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| Corbyn with the pickets outside King's Cross |
By New Worker
correspondent
Jeremy
Corbyn joined union members protesting against annual three per cent fare
increases, staff cuts and rail privatisation, outside King’s Cross station in
London last week. And throughout the country members of the RMT transport union
held similar demonstrations outside railway stations to hand out “Cut fares not
staff” leaflets and to condemn the extortionate New Year fare increases.
The Labour leader repeated his call for
the re-nationalisation of the rail network, calling the price hikes a
“disgrace” and stating that Britain should instead “invest in our railways as a
public investment”.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that
the “toxic combination” of mismanagement and profiteering from private
companies has forced Brits to endure the nation’s “rip-off railways”.
“British passengers are being forced
through the toxic combination of profiteering and mismanagement to pay the
highest fares in Europe to travel on packed and unreliable services where
safety is being severely compromised.
"The last thing we need on Britain’s
rammed out trains is to be axing safety-critical staff and that is why RMT will
be continuing the fight for the guard guarantee on Northern and South Western
Railways into the New Year.
"Services are at breaking point and
in those dangerous conditions removing the staff who are the eyes and ears of
the service is nothing less than gross negligence on the part of private
operators like Northern and SWR.
“For failing Transport Secretary Chris
Grayling to choose to give a kicking to front-line rail staff, working around
the clock in all weathers to keep Britain moving, rather than face up to the
dangerous chaos he has personally overseen, shows why he is unfit to run a bath
let alone a railway.”
