonuses, because budget cuts will mean huge bonuses. This is a totally unacceptable state of affairs and makes a mockery of the negotiations that we entered into in good faith.

The General Grades Committee felt they had no option but to put on further industrial action and members have been instructed

• Not to book on for duties for shifts which commence between 00.01 hours on Friday 15th August 2008 and 23.59 hours on Monday 18th August 2008.

• Not to book on for any overtime shifts that commence between 00.01 hours on Friday 15th August 2008 and 23.59 hours on Monday 18th August 2008

As always, we remain available for talks in order to avoid industrial action. In fact, up until midday on the day before the last weekend of strike action your union's national officers sought talks to stop the action. However, despite the company's public protestations, they offered nothing. Additionally, as I write, the company has not scheduled any further talks at all on harmonisation.

It was quite clear that a timetable to achieve a meaningful harmonisation package was agreed. Network Rail committed that they would at least be able to demonstrate significant progress by 31st July 2008.This is another agreement which they broke. Not only that but, as I state above, when progress is being made in negotiations it is being overturned by Network Rail headquarters. What is the point of having meetings with Network Rail managers who cannot take decisions?

The harmonisation process is being treated with contempt by Network Rail management. That is why the talks need the direct intervention of Iain Coucher and for him to get a grip of the situation.

I am sure the industrial action will be fully supported by members called upon to take action and that Branches, Regional Councils and members generally will show support and assistance where ever possible.

Yours sincerely

Bob Crow
General Secretary

See also

Below is the text of a letter sent on July 24 to Network Rail Chief Executive Iain Coucher

Dear Mr Coucher

HARMONISATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE TERMS & CONDITIONS – NETWORK RAIL

As you will be well aware, my union has been in discussions with your company through a joint working party on harmonisation of infrastructure employees’ terms and conditions for over two years now.

These discussions entered a new phase recently and a deadline on coming up with a set of proposals which would have been acceptable to both parties was set for July 31st. These discussions, which have included your company’s Maintenance Director Steve Featherstone, have seen a lot of work being done by both parties. However, there has been a major concern that not enough issues have been ticked off and that, by 31st July, they just would not have been resolved as items were “subject to further negotiation.”

My negotiating team reported these matters to our representatives who expressed concerns that yet another delay to the timetable was about to occur even though the timetable was set exactly in order to avoid this. It was for this reason – i.e. no progress being made and no progress expected by 31st July – that my union reluctantly called further industrial action.

However, I can state quite clearly that my union remains committed to the harmonisation process and to further negotiations and that is why my representatives entered into further negotiations on 22nd July 2008. After four hours of exhaustive talks with your team, my representatives came away believing that a clear agreement had been reached on a number of areas which could have allowed my union to suspend this weekend’s industrial action and moved us toward a final and satisfactory outcome on harmonisation.

I was utterly dismayed and angered however that, two hours after leaving the meeting, I found out that what had been agreed was vetoed by your Maintenance Director’s superiors. It begs the question as to why your company agreed to further talks in the first place and why you would appoint people to carry out the negotiations if they cannot take the decisions. My union had received an assurance from your Human Resources Director and Maintenance Director earlier this year that whoever was involved in negotiations with my union on harmonisation would have the authority to take the decisions.

I urge you to intervene directly in this dispute and urge you to do this immediately. If what we agreed with your Maintenance Director on Tuesday afternoon was endorsed by your company, then this could result in my union calling off this weekend’s industrial action.

As a further point, my union needs an absolute undertaking that, in future, you are prepared to support your management team who are present in the negotiation room with my union as I am sure they are as disappointed as I am at the lack of support they have been given by your company until now.

I look forward to hearing from you on what concrete steps you are taking on resolving this dispute as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Bob Crow
General Secretary

Posted on 7:28 PM | Permalink

New Statesman: 07 August 2008
Interview with Clara Osagiede
by Rowenna Davies

The cleaner who convinced London's Tory mayor of the justice of her cause

Clara Osagiede bursts into the room flapping a piece of paper, her dark eyes flashing. "We're basically being paid the same as we were 16 years ago!" she says, brandishing the yellowing payslip. "The situation is outrageous."

Two mobile phones continuously interrupt her. This is not surprising, given that she is trying to live two lives. By day, she volunteers for the national transport union RMT, making speeches, attending conferences and giving interviews. From 9pm to 5am, she works as a cleaner for London Underground.

"I work five nights a week but I still have to share a two- bedroom flat with five others and sleep on the floor. We're so scared of the bailiff coming in and taking away what little we have that we can't even open the door."

