socialist environmental alliance header

Statements by Our Candidates in the 2005 Elections

Eamonn McCann, SEA candidate for Foyle and for Waterside Rural

Derry-Belfast rail link loses tea trolley service

Sunday, May 1st 2005

Socialist Environmental Alliance candidate for Foyle, Eamonn McCann, has slammed a decision by Translink to end its tea trolley service on the Derry to Belfast train journey.

Mr. McCann said "Translink has now confirmed that, as of 31st May, the tea trolley is being withdrawn and the four people who used to work it have been served with redundancy notices.

"As a result of the new, faster trains having to travel on old tracks that have not been upgraded to modern standards, the serving of hot drinks has become difficult, even unsafe. But the answer to this is not to make two Derry workers and two Belfast workers redundant, but to upgrade the track so that the journey could be both smooth and fast.

"The four workers whose jobs are to go work for a private company as the trolley service, like so much else in our public sector, had been contracted out" according to Mr. McCann.

"The slow rail journey from Derry to Belfast will be that much less pleasant without a cup of tea or coffee", says Mr. McCann. "Once again, Derry people are to be treated as second class citizens because of the refusal of the Dept. of Regional Development to upgrade the rail track."





SEA Logo