Rail union fears

Transport budget cuts of between 25% and 40% would mean “catastrophic cuts to rail infrastructure ... with lethal consequences”, Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT rail transport union, has warned.

And “right wing voices” are also arguing for the selling off of Network Rail and its assets to raise money. It would be “a nightmare return to Railtrack Mark Two — a model of rail operation that was a major factor in the Hatfield and Potters Bar disasters,” said Crow.

Meanwhile, existing franchising arrangements were branded incomprehensible, shadowy and covert by general secretary of the Aslef train drivers’ union Keith Norman. A delay in replacing franchises for Essex, Tameside and Greater Anglia will cost the taxpayer £24 million, with another huge bill expected for delays on the East Coast franchise.

“We have to dump this wasteful system and take rail back into public control,” Norman said.