Despite working the night shift, Clara is paid £6.10 an hour. According to the payslip handed to her by an old colleague, this is barely a 7 per cent increase on what cleaners were paid in 1992, despite the huge rise in the cost of living. It is well below the estimated living wage of £7.45 an hour the mayor's office estimates London workers need to be above the poverty line.

Working on the minimum wage doesn't just mean receiving a low salary. As Clara explains: "I have 24 days' holiday a year. I have no benefits and no pension. There are no sick days - even if you have to take time off because you're assaulted on the job. The deal is: if you don't show, you don't get paid."

As a trade union activist, Clara spends her free time visiting city stations and depots, collecting workers' stories. "Conditions are terrible," she says. "Cleaners are forced to clean up vomit and rubbish without decent protection. When one cleaner refused to work without the proper equipment, she was asked to leave."

Clara, and hundreds of cleaners like her, are beginning to make their concerns public. Last April, 397 out of 400 RMT cleaners voted to take strike action, demanding the living wage and an improvement in conditions. Since then there have been two strikes - one on 26 June for 24 hours and one from 1 July for 48 hours. Since the action began, says Clara, she has hardly slept.

Making an impact

Clara was born and educated in Nigeria. She studied architecture at university and was a prominent student activist. Now, she is using her skills on behalf of the Underground's cleaners and is getting results. Following the second strike, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced that all cleaners employed by Metronet would be paid the living wage.

The "living wage" concept originated in the United States and was introduced here about ten years ago; the idea has been gaining currency in British politics since. In 2004, the campaigning group London Citizens managed to get the London Olympic Committee to commit to paying the living wage to all those working on the 2012 Games. Now, the movement is gaining ground in Scotland, led by a coalition of anti-poverty groups. In Oxford, university students are supporting their college cleaners in the fight for a pay increase above the statutory minimum, which will run at £5.73 an hour from October.

"The biggest obstacle to change is division among the cleaners," said Clara, who explains that a large proportion of the people she works with are women of African origin without indefinite leave to remain in the UK. These groups have much to gain from collective action, but it is perilous. Their immigrant status makes them vulnerable.

"They are worried about victimisation; employers have succeeded in putting the fear factor into them," she says.

In a competitive global labour market, companies can afford to be hard on trade union members. "I've just had this faxed to me," says Clara, waving "another" notice for a disciplinary hearing. "I have to go to one every other day. Because of my activist nature, my bosses don't like me."

Regardless of obstacles, the cleaners will continue to fight for the living wage across the London Transport network. The mayor's proposed pay increases do not cover cleaners working on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines, where the employer is a different company, Tube Lines. The union has unanswered concerns about unhygienic working conditions, third-party sackings and poor employment benefits.

But the campaign is having an impact, which can be seen in Barclays decision to pay the London living wage to its support staff across London, setting a precedent for the private sector.

Posted on 6:44 PM | Permalink

TAZ.de: 29.07.08
BY RICHARD ROTHER

BERLIN -- First the boss went, then 1,000 members resigned from rail union Transnet after their Chairman Hansen moved to the Board of Deutsche Bahn.

"Transnet is facing the rubble of the Hansen system", say critics. Photo: AP

The surprise change by former chairman of the Transnet rail union, Norbert Hansen, to the post of Human Resources Director of Deutsche Bahn AG leads to mass resignations from the union.

Approximately 1,000 members have so far left because of the sideways shift by Hansen, Transnet spokesman Oliver Kaufhold announced on Tuesday. Although his organisation has been fighting for years with loss of members - "but that many in one fell swoop" - so many members of the union wanting to resign has never occurred before. Transnet currently has some 240,000 members and is the largest rail union in Germany.

Kaufhold acknowledged that possibly the loss of members has been caused because of resentment over the debate on partial privatisation of the railway. Transnet welcomed the controversial plans for rail privatisation - in contrast to the train drivers' union. With its alignment to the privatisation plans of railway boss Hartmut Mehdorn Transnet wanted to prevent a dismantling of the DB group because the union feared other variants of privatisation. Transnet now hopes that not all union members, who denounced it will actually abandon their union. "We are fighting for every member," said Kaufhold.

Kaufhold can not yet foresee the practical consequences of the wave of resignations. Transnet is preparing to hold a great union debate in late November in Berlin. Kaufhold is more concerned about the specific problems of employees in the workplace, such as overheated engine cabs or rest rooms.

