The RMT Union has called for the nationalisation of Merseyrail services.
The RMT says that reports suggest that Councillors are considering extending the privatisation of services when the contract expires in 2028.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the union had received assurances in the past that Mayor Steve Rotheram wanted to take Merseyrail into public ownership, and he had the power to do just that.
“Since the contract has started in 2003 an eyewatering £212 million in dividends has been fleeced off in profits, money that could have been spent cutting fares and improving services, as well as insourcing outsourced contracts, which the Labour Government has stated we will see the biggest wave of insourcing.
“However, Merseyrail has been so greedy they have even refused to directly employ hard working rail cleaners who were so important to keeping services safe during Covid and today. Merseyside’s politicians now also need to demand that our cleaners ae taken in -house.
“I wrote to Steve Rotheram last October urging that he supports public ownership, and I am writing to both the Mayor and Councillors to urge them to do the right thing and bring the service into public ownership when the contract expires in 2028,” he said.
Responses
Excepting of course the inconvenient fact that they are publicly subsidised to the tune of £122million pounds last year. The profits creamed off by the operators shareholder is there due to the subsidy not their efficiency. The ORR publishes the subsidy figures for each operator. Next brilliant pearl of wisdom??
So a successful franchise, needs to be nationalised, leave it alone, it clearly works. Making money without a public subsidy is surely more beneficial?