APPENDIX 9
Memorandum submitted The National Union
of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport
Workers (RMT) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Transport
Select Committee inquiry "Going for Gold: Delivering Excellent
Transport for London's 2012 Olympic Games".
The RMT organises 72,000 workers in all sectors
of the transport industry and negotiates, on behalf of our members,
with some 150 employers. With over 44,000 members employed on
the railway RMT is the largest of the rail unions.
INTRODUCTION
The RMT is delighted that London has been chosen
by the International Olympic Committee to host both the Olympics
and Paralympics in 2012. The Games will not only bring world class
sporting competition to the capital but also present opportunities
for significant enhancements to London and the South East's transport
infrastructure which should leave lasting legacies for future
generations in both London and the South East as well as the rest
of Britain.
CAPACITY ENHANCEMENTS
London's transport infrastructure is in urgent
need of significant capacity enhancement. Last year almost 1 billion
journeys were made on the London Underground and the 10 years
since 1994-95 have seen a 40% increase in mainline rail travel
between London and the South East as a whole and a 22% increase
in mainline rail journeys within London itself.
In addition by 2016 London's population is projected
to grow by 800,000. It is therefore self evident that existing
passenger demand, the projected population increase and the 2012
Games themselves will place additional strains upon an already
overcrowded transport network.
RMT is therefore disappointed that the Crossrail
project appears extremely unlikely to be ready in time for 2012.
We are also concerned at the apparent lack of progress on the
Thameslink 2000 project and would want to see works taken forward
as a matter of some urgency. RMT also trusts that both the new
Channel Tunnel Rail Link Domestic Services and Phase 1 of the
East London Line Extension will meet their respective 2009 and
2010 deadlines.
To promote sustainable transport RMT will be
seeking Government, and where appropriate Mayoral, assurances
that existing rail freight paths will not be unduly affected by
the projected increase in passenger services which will be introduced
to serve the Games.
Additionally RMT welcome Alistair Darling's
November 2004 announcement to guarantee projects designed to enhance
network capacity in and around London in preparation for 2012.
The projects include;
— The upgrade of the Chiltern Line
into Marylebone Station
— The redevelopment of Stratford regional
station
— Asset renewals on the C2C, West Anglia
and Great Eastern, Victoria to North Kent, London to Brighton
and Waterloo to Weymouth lines
— Signalling enhancements, platform
extensions and power reinforcement on the North London Line.
— Signalling enhancements on the C2C
route at West Ham station
— Platform extension and signalling
enhancements on the Great Eastern line at Stratford station
— Infrastructure enhancements on the
Lee Valley Line
— The provision of operational infrastructure
to provide the Olympic Shuttle between the Olympic Park—Central
London and Kent.
Whilst welcoming these commitments by the Secretary
of State we would point out that post-privatisation unit costs
for rail enhancements have spiralled. RMT would want not want
to see a situation where private contractors used the Games as
another mechanism through which they extract exorbitant sums from
the public purse in order to maximise shareholder dividends.
COST
The House of Commons Library Research Paper
on the Olympics Bill sets out how the £2.375 billion set
aside for specific Olympic capital costs under the "Memorandum
of Understanding between the Government and the Mayor of London"
will be spent.
|
| Works | Cost in £000
|
|
| Construction of new venues | 560,000
|
| IBC/MPC construction | 130,000
|
| Olympic transport infrastructure | 380,000
|
| Enhanced infrastructure in the Olympic Park
| 350,000 |
| Elite Sport | 300,000 |
| Other costs incl, security, contingencies and inflation
| 650,000 |
Total | 2,375,000 |
|
| |
It remains to be seen whether the money set aside for Olympic
transport infrastructure will prove to be sufficient. Evidence
from recent games is that costs overrun can be significant. The
Athens games cost £6.3 billion; twice as much as expected.
RMT has long argued that businesses who benefit financially
from large-scale infrastructure projects should contribute towards
the cost. This could be done along the lines of the "Versement
Tax" which has been used to fund light-rail projects in France
or through the use of hypothecated taxation similar to that used
by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York which
targets charges on business and property owners, taxes on commercial
rents, business telephone charges (and) property transfers.
Furthermore property and land values have often soared in
the wake of new transport developments. RMT believes that companies
and institutions that are set benefit economically from an expansion
in the transport infrastructure in preparation for 2012 should
be required to make a financial contribution towards the cost
of staging the Games.