For Hans-Gerd Öfinger from the rank and file organisation "Rail from below" the exit wave is a serious signal. "Transnet is facing the rubble of the Hansen system," said Öfinger. "The members feel cheated." However, Öfinger advises members to refrain from leaving Transnet. A bad trade union is still better than none at all. Even a transfer to another union solves no problems. Now it is rather important that the commitment and discontent within Transnet makes a start for a different policy, says Öfinger. "We need a shift away from privatisation and from the course of collaboration with the management."

See also:

Transnet members run away - Krauss in cross fire

Sueddeutsche Zeitung: 29.07.2008
By Tobias Dorfer

The Transnet rank and file are angry at their ex-boss Hansen and the tame response of the new leadership. Now, some 1000 members have announced their resignation. The union is trying desperately to keep them.

In the cross-fire enlarge the base: Transnet boss Lothar Krauss - Photo: Reuters

Attack is the best defense, which Lothar Krauss has quickly understood. No discussions are to be raised, any grumbling has been nipped in the bud in Krauss' election to become Transnet chief Norbert Hansen's successor.

Previously, Hansen spoke to Bild-Zeitungnewspaper, and - even before his appointment to Rail Personnel Executive Committee - made it clear to the nearly 230,000 Deutsche Bahn railworkers what they could expect soon: rationalization, restructuring, more work. At the same time he suggested a new job title of chief of staff for the driver who could be given the responsibility for "cleaning up small stations."

Meanwhile, no one needs to worry about Krauss' cycle, when the question comes to his predecessor: "There were a few remarks at the wrong time, it would have been better not to have said," said a noticeably moderate Krauss to the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper.

Deep-seated rage

The criticism of Hansen was well-known, said a Transnet spokesman.

At the rank and file level, however, the anger at Hansen and his departure still runs deep. It is huge in the local union administrations - and the anger is directed against the current leadership: "We have missed a clear distancing from Norbert's behaviour by the remaining executive board members," said the Transnet members of the local administration of Hansen's native city Husum.

Many furious trade unionists want the former chief excluded from Transnet and the attempt failed. In the last week Berlin rigorously rejected five corresponding applications from local administrations. But the problems are not off the table. "There is a fairly large crisis in Transnet," says Hans-Gerd Öfinger, spokesman for the Transnet-based initiative "rail from below".

Why some 1000 members Transnet want to leave - and how the leadership of the union hopes they will stay.

Apparently, this crisis is already so great that some 1000 members, according to a Transnet spokesman - already planning their exit. While 1000 members leaving out of a total of 250,000 is not much - the public impact is immense.

Former Transnet boss Hansen: "A few remarks at the wrong time." - Photo: Reuters

The resignations are not yet over, because according to the rules membership is measured every three months to the end of next quarter. Who will resign at the end of September, his resignation request to submit the end of June.

How many such letters the matter has already generated the union will not say. "Currently no figures are available," said the spokesman.

In any case, dissatisfied members may stay. Through personal discussions, it is hoped that Transnet, could convince people to think again. "If you talk to people, often they see things differently," said the spokesman - and adds: "We are fighting for each member."

No carte blanche for the Transnet leadership

Transnet will also have struggles with its critics says Öfinger. "Leaving is not a solution," says the union rebel. The leavers should not think that the competing unions GDBA or GDL would be better.

The new Transnet leadership does not have carte blanche says Öfinger - and calls for a change of strategy: "The collaboration with railway management must be stopped."

Even Lothar Krauss has understood the wrath of the rank and file. Indeed, in November, the entire union executive council is up for re-election. According to Öfinger there could then be "substantial discussions". Because the new leadership, says the Transnet-man, is distrusted by the rank and file: "There is a degree of scepticism."

Posted on 1:51 PM | Permalink

RMT Circular No: IR/182/08: July 31, 2008

Dear colleague,
Further to my previous circular (Ref: IR/147/08) dated 29th May 2008 on the above matter, I received a number of responses which highlighted that the issue of management attempting to have only two-person teams is of widespread concern.

I am once again asking branches, if they have not already done so, to provide me with examples where management are making a habit of rostering two-person teams to carry out S&T duties.

I would also once again remind members that the requirements for three-person teams is part of an agreement and is contained in their terms and conditions and should be respected at all times. I would also add that agreements must be respected by both sides and that any attempts to change from three to two-person teams must be resisted. Therefore, as I said in my last circular, members can and should refuse to work on safety grounds where their working environment is, in their opinion, unsafe. If any members feel that this is the case, then they should adopt and apply the Worksafe Procedures.

I would be grateful if you could raise this matter at your next branch meeting and provide me with any information which could assist your union in future negotiations.

