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Unions Protest As East Coast Line Goes Private

Unions Protest As East Coast Line Goes Private

Rail unions are planning to stage protests along the East Coast Main Line later - marking the day before the route is re-privatised by the Government.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union is organising gatherings in London, Doncaster and Edinburgh to protest against the franchise being handed over to Virgin and Stagecoach.

Its general secretary, Mick Cash, has described the re-privatisation as an act of "industrial vandalism" - and claims the new private operators are solely motivated by profit.

Citing research which suggests that 70% of Britons want the whole rail network to be re-nationalised, he said: "Six years ago, the East Coast Main Line collapsed into chaos when National Express threw the keys back because they couldn't extract enough profit. That followed an earlier spectacular private sector failure on the line when Sea Containers went bust.

"It was left to the public sector to not only rescue this vital north-south rail link from total meltdown, but to turn around its performance and to start handing hundreds of millions of pounds back to the taxpayer - in contrast to rip-off private companies."

Virgin and Stagecoach already operate services from London to Scotland on the West Coast Main Line.

In proposals for its eight years running the East Coast franchise, the consortium has pledged to launch 23 new daily services from the capital, and offer direct links to Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Dewsbury and Thornaby.

It also hopes to offer 3,100 additional seats during the morning rush-hour by 2020, by introducing 65 state-of-the-art Intercity Express trains to the fleet.

The Department for Transport has rejected the RMT's claims, and said the private sector has "helped to transform our rail network into a real success story".

"We are confident that the new East Coast franchise gives the best deal for passengers. It will provide more seats, more services, new trains and over £140m of investment along the route. In addition, more than £3bn will be paid to taxpayers," a spokesman added.