WRITTEN SUBMISSION FROM RMT 17 OCTOBER 2008

Transcription

1 WRITTEN SUBMISSION FROM RMT 17 OCTOBER 2008 The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Scottish Parliament, Transport Infrastructure and Climate Change inquiry into potential benefits of improved high-speed connections. The RMT is the largest of the rail unions and organises over 10,000 members in Scotland. Our support for a publicly owned, environmentally sustainable and fully integrated transport network is well documented. High Speed Rail and the Environment The Climate Change Bill includes challenging targets to reduce carbon emissions by between 26%-32% and 60% by 2020 and 2050 respectively. October 2008 saw the Committee on Climate Change recommend that the 2050 target should be increased to 80%. It seems likely that this recommendation will be accepted by the Secretary of State for Climate Change and Energy. In 2007, the Department for Transport published data which confirms high speed rail s clear environmental advantages over short haul aviation. Clearly, modal shift from aviation to rail will play an important part in the transport sector s contribution to achieving the carbon emissions reduction target.

2 As the following table indicates, research published by Paul Watkiss Associates and AEA Technology Environment for Eurostar in 2006 found that travelling by high-speed train was ten times more carbon efficient than travelling by plane. Trip/Mode Kg CO2 per return g CO2 per passenger km passenger trip London-Paris (return) Short haul air Heathrow Eurostar London-Brussels (return) Short haul air Heathrow Short haul air Gatwick Eurostar Concerns have been raised about the additional carbon emissions that will be produced when the high-speed fleet Eurostar travels at speeds greater than those achieved in The PWA research considered this issue and found that by 2010 emissions between London- Paris and London-Brussels would increase per return passenger trip to an estimated 17kg of CO2 and 23kg of CO2 respectively. However targets to increase the percentage of renewable sources in the electricity generation mix would have the effect of reducing the 2010 emission figures. At the time that the research was published, Eurostar commissioned a YouGov opinion poll which found that 39% of people had changed their travel choices due to concerns about climate change. Furthermore, having been made aware of the results of the research, 41% of respondents were much more likely to take the train in the future. High speed rail moves up the political agenda In a speech of 25 th July 2007, the then Secretary of State for Transport, Ruth Kelly explained that she was not prepared to commit the Department for Transport to all-or-nothing projects such as network wide electrification or the north-south, high-speed line because it would result in diverting funds away from the immediate needs of passengers. Her speech reflected the position outlined in the July 2007 White Paper: Delivering a Sustainable Railway which maintained that the benefits of a high-speed line were uncertain and development of such a project could delay tackling the current strategic priorities such as capacity. The response from across the rail industry to this position was overwhelming. The White Paper was condemned as too timid and conservative. Widespread support was expressed for the development of a dedicated high-speed rail link. Indeed, that support is in line with the December 2006 Scotland s Railway document, a part of Scotland s National Transport Strategy, which committed the then Executive to examine the feasibility and affordability of a high speed rail link between Scotland and England. RMT s response to the House of Commons Transport Committee Inquiry into the White Paper supported the call for a dedicated high-speed link pointing out that a 2006 National Audit Office report indicated that despite recent upgrades, rail industry consensus is that the West Coast Mainline will be unable to accommodate growth projections beyond National Audit Office The Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line : November

3 Thankfully, Government has now changed course. Ruth Kelly announced at the 2008 Labour Party conference that Government will work with Network Rail to assess the feasibility of new high speed lines. Additionally, the 2008 Trades Union Congress unanimously supported a resolution that welcomed recent announcements on high-speed rail and called for an extensive programme of network electrification. RMT report RMT s contribution to the on-going debate saw the publication, in June 2008, of our report: Who says there is no alternative? An assessment of the potential of rail to cut air travel 2 The report made RMT the first national trade union to look for an environmentally acceptable alternative to expansion at Heathrow. It found that a domestic high-speed rail link is not just more environmentally friendly but also contributes much more to the UK economy and the creation of jobs than Heathrow expansion. Work carried out by WS Atkins for the Strategic Rail Authority in 2001/03 makes clear that a highspeed rail line would cut journey times to two and three-quarters hours between Glasgow/Edinburgh and London. A reduction in travelling time on this scale would mean that high speed rail journeys would be comfortably within the four hour threshold, over which passengers have in the past chosen to travel by short-haul plane rather than by rail. Findings in the report also confirmed the results of the YouGov poll commissioned by Eurostar previously referred to in this submission. Where passengers are given the option of high speed rail over short-haul aviation modal shift is the result; Eurostar now captures over 70% of the market between London and Paris: and over 60% between London and Brussels The air service between Paris and Brussels has ceased since the train journey was reduced to about an hour Rail held only 22% of the combined Paris-Marseille air-rail market before TGV Mediterranean went into service in By 2006 rail market share was 69% and EasyJet abandoned its Paris-Marseille flights Recent improvements to the West Coast Main Line have seen rail market share on the route increasing to 60% The potential for modal shift from air to rail in Scotland On 10 th October 2008, the number of flights departing from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports was; Airport Departures to airports in Departures to airports outside England & Wales England & Wales Glasgow Edinburgh A full version of the report is available at 3

