Well this thread got lively.
I am not going to state my own views, but I feel compelled to clarify a few matters where some posters appear to be under a misapprehension.
It's TOCs and DfT who don't want to because it requires an increased headcount
Not so, TOCs and DfT (and other funders) are very keen to have Sundays in the week. See the Scotrail deal.
Me PERSONALLY? 5% and absolutely no job cuts. If it's good enough for Scotrail.....
assuming (by your username) that you are a signaller, you have had it confirmed there will be no need for any redundancies. So you have that part in the bag.
I know the strikes can be called off as close as the evening of the 20th but how much notice is needed by the TOCs before their amended timetables for the 21st come into effect anyway.
It varies. Some are likely to be past the point of no return already.
My question I've always wanted the Government to answer is this: Why does the railway have to make a profit and not be a cost to the taxpayer, albeit a small one in terms relative to other areas?
The Government has never stated the railway needs to make a profit, at least not for around 30 years. What the Government is stating is that the substantial increase in subsidy over the last few years (and not all Covid related) must be limited. Even on the most optimistic forecasts, annual subsidy will still represent more than half the cost of the railway.
And it is not small compared to other areas. It is substantially more than the roads budget, for example. More than the entire housing and local communities budget. More than the Foreign Office. More than Culture, Media, Sport, Food, Environment and Rural affairs
combined
how much are the roads subsidised for? how much profit do they make?
they are not. The roads make substantial ’profit’, if you can call it that, for Government as taxes and duties applicable to road transport far outweigh costs directly associated with road transport (including accident recovery).
Personally if I joined the railway I would join a union but not the RMT. The others are generally much more sensible and measured in their approach.
right now, I’d say the RMT are being the most sensible and measured. The tone of their communications has mellowed considerably in the past two months. Changes at the top, apparently. TSSA meanwhile seem to have lost the plot a little, with some very odd communications. Possibly to deflect issues at the top there?
Post covid passenger numbers are 80 to over 90% & rising
80% and not rising any more.
A genuine cause is 1000s of network rail staff losing jobs or being redeployed
thousands have already left Network Rail, all in management or clerical grades, voluntarily; many others have been redeployed. This has been to the benefit of those that wanted to leave, those that wanted to stay, and the company, because they agreed to restructuring to better position the company for the environment it is in. The same is on offer to maintenance staff. It’s really quite simple.
Personally I feel they could cut a load of costs by having a cull off middle management which the whole industry is top heavy with.
see above. Thousands of managers have left NR, and thousands more in the TOCs.
also not sure how you can be ‘top heavy’ with ‘middle management’.
The amount of disruption strikes will cause is lower than it would have been three years ago, and the political landscape has changed.
not just the Political landscape (politics with a big “P”) but the business environment the railways sit in, and the relationship with Government - industry politics (small “p”) if you like. I actually think Mick Lynch gets this - he certainly said as much in the letters published a year or so ago when the RMT was at war with itself - he just needs to persuade his colleagues. Fingers crossed that he does, and quickly.
