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TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, has blasted privatised train operating companies as ‘vampires’.
date 15 November 2019 source TSSA type Press release
Cortes made the comments after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) released figures showing that taxpayers had to fork out more than £400 million to prop up loss-making train companies last year.
Cortes said: “These figures confirm what we’ve known all along – for the train operating companies it’s heads we win, tails you lose.
“It can’t be right that taxpayers are forced to subsidise these failing firms. They’re like vampires, bleeding our railways dry.”
“It’s blindingly obvious for all to see that privatisation has failed, and that public ownership is the way to go!”
The Labour Party has committed to bring the UK’s railways into public if it wins the General Election on 12th December.
ENDS
Notes
Net government support to the rail industry in Great Britain totalled £7.1 billion in 2018-19. The £417 million received by TOCs in 2018-19 compares with a real terms net payment to government of £227 million in 2017-18. The full report is available online at: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1548/rail-finance-statistical-release-2018-19.pdf
For further information contact Chris Clark, Communications Officer. Mobile: 07738486448. Email: clarkc@tssa.org.uk
Railnews Archive ::: 2019-11-15 TSS-002
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