Archive for August, 2007
Tube Strikes Imminent
Tuesday, August 21st, 2007
It has been reported that Workers at collapsed Tube contractor Metronet have voted to strike. Metronet workers voted overwhelmingly by a total of 1,369 to 70 to strike in the unions votes.
The unions said the failure of the company’s administrators to provide guarantees that there will be no job losses or forced transfers as a result of the company’s financial collapse led to the strike votes.
The Rail, Maritime & Transport (RMT) union, the Transport & Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) and Unite said nearly 3,000 of their members have voted by massive margins for strike action to defend jobs and conditions after the contractor went into administration in July.RMT and TSSA members also voted to strike over the failure to guarantee no cuts in pension entitlements.
Metronet applied for administration after running out of cash to fund its Sub-Surface Lines and Bakerloo, Central & Victoria lines contracts.
The consortium had faced severe criticism for delays in upgrading stations and overrunning engineering work.
This will be seen as another problem to add to a long list for the average London underground commuter, as a strike could leave thousands once again stranded by the unreliability that goes hand in hand with traveling on the tube these days.
For the full story http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/08/20/afx4035582.html
Rail operator fined for standards
Thursday, August 2nd, 2007
First ScotRail, is not the first public transport company to be criticised, but it has been fined nearly £500,000 in the past six months for failing to meet standards on trains and at stations, according to new figures.
Inspectors handed out fines for the state of train toilets and for dirty stations on Scotland’s rail network, the Transport Scotland figures showed.
Other missed benchmarks related to information displays on trains and public announcements at stations.
