LOCAL rail users have called on the Government to enter negotiations to try to bring an end to ongoing strikes on the Newcastle to Carlisle line.

The Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership and campaign group Tyne Valley Rail Users’ Group this week accused the Department for Transport (DfT) of hiding behind operator Northern, instead of proactively discussing the complaints from rail union RMT which resulted in strike action entering a 31st day last weekend.

The claims came after it was confirmed RMT had instructed its members to not book shifts for five Saturdays in a row, which would stretch to November 10.

The series of strikes organised by the union were mainly in response to proposals to remove guards and use driver only operated trains, with union bosses claiming Northern was unwilling to co-operate in discussing a way forward.

However, Malcolm Chainey, the chairman of the rail partnership and former chairman of the users’ group, insisted the DfT needed to get involved in negotiations, because it was the only organisation which could resolve the matter.

He said “This has been going on for two years now and everybody wants to use the trains for whatever purpose and want them working efficiently.

“For all sorts of reasons, the trains need to be there for people to use, otherwise there wouldn’t be much point of having a line.

“When I was working, we learned about negotiation skills and that negotiations needed to be between parties which can act. Northern is under contract with DfT so can’t give RMT what it wants, but DfT is hiding behind Northern and not getting involved in negotiations.

“Our fear is that this is going to go on indefinitely.”

The general secretary of RMT, Mick Cash, said its members would continue to strike until a suitable deal was thrashed out.

He said: “RMT members are standing rock solid again on Northern in the continuing fight for safety, security and access on our trains. We are angry and frustrated that the company continue to refuse genuine talks that could work out a deal that underpins the guard guarantee. “The union is stepping up the campaign for political support across the region to pressurise the company into serious negotiations around the crucial issue of the guard guarantee.

“No guard on the trains, combined with the destaffing of stations, is a toxic cocktail that gives the criminals a free hand on Britain’s violent railways.”

A DfT spokesman said: “It is disappointing that the RMT is leading members out on strike, especially after agreeing to ACAS talks.

“This dispute is not about jobs or safety. The independent rail regulator has ruled that driver-controlled trains, which have been used in this country for 30 years, are safe. Staff have also had their jobs and pay guaranteed for the length of the franchise.

“We urge the RMT to engage in meaningful talks so that full passenger services can resume.”

To support its case, the DfT made the following points: “A customer is 10 times more likely to be killed by lightning than when getting on or off a train. The risk of death or serious injury from train despatch of any sort is miniscule, at one in 850 million journeys. Analysis show that the risk from train dispatch is a very small part of the risk to which passengers are exposed on their rail journey – any difference in risk associated with guard despatch or DCO that might exist is so small it can’t be effectively estimated. In fact, a passenger is ten times more likely to be killed by being struck by lightning than when boarding or alighting a train

“Driver Controlled Operation does not increase any other “risks” either: Further rigorous data analysis by RSSB, again showed that the introduction of DCO, according to the standard safety management requirements that all rail companies routinely meet, does not increase any other safety risks, such as on-board assaults; protecting the line in an emergency; and dealing with or preventing uncontrolled evacuation.

“Cancelling trains is more risky that running them. Cancelling a train in the absence of its guard is six times more risky than running it with only its driver: The additional direct risk increase from cancelling a driver and guard operated train, if a second person is not available, is about six times the risk of continuing in service due to knock-on crowding incidents. That doesn’t take into account all of the other indirect risks and wasted resources of cancelled train services on the general public. Neither does it include the safety benefit that could have been achieved if these wasted resources had been invested in genuine safety initiatives.

“The debate around DCO has been distorted. Focus on the safety implications of DCO has been disproportionate and led to “a complete loss of perspective”; it has inflated safety concerns well above the level of evidence and risk data, and ingrained this in public debate at the expense of discussion of the wider considerations around DCO.

“Britain’s railways are the safest in Europe: Analysis, based purely on incidents and risk data, shows that safety concerns are, to say the least, overstated. The evidence clearly demonstrates how seriously railway companies in Britain treat safety. Britain’s railways are very safe. The UK is the safest major rail network in Europe. The risk of fatal injury when commuting is significantly less on the rail network than on any other land transport mode.”