LONDON UNDERGROUND
As well as the enhancements which will be required on the
mainline, London Underground's capacity and performance will be
severely tested. On the passenger side LU has coped well in the
past with one off large-scale events such as the Notting Hill
Carnival. However RMT is less confident of good performance on
the underground's infrastructure. In the past we have been critical
of the Public Private Partnership on London Underground, a view
which has been shared both by your Committee and its predecessor.
RMT is particularly concerned that Transport for London's
2005 report into Year 2 of the PPP indicates that so far performance
is "not good enough and is less than what was promised"
and that "where renewal work is being delivered much if it
is currently late."
Under the terms of the PPP much of the renewals work is not
due to begin until stage 2 in 2009. There is, as yet, no committed
funding for this second 7½-year period. RMT is strongly of
the view that the quality of project management thus far delivered
by the Infracos will be inadequate to deal with the volume of
renewals required on the London Underground in the run up to 2012.
We would strongly urge that the Government quickly re-assess the
whole rationale of the PPP and brings forward legislation which
would allow the Mayor the flexibility to create a unified, streamlined,
publicly owned and accountable underground network which we believe
would be best placed to complete the necessary work on LU in good
time for 2012.
ROLLING STOCK
The past few years have seen significant job losses in the
railway manufacturing and maintenance sector at sites including
Birmingham Washwood Heath, Eastleigh and Derby Pride Park and
Derby Litchurch Lane. RMT is therefore extremely disappointed
that the new high-speed trains for the proposed Integrated Kent
Franchise will be built in Japan and not in Britain.
However the new vehicles which will be required to cope with
the extra passengers demand, for example the Olympic Javelin shuttle,
presents the opportunity to begin the regeneration of the railway
workshop sector. RMT would urge all parties to do everything in
their power to ensure that additional 2012 rolling stock is domestically
built and maintained.
SECURITY
Following the appalling July terrorist attacks the issue
of security for the travelling public on London's transport system
is now even more of a key issue. RMT believes that the presence
of visible well-trained railway staff is one of the essential
components in sustaining public confidence in the network.
We are therefore of the view that London Underground should
begin the process of re-introducing guards across the underground
network. Furthermore the Train Operating Companies on the national
mainline should desist from de-staffing booking offices but should
rather move to re-staff currently understaffed and un-staffed
stations. Whilst fully aware that guards are unable to stop terrorists
or suicide bombers they can help passengers to de-train as safely
as possible in the event of an emergency by for example ensuring
that they do not evacuate onto potentially live rails. This is
particularly important in the event of the driver being injured
or otherwise incapacitated. Visible station staff also improve
the passenger's sense of security and are an essential presence
if stations have to be evacuated or closed due to an emergency
or other serious incident.
SKILLS LEGACY
Inner city London constituencies suffer from some of the
highest unemployment rates in Britain.
Position | Constituency
| % Male | % Female
| All |
5th | Tottenham
| 13.9% | 6.3% | 10.6%
|
| 8th | Camberwell and Peckham
| 12.9% | 5.7% | 9.6%
|
| 9th | Bethnall Green and Bow
| 11.6% | 6.2% | 9.5%
|
| 11th | Hackney South and Shoreditch
| 12.0% | 5.9% | 9.2%
|
| |
| | |
Source: House of Commons Research Paper—Unemployment
by constituency July 2005
It should be clear that hosting the Games provides an opportunity
to train the highly skilled work-force which will be needed to
construct the Olympic venues as well as to build and subsequently
maintain Olympic transport infrastructure projects. RMT is therefore
firmly of the view that training schemes and apprenticeships should
be brought forward which will see the development of a highly-skilled
workforce in some of the inner-London constituencies where unemployment
rates are disproportionately high. Such steps could prove to be
one of the most valuable legacies that the 2012 London Games could
leave behind.
CONCLUSION
RMT very much welcomes the IOC decision to award the 2012
Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to London.
RMT also welcomes commitments to enhance transport capacity
in preparation for the Games and trusts that unit costs, unlike
those on the West Coast Mainline, can be held at levels which
do not see private sector engineering contractors securing huge
profit margins. We do not believe that the PPP will be able to
deliver the necessary upgrade of the London Underground and would
urge the Government to intervene to scrap the scheme and return
the Tube to unified public sector control.
In order to fund the transport infrastructure projects required
for the Games we would suggest that the Government considers funding
streams similar to those used in France and by the MTA in New
York and in addition consider a land-value tax.
Finally the Games provide wonderful opportunities to re-establish
high-skilled jobs in the railway workshop sector and to tackle
the blight of unemployment in London's inner-city boroughs by
training local workers in both railway construction and engineering.
September 2005
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