GOVT MUST STOP FAILING OUR RAILWAYS

The UK rail industry has gone through some turbulent times in recent years. The publication of the McNulty report in May 2011 saw recommendations aimed at economising the industry and saving vast sums of money which have previously been spent subsidising the railways. The industry has been fragmented for a number of years which was a lasting legacy of the botched privatisation carried out in the dying days of the last Tory government.

This privatisation resulted in huge bills being footed by fare payers and tax payers. However, I do not believe the McNulty report addressed these pressing issues or delivered sensible cost-saving options. At a time when families were, and still are, feeling the economic pinch the report recommended a 30% increase in rail fares over three years. This problem has become worse over time and has effectively priced passengers out of rail travel.

There is no doubt that changes must be made to our rail system, to reduce passenger fares, secure jobs and alleviate the burden on the taxpayer, but we need government to demonstrate they value the rail industry before it can be reformed; something they have singularly failed to do.

The industry suffered a massive body blow last year when Bombardier, the last remaining UK train manufacturer, lost out on the lucrative Thameslink contract. The loss of the 1,200 carriage contract meant that the Derby’s plant’s future was in jeopardy. Its future beyond 2014 is still uncertain.

I wrote on numerous occasions to the Secretary of State and Minister responsible for the procurement of the contract to no avail. They blankly refused to reopen the tendering process. The Transport Minister, Theresa Villiers, acknowledged “that there would be disappointment in Derby”. She was not wrong. But we continued to fight and marched through the streets of the city with over 10,000 people in support of Bombardier workers.

But, still, the government refused accept the way in which they set out the tendering process was disadvantageous to Bombardier and they failed to take into account the socio-economic impact the tender of the contract would have. The loss of Thameslink had a devastating social and economic impact in Derby with 1,400 skilled workers being thrown out of work and into the dole queue.

After receiving the hardest knock in its history, Bombardier have dusted themselves off and applied for the Crossrail contract. Just days ago the shortlist was revealed. Bombardier again find themselves pitched against old German rivals Siemens; also on the shortlist are Japan’s Hitachi and CAF of Spain. The Secretary of State for Transport, Justine Greening, announced to MP’s last week that the government have adopted a new “responsible procurement” policy. She claims the new policy will mean bidders have to outline how they will provide apprenticeships and opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses.

The decision made last week by the government to include new procurement rules relating to jobs and training is a welcome move and has justified Labour’s position that the Thameslink procurement could have been restarted all along. A similar clause in the Thameslink procurement may have resulted in the outcome being very different. Although the government has made some amendments to the procurement rules, concerns still remain about the financing arrangements.

I sincerely hope that the government is serious about a change in the procurement process and this is not just a parlour trick using smoke and mirrors. The McNulty report argued for change in the rail system by undermining the role of railway workers who keep the system working. That is not an effective or an acceptable way to deliver change.

At a time of record unemployment it is essential that massive public procurement projects are used to inject jobs and growth into our economy, we need to make the government understand this. This Tory led government failed us on McNulty, failed us on Thameslink, but let’s hope it doesn’t fail us on Crossrail.