Rail unions have launched an application for a judicial review of the government's plans to reprivatise the East Coast franchise, and also the current DfT policy of making direct awards to get the franchising timetable back on track.
East Coast has moved to the Invitation to Tender stage, and there are three shortlisted bidders. The new franchise is set to start early next year, before the General Election in May. Several direct awards have been made or are in the pipeline. The latest to be confirmed is an extension of Northern's contract, while talks are in progress with FirstGroup over a possible five-year extension on Great Western.
ASLEF, RMT and TSSA said they had agreed 'a united approach because they believe that their members’ jobs and conditions, as well as the interests of passengers and taxpayers, are threatened by the Government’s failure to adequately consult over the future of East Coast.
They have 'significant concerns that despite the Brown review of rail franchising recommending that the procurement for rail franchise should take place over a minimum of 24 months, the Government is rushing through the privatisation of East Coast over a 15 month period to be concluded by February 2015.
'In its haste to push services back into the private sector the Government has cut corners, including breaching its own commitment to proper consultation of stakeholders, including passenger groups and the rail unions.'
ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said: “It is imperative that we raise the genuine concerns of all stakeholders but, especially, the employees before this is rushed through. We cannot, in good conscience, allow the mistakes of the past to happen again.”
RMT acting general secretary Mick Cash said: “After the scandal of this Government robbing the British taxpayer of a billion pounds in the scramble to privatise the Post Office it is shocking that they are engaging in the same tactics to try and hand the East Coast Mainline back to their friends in big business.
“The British public have a right to openness and transparency when it comes to the ideologically-driven attempt to sell off Britain’s most successful rail-route to the speculators and chancers after two previous private sector failures on the same line.”
TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes added: “The Tory led coalition knows only too well that rail franchising is not fit for purpose. They continue to ignore the recommendations of the Brown review which they commissioned following the West Coast debacle. Rail workers are at a loss to understand why the government insists on going forward with a broken system which threatens the interests of passengers and taxpayers. We can only conclude that the ideology which saw Royal Mail flogged off on the cheap continues to thrive.”