On the ten-year anniversary of the Railways Act 1993, rail union Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) said that all the evidence shows that rail privatisation is a failed experiment.

The union revealed results of a new survey of its members, which showed that 76 per cent of members believe the state of the railways has deteriorated since privatisation and only 8.8 per cent believe it has improved.

Further, 65 per cent of members surveyed support or strongly support the re-nationalisation of the railways.

Supporters of rail privatisation claimed it would bring an end to the under-funding of rail investment with the replacement of Government subsidy with private investment.

But the railways now cost more and deliver less - the cost of investment spiralling out of control with subsidies increasing from £1.3bn to £3.8bn a year. Some commentators believe this amounts to three times the amount that British Rail would have spent on similar projects.

Half of all train operating companies are in effect technically insolvent, being propped up by ever-increasing sums of taxpayers' money paid through the SRA.

TSSA believes that the 16 per cent increase in train rental costs between 2000/01 and 2001/02 shows that these costs are set to continue to rise.

The union is disappointed that the promise of a first-class lobbying effort for the whole industry has not materialised under privatisation; instead all the private interests put their balance sheet before the interests of passengers or the industry.

General secretary Richard Rosser said: "Like many, TSSA's members are frustrated by the failures of rail privatisation. And like many, with the risk of sounding smug, we knew all along that rail privatisation would disappoint.

"With project, maintenance and renewal costs exploding, the costs of train provision increasing, and the SRA calling on franchise bidders for cost reductions of 10 per cent to 20 per cent achievable by likely service reductions or by reducing the pay of employees and worsening their terms and conditions, nobody can claim that the privatisation experiment has worked.

"However, recent developments, like Network Rail taking all maintenance contracts in-house, shows there is light at the end of the tunnel.

"If only to get a grip on costs, the industry needs to be reintegrated. The SRA has to follow Network Rail's lead and start to take train operator franchises in house too."

ends

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Hannah Leggett,
Press Officer,
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Notes to Editors

1. TSSA represents 33,000 members in administrative, clerical, managerial, professional and technical jobs in the railways, buses, the London Underground, the travel trade, canals, ports and ferries, and road haulage.

Rail privatisation: ten years of failure