RMT press release, issued today

BRITAIN’S BIGGEST rail union RMT called on the government today to intervene to prevent private rail operators hitting passengers with huge fare rises in the new year with some tickets going up by more than double the rate of inflation.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the privateers and their shareholders were forcing commuters to pay the price of the recession.

“The train operating companies are effectively insulating themselves against an economic downturn while the government wants to reduce rail subsidy by 40 per cent between 2007 and 2014.

“This will only price people off the railway and force them back into their cars and does nothing to meet government targets to tackle climate change.

“This once again highlights the failure of rail privatisation and the need to take the entire network back into public ownership,” he said.

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