JM Thorn

25 August 2006

The British Government’s policy of liberalising the North’s economy took another step forward this week with the unveiling its plans for the future development of public transport. Effectively there is a state monopoly of transport services in the North.  However, under the new proposals this monopoly is to be broken up.  Translink will no longer have the strategic role of designing and delivering bus and train services.   The Government intends to split these functions.  There would be a Passenger Transport Authority, comprised of members of local councils, which would design and oversee transport policy.  This body would commission services from a number of transport companies, of which Translink would only be one, to support the policy. 

Another important change will be in the way transport services are funded.  The Government has indicated that this will move away capital funding, say for the purchase of new buses and trains, towards “revenue funding” for routes and services.  This very much fits in with the new Labour vision of moving public assets into private hands, with a stripped down public sector as a commissioning body rather than a provider of services. 

Under these proposals private operators are to be given much greater opportunities to provide transport.  Currently the role of private operators is quite limited, with the vast majority of services being provided by Translink. The government intends that private operators would have the opportunity to compete with the publicly owned body in the provision of services

The Regional Development minister David Cairns denies that this amounts to privatisation, but privatisation is essential for the scheme to work.  Given Translink’s dominance of the transport market and ownership of the assets, the role for private operators is very limited.  The only way they can get a foothold is through parts of Translink being sold off.  For example, a private company could take over the operation of train services on the Belfast to Dublin line.   Of course the ones that are most attractive are the routes and services that make the most money. Private companies will come in and cherry pick the most profitable. 

The corollary of this is that public transport services will be steadily eroded as less popular services are cut.  In the current bus and train timetable most services are not commercial.  The less popular services, such as those early in the morning or late at night, are effectively subsidised by those at busier times.  However, that does not mean that those services are any less essential to the people who use them.  In a system of private operators this public service commitment would be lost; the overriding priority would be to generate profits.  Changes in funding will also create pressure for privatisation as Translink will be forced to take private capital loans for the maintenance and renewal of its fleet.  Given that interest rate is far higher on these than on public loans, there will pressure to raise fares, outsource services and also to dispose of assets.  This could effectively result in the privatisation of Translink itself, or else reduce it to a shell, providing poor services to poor people. 

The advocates of privatisation often claim that competition will reduce costs for passengers – so called value for money.  However, the experience in England shows this to be false.  While there may have been fare reductions during the early period of privatisation, a few big operators soon emerged and ran their smaller rivals off the road.  The end result of the privatisation free-for-all was not competition but the creation of private monopolies such as Stagecoach and National Express.  In this situation the passenger was at the mercy of the private operator and fares rose dramatically. 

The plans put forward by the Government lay the basis for a repeat of this free-for-all in the North.  There is also an extra sting for passengers here as it is proposed that transport services should be partly funded by councils.  People will be paying the price not just on their bus or train ticket but also through their rates.  However, it is not just as users of services that we will be getting hit.  The most immediate impact will be on those who work within the transport industry who face the prospect of being made redundant or having their wages and conditions deteriorate. 

It’s the transport workers who are the best placed to lead the fight against privatisation, they are organised in the most powerful trade unions and can take industrial action to defend themselves and mobilise other workers in support.

However, this is not just about transport – the whole public sector in the North is under attack.  All the indications are that the Government intends to dramatically shake up the North’s economy and push it firmly in a neo-liberal direction.  We can’t assume that it won’t happen or it won’t be as bad as we first thought.   The Government is pressing ahead with the introduction of water charges and the privatisation of the Water Service: postal and bin services are being edged towards privatisation, education budgets have been cut and there have been dramatic rises in house rates bills, partly to enable private finance packages for public services.  And this is only the start! As privatisation continues apace it will result in a significant reduction in the living standards of working people in the North while at the same time savagely eating into the rights, wages and conditions of those employed in the public sector and thus lowering the bar on wages and conditions for all workers. 

The need to oppose this neo-liberal onslaught is becoming increasingly urgent.  It is increasingly implausible that the local political parties will mount anything but rhetorical opposition.  The Trade Union campaign against water privatisation has been a disgrace, with half the service already privatised.  The left strategy against water privatisation – can’t pay won’t pay – seems even more unlikely to work applied to bus fares.

Ahead we see wave after wave of privatisation.  Its time to stop pretending that this or that stunt will save us from some individual attack.  We need to stand firm, to join together to argue the case against privatisation and for the need for the organised working class to lead the fightback.