A vision for Scotland’s railways

Last week Scotland’s rail trade unions demonstrated again how the Labour and trade union movement, when united and proactive, are the greatest force for good in society.

In publishing ‘A Vision for Scotland’s Railways’ ASLEF, the RMT, Unite and the TSSA have done Scottish rail passengers, society and our environment a huge favour.

Their vision is not just a vision for workers it’s a vision to help Scotland tackle poverty and inequality, to grow Scotland’s economy and to help Scotland meet its environmental targets.

We at UNITY Consulting Scotland were delighted to work with the rail unions, and help develop their vision.

The timing of this report and its central message around the importance of rail services helping meet our climate targets could not be more opportune with world leaders arriving in Glasgow for COP26 to discuss how we meet the challenges of the climate emergency.

What became clear to us researching this was that there is no way Scotland can meet its environmental targets and implement its climate change plan without investing in rail services.

Neither can the lofty aims set in the National Transport Strategy be met if Scotland fails to invest in rail. That is not all. Social and economic policies would fall flat without investing in rail services.

Rhetoric and nice policies set out in nice policy documents must be matched by action and by investment. Scotland, the Scottish Government and Parliament, must cure itself of its regular habit of saying the right things, knowing that they are the right things to say, but not backing their own words and policies with the necessary investment.

Investing in rail services is central to taking climate action, growing our economy, addressing inequality, and improving health and well-being. This necessitates creating a world-class service that is affordable, accessible for all, dependable, expanded, and attractive enough to encourage the shift of people from their cars to rail travel.

The Scottish Government know this. Nonetheless, they have endorsed the Abellio ScotRail plan to cut 300 trains a day, equating to over 100 thousand train journeys over the course of one year.

Trade unions know better than anyone that rail services are a vital part of Scotland’s national infrastructure and central to delivering on various policy areas, not least our environmental targets. They know that cutting trains will hinder not help get people onto trains.

They know better than anyone that our rail services must be affordable and stop excluding so many on the basis of cost. They know our trains must be made to feel safe and accessible for disabled people, women, and our elderly.

They know the value of investing in and not cutting staff. How our maintenance staff, engineering workers, drivers, conductors, cleaners, in-station and on-train staff are the best and most important asset rail services in Scotland have.

Workers and trade unions know that the cash bonanza for profiteers must end and that all rail services, including rolling stock, are most effective when under public ownership and control.

That’s why ScotRail must be taken under public ownership permanently.

Why the SERCO operated Caledonian Sleeper should be taken under public ownership as part of a permanently publicly owned ScotRail.

Why Scotland needs to look at financing the purchase of rolling stock back into public ownership and why we should consider a publicly owned rail freight operating company.

Workers and rail unions know and understand the detail and workings of our rail services better than anyone. We realised that 10 seconds into our first meeting with them for this research. What is more, they care an awful lot about our railways.

When designing the new publicly-owned operator of last resort the regulatory and governance framework must place workers and trade unions at its heart. No one knows or cares more about our railways. They are the greatest asset Scotland’s rail services have and that should be reflected in how we govern our railways.

Most prominently they should listen to the vision for a people’s railway, outlined by the Scottish rail trade unions. It is a vision for the future, for progress and for the world-class rail services that Scotland needs.

And we at UNITY Consulting feel proud and privileged to have worked with the rail unions to help put that vision together.