4 The sheer volume of flights to England and Wales is environmentally unsustainable. A highspeed rail link should be built in order to encourage modal shift to a less polluting form of transport. It will be vital however to ensure that the aviation industry work-force has its skills and jobs protected and where appropriate transferred to other transport sectors. RMT would not want to see these workers lose their livelihoods or move from high-skilled work to low-skilled service sector employment. It is therefore essential that the transport trade unions are involved in planning and delivering a transport plan that results in modal shift from plane to train. The economic benefits of high-speed rail Engineering consultants WS Atkins reported in March 2008 that high-speed routes would cost 31 billion to construct and deliver over 60billion in benefits to the UK economy over a sixty period. In terms wider economic benefits, RMT endorses remarks made by the Greengauge 21 partnership that a high-speed rail link is not simply just another rail line but a means to support the development of the British economy in the decades ahead in a way that meets the wider sustainability challenge 3. In August 2007, the Northern Way explained that the economic benefits of a high-speed link are substantial. Research for the SRA in 2002/03 for example identified total benefits of a new high speed network linking London to the North West and North East and Scotland of 89.9billion giving a benefit ratio of over 2:1. The benefits comprised 20.6 billion in additional revenue, 64.4billion in non-financial benefits (welfare gains by users and non-users) and 4.8billion in benefits from freeing up capacity on the existing network 4. The extra capacity could be utilised by rail freight further encouraging modal shift. The benefits will contribute towards the economic and social regeneration of towns and cities in the north of England and Scotland, suggesting a much brighter future than that posed recently by the Policy Exchange which argued that many areas including Sunderland, Liverpool and Bradford are beyond revival and that to escape poverty residents from these areas should move to the south of England 5. Furthermore, the building of the line will create thousands of jobs in construction and engineering. A new high-speed line will require additionally a dedicated fleet of trains, providing an ideal opportunity to breathe life into the domestic train manufacturing and maintenance sector with new sites constructed across Scotland as well regenerating historic railway engineering plants such as Springburn. Many of the jobs created by the high-speed line will be highly skilled and will provide for Just Transition opportunities for members of the aviation work-force who may have to transfer their skills following a reduction in the demand for short-haul domestic flights. Tory rail plan The Conservative Party has recently announced support for a high speed rail link from London (Heathrow) to Manchester to Leeds. It is worth pointing out that rail network is still suffering the wholly negative effects of the Tory privatisation of the industry in the 1990s. Industry structure 3 Modern Railways August Northern Way: North-South Connections August Cities Unlimited: Policy Exchange August

5 remains fragmented, money is wasted on the unnecessary duplication of work and millions of pounds are taken out of the industry every year in private sector profits and shareholder dividends. RMT remain unconvinced of the seriousness of the Conservative commitment to rail. Furthermore, we remain perplexed that they propose not to run the line into Scotland and believe that their proposal as currently framed simply represents an opportunistic bid to grab the votes of people concerned about the environment and will therefore contribute little to a sustainable transport future. Classic rail routes in Scotland Last year, more journeys were made on the UK rail network than at any time since the late 1940s. In Scotland, 2007/08 saw 81.3million passengers using ScotRail services an increase of 45% since 1997/98 6. There have been recent very welcome rail re-openings in Scotland including Alloa-Stirling- Kincardine and Larkhall-Milngavie. The Airdrie-Bathgate route and work on the Borders railway are other encouraging rail projects supported by RMT. Our view is that classic rail services should continue to receive sustained investment should a high-speed line, linking Scotland and England be built. We would not want to see local and regional routes in Scotland face similar problems to those experienced in France. The TGV network is rightly something to be proud of, however regional rail in France has all too often suffered the damaging effects of maintenance holidays and widespread temporary speed restrictions which have led to passengers choosing to make local and regional journeys by car rather than by rail. Conclusion RMT welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the current inquiry. The main issues we would like the committee to consider are; High speed rail has clear environmental advantages over short haul aviation and a dedicated link could play an important part in securing statutory targets set out in the Climate Change Bill to reduce carbon emissions. The majority of daily departures from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports are for domestic destinations. Many on these journeys should be made by high-speed rail, which should be accessibly priced. Thousands of jobs in construction and engineering would be created should the link be built and the new fleet of trains required for the line could help regenerate the train manufacturing sector in Scotland at sites including Sprinburn. The Conservative plan to only run high-speed services to the North of England is illconceived and demonstrates their lack of serious vision for the rail network There have been a number of welcome developments on the network in Scotland, including rail re-openings. Sustained investment should be provided to enable classic routes to grow and develop in order to meet the projected growth in demand and to cope with modal shift. 6 Transport Scotland. High Level Summary of Statistics Trend August