Rail unions claim the Government has ‘concrete plans’ in place to ease lockdown by bringing the railway network back to life by May 18 – just THREE WEEKS’ time
- The TSSA trade union claims its members have been told of ‘concrete plans’
- Include increasing to a regular weekend-level service between May 11 and 18
- Last week Dominic Raab extended the UK lockdown to May 7 at the earliest
- Today he said he did not ‘recognise’ the dates the union claimed
Dominic Raab tonight denied claims that ministers are plotting a major expansion of rail services within weeks.
The TSSA trade union claims its members have been told of ‘concrete plans’ to bring the number of daily trains up to what would be a regular weekend service by the middle of May.
In a letter to Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines, general secretary Manuel Cortes said the plans included ‘a phased increase from the current service to ‘Saturday plus’ services between May 11 and May 18 and the possible re-opening of retail outlets within managed stations’.
But it comes as the UK remains on lockdown until at least May 7, with little optimism that it will be lifted then.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was pressed on the claims at the daily press conference tonight.
He responded: ‘The dates that you describe, I don’t know where they come from, it’s not something I recognise.
Asked about the claims at the daily press conference, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: ‘The dates that you describe, I don’t know where they come from, it’s not something I recognise’
In a letter to Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines, general secretary Manuel Cortes (above) said the plans included ‘a phased increase from the current service to ‘Saturday plus’ services between May 11 and May 18
‘It would be a mistake to take our eye off the ball right now. The focus is still on delivering us through the peak and we’re obviously reliant on the data we get back from Sage in a couple of weeks time in order to even think about the next phase.
‘That’s absolutely not a timetable that we’re working to, that I recognise or that’s under consideration right now.’
The Government moved to take emergency control of the rail network a month ago to avoid a total collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said it was suspending franchises for six months in order to ‘minimise disruption to the rail sector’, safeguard jobs and allow key workers to move around.
After Boris Johnson told the public to work at home on March 17, widespread parts of the network saw a collapse in commuter numbers,
After Boris Johnson told the public to work at home on March 17, widespread parts of the network saw a collapse in commuter numbers, with operators already running reduced services.
In his letter to Network Rail today, Mr Cortes asked if the infrastructure organisation had been instructed by the Department for Transport (DfT) to ‘increase services’ and ‘if so, to what level and over what time period?’
He added: ‘As you know, our union has been very supportive of the pro-active actions taken by Network Rail to deal with the Covid-19 challenge.
‘And our TSSA representatives have played an extremely positive role in supporting our members and the business through exceptional times.
‘I want to that to continue, but I cannot stand by while our union’s members are being required to place themselves in harm’s way without any justification being provided.’