Writing today on wsws.org, Steve James, says:
The horrifying train wreck near Stonehaven, Scotland, last week, was the result of the dilapidated condition of Britain’s rail infrastructure. Starved for decades of essential maintenance funding, the railways have been transformed by successive governments into state-subsidised cash cows for private corporations.
Network Rail’s cost-cutting: It carried out a reduction of its maintenance staff by 12 percent between 2009/10 and 2013/14, down by 2,169 to 15,813. Then it set a target of 2019 of further cost-cutting of 20 percent.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/19/ston-a19.html
No sources for the above figures are offered but can be checked I’m sure.
James finishes with a wider point:
As with the Grenfell Tower disaster and the coronavirus pandemic, the Stonehaven rail crash exposes the systemic elevation of profits above the safety of the population. Every area of life is being subordinated to the accumulation of wealth by a super-rich elite and the corporations they run.
I don’t suppose wsws.org is in the Reporting Scotland editor’s bookmarks.
Trains so old they’re in a museum….
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotrails-new-fleet-trains-old-9389369?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar&fbclid=IwAR0x6UiaktRENzPEt1I-Nxhph2ZK2C_h3abQHpkinco0LpU0YAPFkLMuARI
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So what if the HST design is 40 years old? It is the most popular diesel passenger train design ever run on British railways and is IMHO far superior to the stock it has/is replacing which is half its age.
Railway rolling stock is designed to be refurbished periodically and the Scotrail sets have been completely overhauled prior to going into service. They have been upgraded to the latest emissions standards (engine and toilet) and are fully accessible.
I wonder if the writer ever comments on the 50 year old Boeing 747s?
The article in question just seems like another bit of Labour’s SNP baaad propaganda
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https://policyscotland.gla.ac.uk/investment-fare-increases-compensate-decades-neglect-say-rail-experts/
“In the four decades leading up to the early 2000s, the UK spent on average 40% less annually as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) on its transport infrastructure than other leading economies in Europe. It also costs much more to build major railway projects in this country than elsewhere in Europe.
In spite of the poor investment, passengers – who have endured a 15% real-term rise in ticket prices since 1997 – still pay far more than their European counterparts, with an annual season ticket from Glasgow to Edinburgh costing as much as an equivalent card for the entire German network.”
From 2014.
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No, no. According to the Nine, its ALL the fault of the Scorrish government.
Pesky Nats.
Guilty Salmond.
If we cant get Salmond, get Sturgeon.
Yup. Way to go!
“(Ehhhh? What happens to our jobs if the vote is YES)”?
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Have the people who carry out track and infrastructure maintenance forgotten about Hatfield?
Is this the case?
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Good point
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