RMT Sounds Safety Alarm Over Rail Cuts

Transport union RMT has raised serious safety fears over rail maintenance as it emerged the transport budget is being lined up for cuts of up to 40 per cent as part of the government's public spending plans. The union said cuts of this magnitude would 'savage' maintenance and renewals work.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "With cuts of up to 40 per cent 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."

He added: "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."

Transport secretary Philip Hammond said government departments will not have to axe 40 per cent from their budgets - despite being ordered to plan for cuts on that scale. He said some departments may see cuts 'a bit higher' than the 25 per cent announced in the budget and some 'a bit lower.' In his budget last month, chancellor George Osborne said departments would face average cuts of 25 per cent when the government's public spending review is completed in October, with only health and aid spending ring fenced. But Mr Hammond said other departments have been told to go through their budgets 'line by line' for savings of between 25 per cent and 40 per cent.

Source: TUC Risks

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