RAIL UNION RMT warned today that the tendering for the new Greater Western franchise, now underway and due to operate from April 2013, is being conducted under the terms of the Sir Roy McNulty Rail Review before the Government have even taken it through the parliamentary process, with dire consequences for both jobs and passenger services.

The tender documents make it clear that the bidding process will be conducted under the framework set out by McNulty and that means the closure of ticket offices at 29 Category E stations and severe reductions in opening hours at a further 17 Category D stations.

The McNulty Rail Review maps out a plan for 30% reductions in operating costs while bullet-proofing the profits of the private train operators, making it clear that the cuts can only be made by savage reductions in staffing and passenger services, including ticket offices, and by bridging the gap through higher fares.

The Government response to McNulty, expected to take the form of a parliamentary “Command Paper” has not yet been made although they are conducting new tendering for franchises within the scope of its recommendations without parliamentary approval.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“It is an insult to democracy that the Greater Western franchise is being tendered on the basis of a half-baked and totally bogus set of ideas advanced by McNulty before they have even been endorsed by the country’s law makers.

“This a pre-emptive strike that will lead to a massacre of the ticket offices from London to Wales and the South West with hundreds of station and train based jobs on the line and the quality of passenger services dumped in order to ramp up private profits.

“RMT will unite with our sister unions and passengers to stop these plans in their tracks.”