Yours sincerely

Bob Crow
General Secretary

Posted on 11:49 AM | Permalink

Shields Gazette: 01 August 2008

THE Tyne and Wear Metro system could grind to a halt if Nexus doesn't agree to a string of union demands, it was warned today.

Warning ... Stan Herschel.

Stan Herschel, regional organiser of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Work (RMT) has promised strike action if his demands are not met.

It follows an official announcement by Government minister Rosie Winterton that £300m will be invested into the Metro system.

However, this is dependent on 'market testing', which Mr Herschel claims is privatisation.

He said: "This will be a hell of a campaign – a battle royale on the industrial front.

"If our campaign to scrap this privatisation of the Metro system fails, then we'll be presenting a list of assurances required.

"If they are not met, then it is very likely that we will take industrial action in defence of our members' pay and conditions."

The conditions include no compulsory redundancies, the creation of a collective bargaining group for staff, employees, including new entrants, remain in current pension schemes, all staff travel facilities remain and staff number levels are guaranteed.

However, a Nexus spokesman said: "This is not privatisation, Nexus will continue to own all of the Metro, set fares and timetables, and make sure passengers have the best possible travelling environment.

"We've kept the RMT and our staff fully informed and we will continue to work with them on any issues they might have."

Mr Herschel added: "The Metro system is a successful public operation, and it should stay that way."

See also:

New government funding should keep Tyne and Wear Metro public not enforce the privatisation of the service, says RMT

RMT: July 31 2008

The £300 million funding package for Tyne & Wear Metro announced by the Department of Transport today should not be based on “the procurement of an operating franchise” but to maintain this important service in the public sector, Britain biggest rail union RMT said.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the funding to upgrade the Tyne and Wear Metro network was a 'poison chalice' as the proviso was that the service is handed over to a private sector which would only sweat the assets.

"We have seen this process on the rail network when Railtrack squeezed money out of the industry and on London Underground when the Metronet consortium walked away after making millions.

"Rail workers have more than enough experience to know that privatisation and fragmentation undermines safety and service, threatens jobs and pensions and drains huge sums of public money into private pockets," he said.

Bob Crow said that the government was clearly looking after its big business friends and RMT would look after its friends, transport workers and the passengers that rely on Tyne & Wear Metro services.

"We will not hesitate to take industrial action to defend safety, jobs, pensions and the decent public service that Tyne and Wear Metro passengers have enjoyed since 1980," he said.

The campaign to stop the privatisation of Tyne And Wear Metro has received support from dozens of MPs who have already signed a commons motion 1862 (details below) tabled by Newcastle Central MP Jim Cousins.

ends

Notes to editors: Early Day Motion 1862 - Tyne and Wear Metro
Tabled by Jim Cousins (Newcastle Central) and signed (as at July 16) by Bill Etherington, David Anderson, Ronnie Campbell, Frank Cook, John McDonnell, Ann Cryer, Jeremy Corbyn, Janet Anderson, Robert N Wareing, Lynne Jones, Martin Caton, John Cummings, Janet Dean, Hywel Francis, David Hamilton, Kelvin Hopkins, Jim Devine, Alan Simpson, Alan Meale, Michael Clapham, Paul Flynn, Rudi Vis and Brian Jenkins.

"That this House notes the Tyne and Wear Metro is a successful integrated publicly-owned and publicly accountable railway achieving record levels of punctuality and passenger numbers and welcomes the vital role that the Metro plays in delivering high quality passenger services to the North East; further notes that the Metro's infrastructure and operations require significant investment and welcomes the Government's commitment to provide funds; is deeply concerned however that this funding may be dependent on fragmenting the Metro and privatising the Metro's operations and some of the Metro's infrastructure; notes that this is against the original proposal from Metro management who made the case that in order to provide best value there should be a vertically integrated railway within the whole of the Metro; believes that the best interests of passengers will be served by the Metro remaining as a unified railway in the public sector where every penny of funds invested is spent on improving passenger services; and fully supports the in-house bids that would keep the Tyne and Wear Metro in the public sector."

* For latest list of signatories visit: http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36172&SESSION=891

Posted on 10:00 AM | Permalink

Business Daily Africa: 1 August 2008
Written by Zeddy Sambu

NAIROBI -- Implementation of a regional plan to upgrade East Africa’s railway network has began with the formation of a committee to spearhead the project.

Upgrade of the regional rail network has moved a step higher with the formation of a team to spearhead the project.

