An internal report has called for ScotRail to cut services, close ticket offices and reduce staff, a union has claimed.
But the RMT comments have been attacked as ‘reckless’ by the train operators.
The union said today that a report written by Professor Iain Docherty questions whether ‘the provision of ticket offices is viable in the future’.
The RMT says this could mean up to 140 ticket offices being closed across Scotland – a report on its website lists these, and includes Helensburgh Central, Cardross and Gourock.
And it says Professor Docherty’s report states: “How can the sector reduce its ongoing revenue requirement so that it presents a more sustainable cost base to government?
“This will at the very least require revisiting of difficult and long avoided questions of the size and role of the workforce, and whether legacy business activities such as the provision of ticket offices is viable in future.”
It also refers to a timetable ‘driven by demand rather than politics’, citing the reduced service since Covid-19 – at one point this saw a drastic reduction in rural services, which effectively made it impossible to commute from Garelochhead or Arrochar & Tarbet.
The report adds: “There is also a clear opportunity to explore how digital technologies and automation of certain functions could reduce revenue spend, but this will require addressing ‘difficult’ cultural and political questions.”
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “This report, produced by a former non-executive director of both ScotRail and Transport Scotland, is a blatant attempt to further a cuts agenda that will be devastating for Scotland’s railway.
“The Abellio ScotRail franchise continues to be fully funded and managed by the Scottish Government and RMT is demanding to know if the Scottish Government had a role in the commissioning of this report.
“It was recently revealed that Dutch state-owned Abellio received nearly £9m in fees, funded from public money, under its initial six-month EMA, and it appears as though there is now a blatant attempt to force passengers and rail workers pay the price of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“With COP26 taking place in Scotland in November, and ScotRail coming into public ownership in eight months’ time, we need an alternative future for Scotland’s railway which values passengers and staff, and invests in creating a sustainable, affordable and accessible rail network.”
A ScotRail spokesperson said the report had been commissioned to look at challenges facing the railways following the pandemic – it included recommendations for change, which were shared with trade unions – but said the RMT statement was ‘not factual’.
He added: “We are seeing a gradual increase in the number of customers returning to the railway due to the easing of travel restrictions and coronavirus controls, but with passenger numbers at only 50% of the pre-Cvoid level, this is not the time to put that recovery in jeopardy.
“Railway jobs are being put at risk by the reckless actions of the RMT and we are urging union bosses to call off divisive strikes and false narratives.”
RMT members are involved in a long-running dispute over pay with ScotRail.
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