News
Network Rail 2012 pay deal causes controversy
by Peter Brown
Network Rail chief executive David Higgins has defended the ‘Olympics deal’ between his company and rail unions as an ‘unprecedented’ agreement to stave off industrial action during Olympics 2012. The deal means signallers and clerical staff will receive RPI + 0.5 per cent this year, backdated to January, and RPI + 0.5 per cent for next year.
The vital details for all staff in the ‘Olympics deal’ are £3.50 per
TICKETING APP OPENS BARRIERS
n
Chiltern Railways has launched a ticketing
application that allows passenger to buy, receive and validate tickets through an app on their mobile phones. This is the first solution that allows users to buy and receive a ticket in the same transaction.
The ticket appears as a
barcode on the phone, with readers on ticket gates at Chiltern stations able to interpret the code and open the gates. The technology was developed by Atos Origin and Masabi.
Southeastern Olympic proposals draw criticism n
Proposals by Southeastern to dramatically cut services and close stations in south London during the Olympics next year have been met with a public outcry. Londoners have been venting their disapproval on regional television news programmes and complaining online. The plans include reducing
How the new app will look
six trains an hour at Deptford to just two an hour, reducing six trains an hour down to four an hour at Kidbrooke and suspending the service to Dartford, as well as closing Woolwich Dockyard, which normally has six trains an hour. A Southeastern spokesman declared: ‘It is a consultation, but it
is in our franchise agreement that we have to meet demands from the Olympic Delivery Authority and we have been working with them. ‘We’ve got to try and balance the requirements of the ODA with our daily services.’
He added: ‘Our hands are tied.’ The results of the consultation
are expected at the end of June or beginning of July and London TravelWatch is calling on the operator to reconsider.
Jo de Bank, spokeswoman for
the watchdog, said: ‘We do not believe that these proposals are fair on passengers – those attending the Olympics or going about their normal business.’
A rail head has been re-opened at Ellesmere Port, 20 years after it closed. Peel Ports Mersey and logistics company the Quality Freight Group have combined to invest more than £50,000 in a receiving area and rail sidings, and Quality Freight has created two jobs at the site.
hour additional pay for workers with Olympic duties, and an agreement not to dismiss any staff during the Olympics. Any outstanding or new dispute
will be automatically referred to ACAS while the Games are on and no industrial dispute can take place while in that process. Higgins said: ‘This is great news
for the millions of people who will use the trains to enjoy the Olympics. Travellers get certainty that their journeys won’t be disrupted by industrial action and our people get
a fair deal linked to inflation.’ The agreement has been
slammed by a Conservative MP and the Taxpayers Alliance. But RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: ‘At this time of austerity we think extra payments and 10 per cent on the basic represents a good deal.’ He has demanded similar terms for his members on the London Underground, despite a five-year pay deal that would give them more than a four per cent rise this year and RPI + 0.25 per cent in the four subsequent years.
News in brief
New DLR carriages TfL has revealed that a three- car DLR upgrade has been completed within budget and on time, for use between Tower Gateway and Beckton ahead of next year’s Olympics. The 55 new Bombardier-built carriages, costing £100m, are part of a £325m upgrade.
Power cut brings Thameslink to a standstill A ‘major outage’ brought First Capital Connect’s Thameslink service to a complete standstill for about 90 minutes on Tuesday 26 April. The incident happened in the Farringdon area, when the power supply was lost for the route throughout central London.
RMT ballots train cleaners Cleaners working on First Great Western have voted for strike action in a dispute over pay in an RMT ballot. The cleaners work for a contractor, Mitie. They have been offered a pay increase of 1.25 per cent for last year and one per cent for the year starting this April.
Passenger numbers grow Figures published by Atoc show that passenger numbers on the railways grew by 6.6 per cent in 2010-11. Over the same period, passengers in Northern Ireland made 10.4 million journeys, according to Translink NI Railways, beating the province’s previous record of 10.2 million journeys in 2008-9.
Diversion to get gauge enhancement Network Rail has announced plans to upgrade a second, diversionary, route out of Southampton docks to take high-cube freight containers. The route from Southampton to Basingstoke will require 17 bridges to be rebuilt, two redundant bridges to be demolished and three others to be modified. The track will need to be altered in 11 places and station canopies at Andover, Romsey and Whitchurch will have to be adjusted.
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