The project, which is to be financed through a Sh200 billion debt, is to establish a new railway network with a modern gauge to speed up transport in the region. Currently, it takes up to 20 days to move cargo between Mombasa and Bujumbura. With the new line, this journey will only take 28 hours.

Solomon Ouna, a consultant engineer at Kenya Railways Corporation says after the completion of the rail, wagons will be able to carry 100 tonnes of goods compared to the current 40 tonnes.

If implemented, the project will also cut the travel time between Nairobi and Mombasa to less than three hours from the seven hours taken by road users. The shift will also mean less cargo haulage over roads as transporters would prefer trains over trucks.

“Nearly 80 per cent of the world uses standard gauge with greater carrying capacity and cheaper operating costs,” said Manu Chandaria, an industrialist and chairman of the 13-member Consultative Group which comprises other representatives from key industries.

Experts argue that the current fleet costs about $4.5 a tonne a kilometre of transport by rail compared to an average of $1.6 a tonne a kilometre in the US and Europe.

Success of the $3 billion standard, broad and electrified track that is to run through the capitals of the five East African community member states is hinged on the backing of all the regional governments.

The Development Master Plan 2050, aims to change the current metre gauge railway system into a standard gauge rail network.

A rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the two parallel metal bars that make up a railway track.

Eighty per cent of the world’s railways use a gauge of 1,435 mm, which is the standard or international gauge.

This kind of rail network is designed for speedier passenger transport of between 120km an hour and 160km an hour. Goods or freight engines move on the standard line at between 100km an hour to 120km an hour.

Nearly 90 per cent of goods are transported by road, with a paltry six per cent transported by railway. Of the 16 million tonnes of goods handled each year at the port of Mombasa, rail-bound cargo accounts for 10 million tonnes.

But in its current state, the privatised rail carries only a maximum of 1.6 million tonnes. Reduced train speeds of between 20-25 kph due to weak track has seen more cargo diverted to the roads.

Phase one of the project will entail construction of the main truck to the regional capitals with the subsequent phases running between Nairobi-Ethiopia border while phase three will connect Lamu to Juba in southern Sudan.

Kenya Railway Corporation, the agency that will represent Kenya in the regional team, yesterday, unveiled a plan which showed the project will also own its first electric tracks and trains.

A complete regional network will require Uganda to construct 1,190km of rail, Rwanda 100km, Ethiopia 620km and 490km in southern Sudan. The railways corporation will on behalf of the Kenya government construct 3,180 km of the rail network at a cost of Sh98 billion ($1.5 billion) over 16 years. This translates to Sh6.6 billion a year.

This latest plan comes two years after Kenya and Uganda put their railway services in the hands of Rift Valley Railways (RVR), which is facing financial difficulties.

Financing options
The Master Plan 2050 recommends a regional railways standard gauge network to serve Kenya Uganda, Tanzania, southern Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Somalia.

Financing options for the project include infrastructure bonds, joint ventures, loans, build-operate-transfer (BOT) and a government-funded Open Access System.

In April, the EAC summit approved the construction of the standard gauge regional railways network to serve the region.

Posted on 9:26 AM | Permalink

The Birmingham Post: Jul 30 2008

Britain’s railways are suddenly poised on the verge of an exciting new era of development. Terry Grimley looks at the national issues and the way they could impact on the West Midlands.

With support growing for a new national network of high-speed lines and even Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly apparently converted to the cause of electrification, things are looking up for Britain’s railways.
New Street Station

True, they have yet to shrug off the effects of a mad Tory privatisation which means that they now cost the taxpayer three times as much in subsidy as they did when they were in public ownership. Indeed the UK can claim to have set the world standard in how not to privatise a railway – or, as someone neatly summed it up, how to get the least railway for the most money.

Privatisation has left elements of fragmentation across the national network, but in other respects a railway renaissance seems quite suddenly upon us. Last year more passengers were carried on Britain’s railways than in any year since 1946 – even though the network is only half the size it then was.

Despite the highest fares in Europe, growth in passenger demand is outstripping the most optimistic forecasts. From a historic low of 630 million passenger journeys in 1983, they have climbed back to 1.2 billion and are expected to top 1.5 billion in the next decade.

This year’s leap in oil prices, perhaps marking a historic shift away from an era of cheap fuel, has added what may be a decisive impetus to the already gathering momentum behind an environmental agenda.

Only last year the Government’s White Paper on the future of the railways over the next 30 years, roundly derided by rail commentators for its lack of ambition, was at best non-committal about the prospects for further electrification: “It is not clear at the moment what problem electrification is trying to solve,” said Ruth Kelly when pressed on the subject by the late Gwynneth Dunwoody, the formidable former chair of the all-party Parliamentary Transport Select Committee.

