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SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) must drop its “discredited” plans to slash hundreds of services, transport union RMT says.
The union has revealed that market research underpinning the proposed cuts was undertaken at the height of the coronavirus pandemic – when most people were instructed not to travel – and that a detailed study by Network Rail indicating the need to increase services was ignored.
RMT says that franchisee SWR commissioned three separate pieces of market research, all conducted between May 2020 and January this year, when the government was specifically instructing passengers to avoid rail travel if possible.
The HS2 debacle exposes what happens when public infrastructure is handed to private contractors – especially when set against China’s state-led high-speed rail success, says CARLOS MARTINEZ
EDDIE DEMPSEY explains why the RMT is calling for urgent action against assaults on staff and passengers on our public transport system
