According to TSSA, Network Rail is cutting back on plans to renew life expired rails in order to balance the books. Most of the anticipated track renewals will now be deferred for at least five years, increasing the likelihood of catastrophic rail failure due to unaddressed metal fatigue.
The cuts are expected to affect the high output track renewals team, which replaces old rails and sleepers, using on-track machinery.
According to TSSA, Network Rail is also cutting its fleet of high output ballast cleaners which replace and replenish life expired ballast.
TSSA general secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, said: “This is a short-term decision, with potentially deadly consequences, that exposes the absurdity of the UK’s railways funding model.
“Under these changes, rail and ballast that would otherwise be considered life-expired will be left in service for years to come, creating wholly unnecessary safety risks.
“The potential consequences of a sudden catastrophic rail failure under a train travelling at high speed are truly terrifying.
“The financial rationales don’t even add up. With older and continually deteriorating rails Network Rail will have to spend more money on more frequent examinations to make them safe. An increasing number of identified track defects are going to require costly additional short-term labour intensive maintenance repairs, whilst the millions invested in the High Output Track Renewals machinery rusts away in remote sidings.
“This makes no sense; not for the impacted employees who will lose their livelihoods, not for Network Rail as the custodian of the UK rail infrastructure, and certainly not for the UK taxpayer and travelling public.
“TSSA will robustly challenge this proposal, fighting for our members who now find themselves at risk of redundancy, and for the safety of our railways.”