But last month Ms Kelly said that she could “see great potential for a rolling programme of electrification”, and she even wrote a forward to a supplement on electrification in the current edition of Modern Railways magazine.

The major benefit to the West Midlands from a national programme of electrification could be the cross-country route from the north-east to south-west via New Street. But that would be many years in the future, with the Great Western (Paddington-Bristol/Cardiff) and Midland Main Line (Bedford-Nottingham/Sheffield) expected to be at the front of the queue.

In the shorter term, it has been suggested that a new generation of wiring teams could cut their teeth on smaller “infill” projects. Examples in the West Midlands could include the Walsall-Rugeley gap and Barnt Green-Bromsgrove, to extend Cross-City services.

At the same time, new high-speed lines are suddenly on everyone’s agenda. The impetus comes from the success of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, now renamed HS1. Opened last November at a cost of £5.8 billion, it was a welcome demonstration that Britain can deliver major infrastructure projects on time and budget, though naturally such triumphs are noticed less than disasters like Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

The name HS1 implies that it will be followed by at least HS2, and while Network Rail has commissioned a study of five potential corridors, the general consensus is that the obvious first route is London-Birmingham, probably carrying on to Manchester and Glasgow.

The proposal put forward last year by Greengauge 21, a not-for-profit organisation campaigning for rail development, would give Birmingham two bites at high-speed, with a new line built alongside the Chiltern Line splitting near the M42, one line running directly into Moor Street and the other serving Birmingham International before linking into the West Coast Main Line to reach Manchester.

As well as shrinking the travelling time between Birmingham city centre and St Pancras to as little as 45 minutes (with a similarly rapid link to Heathrow), a high-speed network has the potential to supplant many domestic flights in Britain, with significant savings in carbon emissions. As important as its speed benefits would be, its potential to free-up capacity on existing lines for further development of local and regional services.

While Birmingham’s location makes it an early candidate to benefit from high-speed development, the major rail project coming up in the city is the £600 million redevelopment of New Street Station.

The so-called Gateway Project, on which work is due to start next year, will bring three major benefits, increasing passenger circulation space and improving the aesthetic quality of the station (a decision is expected soon on a star-studded architectural competition to redesign the exterior and roof), while also improving pedestrian circulation and environmental quality around the perimeter of the station.

What it will not do, however, is provide any additional track or platforms. Critics fear that the narrow approaches, with just four tracks in each direction, will doom the redevelopment to almost immediate redundancy. The scheme was dismissed as “cosmetic” by the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee last week, although some observers may wonder why the committee has taken so long to enter a debate about a station which stands right at the centre of the national rail network – its criticisms could equally well have been made three years ago.

Network Rail, on the other hand, insists that there is enough capacity to cope for the next 25 years. With the alternative proposal of a Grand Central Station at Curzon Street now lost (the site has been disposed of), the only remaining option for increasing capacity at New Street would be to put the Cross-City line underground, taking four trains an hour in each direction out of the platforms. Walsall services could also use this tunnel.

Though expensive, this is feasible and if this was a German city it would probably have been done in the 1970s. A strip of land alongside the viaduct approaching through Eastside has been reserved in case it is needed for this.

If the high-speed network does go ahead, it could be that this would take some inter-city services out of New Street. The fastest way for it to access the city centre would be along the Snow Hill line, where until the 1960s there used to be four tracks all the way from Moor Street to Lapworth.

Moor Street has been proposed as the city’s high-speed terminal, but the terminal platforms there, currently disused, are also earmarked by Centro for its proposed Moseley/Kings Heath and Tamworth services. With a new high-rise business district growing up alongside Snow Hill surely that would be the more logical place from which to start and end high-speed services, if space can be found alongside Chiltern’s Marylebone trains and regional services on the Stratford/Solihull to Stourbridge lines.

Rail freight is also expected to see strong growth over the next 20 years, and in the West Midlands this is expected to see the reopening of the South Staffordshire freight line from Walsall to Stourbridge Junction, which has been closed since 1993. Parts of this are earmarked for the currently stalled Midland metro line between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill, and this is being looked at again to see whether trams and freight trains could share tracks, as is now commonplace in Germany. Another possible application for “tram-trains” could be on the under used Coventry-Nuneaton line, with the possibility of street-running in Coventry city centre.

Posted on 9:25 AM | Permalink

The Guardian: August 1 2008
Dan Milmo

The chief executive of National Express has urged the rail industry to target domestic airlines after warning that train operators needed to promote themselves better.

