Nicholas Lewis
Established Member
To my mind this is exacerbated by the halfway house we have now and I suspect the record will show HMT didn't agree with taking over the franchises and now they have the problem on the bottom line of govt they want it sorted. That said it needs some cool heads here to find a way through this that isn't at the detriment of the industry and its workforce. Govt should offer 5% and another 5% to come from efficiencies across the entire industry. Its senior mgt salary bill has also rocketed over the years its not just drivers and other staff that have done well then there are all the hangers on in the industry now that make operating it just more costly than it needs to be.In many ways I don't disagree with that but I have said all along I think the current Government have been up for a fight with the Rail Unions. In the past the privatised operators have, as a rule, shied away from major confrontation. Now because they are effectively publicly owned the battle is at the door or the Government.
This could be a watershed moment for how the rails are operated and funded.