Commentary: RMT is helping the case for privatisation

It is difficult to identify a less justified strike in the UK over the past 50 years than the one the RMT staged against TfL and Tube passengers in London last week.

London Underground would be negligent in the extreme if it did not do everything it could to operate the Tube as efficiently as possible and to capitalise on new labour-saving technology. What’s the point in investing in Oyster cards and automated trains if the passenger cannot benefit from the productivity gains in the form of more competitive fares and a better, safer, more reliable service?

When the East Coast Rail franchise is returned to the private sector this year the Tube will be isolated as the last bastion of state-run railway in the UK. The national rail network is run by private sector firms who bid for franchises, as is the case for London’s successful Overground and DLR.

It has not been lost on decision makers at Whitehall that the publicly run London Underground has the worst industrial relations record in the UK. The RMT does not seem to realise that it is playing into the hands of those who would want to see London Underground services franchised to the private sector. The RMT would be desperate to avoid this outcome.

David Begg is a former government transport adviser and chief executive of Transport Times