Richard Bowker, whose company owns the London to Edinburgh east-coast franchise, said his peers should advertise that many train journeys are cheaper and more pleasant than their airline equivalent.

"I really do struggle to see why we make it so easy for people to fly domestically. When you have got such a low-carbon alternative in rail, it's something that should be positively promoted."

Bowker spoke as National Express reported a 4% increase in first-half revenues to £1.37bn, with profit before tax excluding impairment charges and other one-off items rising 14% to £90m. The company revealed a dip in passenger numbers on its Stansted Express service, which transports customers to Britain's third-largest airport. A reduction in flights operated by easyJet and Ryanair, which have been angered by increased landing fees at Stansted, was the main cause of the drop, Bowker added. Both airlines are cutting back further at Stansted this winter, drawing suggestions from some analysts that the low-budget sector may have expanded too quickly.

"We want to have our cake and eat it," said Bowker. "We want to get more inbound and outbound flight rotations at Stansted, but we would like to get to the position where all trips between London and Edinburgh are done by train." He added that National Express had teamed up with hotel chain Travelodge to launch a "Save Our Seaside" campaign to encourage families to holiday in Britain rather than fly abroad. "I subscribe to the view that you will see people taking more UK holidays."

An easyJet spokesperson said Bowker's comments were "bizarre and misguided". EasyJet and Virgin Trains fought over a Virgin advertising campaign last year that attacked the environmental performance of airlines, in a dispute that ended with the Advertising Standards Authority throwing out the no-frills carrier's complaint.

"There are an awful lot of smoky old diesel trains out there. The lowest carbon alternative is Eurostar and you have to recognise that it is mostly powered by nuclear-generated electricity," said the easyJet spokesperson.

Posted on 9:01 AM | Permalink

The Guardian: August 1 2008
Dan Milmo

Keith Ludeman was once considered too outspoken, but the frank talker now runs Britain's busiest train company

Keith Ludeman, Group Chief Executive of the Go-Ahead group, on a train at the Gatwick Express platform of Victoria Station in London. Photograph: Lynda Nylind

Chief executives tend to trample each other underfoot in the race to flaunt their green credentials. You would expect Keith Ludeman, boss of one of Britain's largest public transport groups, to be at the front of the stampede. Instead he's at the back, polishing the bonnet of his Porsche 996 Turbo.

"I adore cars. I'm a petrol head. The only time I will give up driving my sports car is when I am too bloody old to get into it."

The chief executive of Go-Ahead Group doesn't do greenwash. He lets his company's record as one of Britain's biggest train and bus operators speak for itself. Ludeman is the latest in a long line of straight-talking transport executives, with the bone-compacting handshake and assured demeanour of someone who has risen through the ranks since his first job as a bus conductor 37 years ago. His personal approach to public transport is pragmatic - "I drive to the station every day and I get the train to work" - and he admits that owning a Porsche and a Range Rover puts his private carbon account in debit, even if he's doing better in corporate terms.

There will be fewer petrol heads among the next generation if Go-Ahead continues to increase public transport use. The group carries 900,000 rail passengers a day - more than any other operator - on its Southern, Southeastern and London Midland franchises and its buses ferry 530 million people a year around cities including Newcastle, Oxford and London.

Not that Ludeman hides his gas guzzlers behind a successful public transport business. "My carbon footprint is not particularly good. I need to plant a forest immediately," he says, before pointing to where a strip of lights in his east Croydon office was removed recently. It's a start.

Much of Go-Ahead's recent success is rooted in cars, or rather the increased cost of using them. Revenues at Go-Ahead's bus operations outside London are expected to grow by about 8% this year and passenger journeys at its train franchises rose by between 6% and 8% in the first half of 2008. Longstanding factors underpin these trends, including general economic growth and more reliable train and bus services, but Ludeman believes the rising price of petrol is reinforcing a change in how people get from A to B across Britain.

"The perceived cost of motoring has gone up, so people are questioning how often they use their cars." Quoting government statistics showing that car traffic fell 2% in the first quarter of 2008, he adds: "Something is different. People are using trains more because of motoring costs and other factors such as congestion. Maybe we have gone through that tipping point."

Exacting

Porsche ownership aside, his dedication to the public transport cause is zealous, to the point that Ludeman has a reputation for not suffering fools gladly. "I can imagine that he would be a pretty exacting guy to work for," says a City figure who deals with Ludeman regularly. Asked if there is any truth to those observations, Go-Ahead's chief executive, amiable throughout, lets the impression linger. "That's probably still true. I am more tolerant than I used to be. There is a limit, though, when you rely on other people and you have to do your job through them."

