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First they came for the tea trolley....SEA slams Derry rail downgrade

Statement by Eamonn McCann on belhalf of Socialist Environmental Alliance

Wednesday 18th May 2005

The downgrading of Derry's rail link continues.

This week, the tea service on the line is being withdrawn. This may seem a small matter. But it's a major issue for the four workers who will lose their jobs. And it's further evidence of the hostile attitude to the line of Translink bosses and the Department of Regional Development.

More generally, it reflects the continuing bias against publicly-owned rail. Transport policy is being dictated by the "pollution lobbies" pushing unrestricted air and road expansion.

During the recent election, the SEA tried as hard as we could to make an issue of the end of the trolley service. But in a contest dominated by appeals to tribalism, issues of this sort never really figured. Once again, the people and the public service pay the price for politics based on communal rivalry.

We need to wake up to the fact that the threat to Derry's last rail link hasn't gone away. Earlier this year, the mainstream parties and local business interests effectively stopped campaigning on the issue when the DRD came up with enough funding to maintain the line to Ballymena for a few more years. But no money was produced to upgrade the line to the standard of Ballymena-Belfast or Belfast-Dublin.

The DRD only produced the maintenance money because of the campaign by rail workers and the Into The West lobby group. We need to keep campaigning and keep the pressure on.

The tea service is being withdrawn because we now have fast modern trains running on slow ancient track. This is where the health and safety dimension comes in. The solution is funding for a continuous, welded track.

It would be perfectly possible to make Belfast by train in just over an hour, and to enjoy a cup of tea safely along the way. This is basic stuff. Why should we settle for less?

The SEA calls on all political parties and other groups in the area to re-engage with the rail issue and to get actively behind the rail workers in their efforts to save jobs and improve and expand the service to the public.





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