Network Rail hits back at ‘regretful’ RMT claim linking modernisation proposals to tragedy
Network Rail’s plans to modernise maintenance will improve safety for workers, as it hit out at the RMT union for its “regretful” linking of proposals to a tragedy almost 20 years ago.
NR strongly denied claims by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union that it had a cost-cutting agenda, as its boss Mick Lynch invoked the Tebay accident from 19 years ago in his call for higher standards.
The two sides are in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions which has led to a series of strikes.
The RMT made its claims on Wednesday on the 19th anniversary of an accident at Tebay in Cumbria which claimed the lives of four track workers.
During a commemoration this week, general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We remember these tragedies not only as a mark of respect for our comrades but in order to campaign for proper safety standards, to ensure this never happens again.
“However, despite these tragedies and others, we are having to resist further attacks on safety, with 50 per cent planned reductions in scheduled maintenance tasks, hundreds of job losses and more unsocial shifts.
“The cost-cutting agenda posed by Network Rail’s plans under so-called modernising maintenance represents a threat to safety standards, our members’ wellbeing and to the travelling public.”
Network Rail insists it will never do anything to compromise safety.
Martin Frobisher, Network Rail’s director of safety and engineering, said: “Our thoughts go to the families of those killed in the Tebay tragedy in which four of our rail colleagues died 19 years ago.
“Such a loss of life shocked the entire rail industry and led to significant safety changes for those playing a vital role maintaining and improving our nation’s railway.
“We never forget events like Tebay and the lessons learned continue to inform safety standards and changes to working practices today.
“Running a safe railway for our people and passengers is fundamental to everything we do.
“Safety is at the heart of our Modernising Maintenance proposals, which improve the safety of our railway for its workforce and its users, as modern technology, such as on-train high definition cameras and remote monitors – the railway’s equivalent to smart meters – will reduce the need for our people to be walking in the dangerous trackside environment as frequently.
“It is regretful that the RMT has linked the tragedy to our proposals to drag the way we do maintenance into the 21st century, which we feel is insensitive to the families and hugely unhelpful in our commitment to resolve our ongoing industrial dispute and put an end to unnecessarily damaging and disruptive strike action.”
The RMT Union has been declined to comment.
Press Association – Alan Jones