Like many of his executive peers, Ludeman's transport career began on the buses and has moved from the publicly owned sphere to the private. Raised in the south London suburb of Bromley where he went to school with David Bowie - "I remember a tall kid with a blond crewcut" - he graduated from Newcastle University in 1971 and joined Tynemouth & District buses as a conductor, followed by a master's degree in transport engineering and planning. An eight-year stint as a transport official at Greater Manchester's local transport authority was followed by three years working on Hong Kong's transport system. Then he became managing director of the Burnley & Pendle bus company, where he underwent the rite of passage of negotiating with trade unions.

"It's not until the trade unions punch you in the eyes and say no that you turn into an older and wiser manager. Those that never have to experience the word no are poorer for it." Not that anyone would recommend punching Ludeman, who is an imposing presence at a well-built 6ft 2in.

He switched to the private sector by leading a buyout of London General Transport's bus division in 1994 and made £2m two years later from its sale to Go-Ahead, where he ran the London bus division for three more years before being appointed head of Go-Ahead's rail group in 1999.

It was around this point that Ludeman began to attract headlines for his frank commentary on the transport industry. It was reported that his criticism of the now defunct Strategic Rail Authority, which ran the franchise system, contributed to Go-Ahead not being shortlisted for the Thames Trains franchise in 2005. Ludeman rejects that view and Go-Ahead was not harmed in the long term - the group won the Southern franchise soon after the Thames Trains decision and secured the London Midland contract last year. And it has not affected his career - he was appointed Go-Ahead chief executive in 2006 after the death of Chris Moyes, one of Go-Ahead's founders.

Value for money

Ludeman still tackles issues head on. Asked about the extension to a scheme that allows pensioners free bus travel across Britain that has riled bus owners, he says: "It was a wholly political decision. It was from No 10 and the Department for Transport was told to get on with it. I am sticking my neck out but I don't really care."

Rail fares are another touchy subject for rail bosses. They are dictated by government policy but the franchise owners bear the brunt of passenger disapproval when prices go up.

Asked if he is surprised that around a third of his passengers believe Go-Ahead's rail franchises do not provide value for money, he replies: "I am not surprised. Inevitably, on value for money, you are always going to get poor results. If that rate of fare increase continues it is going to feel more and more expensive, particularly when people might be feeling the pinch."

The final part of the interview proves that inflation-busting fare increases are not putting off passengers. A testament to the success of the Southern franchise and an unexpected insight into Ludeman's negotiation techniques, it is conducted eyeball to eyeball on a packed Brighton-to-London service. It is standing room only. In the past these trains would have ferried thin air between the rush-hour peaks, but booming demand is squeezing leisure passengers and commuters on to off-peak services. Wedged in between customers, Ludeman talks of an "emotional attachment" to a franchise that is up for grabs again next year.

"I'm giving myself enough rope, but I would like to retain this franchise. If I can do that I feel it will be job done."

So talk turns to the future. Ludeman admits that he "doesn't see a lot of people coming through" into senior management, perhaps because the graduates who entered the business in the 1970s are well entrenched at the top. "When I started my career people talked down buses. I had a rather strange job, to a lot of people." Amid higher oil prices, worsening gridlock and greener politics, perhaps it is time for someone else to follow his footsteps on to the bottom rungs of the industry ladder with the hope of one day running a £740m transport business like Go-Ahead.

"There is a huge challenge in the bus industry to replace my generation that joined in the 1970s. Early in my career we managed decline as car ownership increased and the use of buses fell away. Now we are on the cusp of an opportunity to start building again, and we need new young managers to help with the process."

The CV

Age 58, born London

Education Bromley Technical High School for Boys, Newcastle University - BA geography, Salford University - MSc transport engineering and planning

Career
1971-72 Bus conductor, Tynemouth & District
1974-82 Greater Manchester Transport
1982-85 Senior transport officer, Hong Kong government
1985-86 Senior consultant, MVA
1986-88 Managing director, Burnley & Pendle Transport
1988-96 Managing director, London General Transport
1996-99 Managing director, Go-Ahead London bus division
1999-2000 Managing director, Thameslink Rail and Thames Trains
2000-06 Chief executive, rail, Go-Ahead
2006- Group chief executive

Family Married with two adult daughters

Interests Sailing, scuba diving, swimming, fast cars, visiting his daughters in the US and Australia

Posted on 8:17 AM | Permalink