Unions urge rethink on plan to scrap UK mail by rail

Union leaders today urged the Government to halt a controversial move to stop transporting mail by rail, warning of a “disaster” for jobs and the environment.

Communication and rail unions joined forces with Labour MPs to launch a campaign to save mail trains, which the Post Office plans to phase out in a bid to save £90 million a year.

Labour MP Bob Wareing told a London news conference he suspected the switch from rail to road could be a “softening up exercise” ahead of moves to privatise the Post Office.

Around 60 Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs have signed a Commons motion calling on the Government to make the Royal Mail reverse its decision.

Mick Rix, general secretary of the train drivers’ union Aslef, said: “This decision is a disaster for the environment, for jobs and for the Government’s own transport policy.

“It is a major embarrassment for the Government and they cannot just bury their heads in the sand and duck this issue.

“They must tell Royal Mail that the proposal is unacceptable.”

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said 500 jobs will be lost if the mail trains are axed, adding that more than £150 million has already been spent on rail centres across the country for use by mail trains.

He claimed it would cost #26 million for the contract to be renewed, which was a “drop in the ocean” compared with the £10 billion train operators have received in subsidies since 1996.

He said the transport hubs will now be lost, which he described as “an act of vandalism”.

Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said the Government was in “disarray” over the decision, which he claimed had been made without any consultation with ministers.

He warned that his union might be in conflict with the Post Office over the decision.

The Royal Mail has argued that other forms of transport will be cheaper and quality of service will be improved.