Rail investment should happen swiftly and be financed by sacking privateers not railway workers.

RMT will fight any cynical attempt to finance investment at some date way off in the future by sacking guards

Following the government announcement on rail investment RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said "What we need is investment in rail today not yet another political promise of jam tomorrow.

All of the rail projects on this shopping list have been talked about for years and with the surge in passenger demand we cannot afford further delays like the ongoing Thameslink fleet replacement fiasco.

We have the chance to create thousands of rail jobs if the politicians wake up and get these projects moving.

However, RMT will fight any cynical attempt to finance investment at some date way off in the future by sacking guards and smashing up ticket offices as recommended in the Government's McNulty Command Paper.

The truth that the Government choose to ignore is that all of these investments could be funded overnight without costing taxpayers or passengers a penny if they called a halt to the multi-billion pound rip off of rail privatisation."