SIR - Harold Metcalf (Trains should be run for us, not for profit, Craven Herald letters, February 7) is not the first to misunderstand (or misrepresent) the current cause of the dispute between the RMT and Northern Rail and
many other rail franchises. At the heart of this dispute is the attempt by the union to link the introduction of trains with doors operated by the driver rather than the conductor to safety concerns. This despite
there being no evidence to support this position and the fact that driver operated trains have been in service for years without any issues. The RMT further inflate the issue by claiming that Northern (and the other franchise holders), plan to remove conductors from the trains
completely. This is untrue, as Northern have repeatedly stated their intention to retain conductors on their trains up until the end of their franchise period, as have the other companies in dispute. Indeed many, such as Greater Anglia, are planning to increase the number of
conductors they employ as they increase the number of services they run.
Mr Metcalf sets up a straw man when he says that other disputes have been resolved with the conductors being allowed to stay on the trains, yes, because there was never any intent to remove them in the first place.
As for privatisation itself, we should perhaps remember that the number
of passenger journeys has increased by 60 per cent since privatisation with more
people travelling now that at any time in the history of the railways.
This is an increase that the state owned railways on the continent have
not come close to matching. Freight to has increased substantially, in our own area with can see the reinstatement of freight facilities removed during the days of BR at Ribblehead and Helwith Bridge, the
latter expected to replace around 16000 lorry journeys per annum.
As for private profit, the total profits of the railway companies amount
to around 3 per cent to 4 per cent of total revenue, a small price to pay surely for the nine fold increase in investment since privatisation, the 117 per cent increase in
national rail journeys and the safest railway system in Europe. The current franchise system is far from perfect, the fiasco of last year's timetable revisions is proof of that, but those revisions were
introduced to try to allow even more services to run to meet increased demand, a problem that was never an issue during BR days. Finally, perhaps we should remember that without the profit motive we would not have a railway system to argue about, as the magnificent Settle to Carlisle railway, and its associated infrastructure, so nearly closed during the period of state ownership can attest.
Andrew Diggens
Eldroth, Austwick
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