Transport for London has succeeded in increasing the Penalty Fare to £80, despite having carried out a consultation. The consultation was carried out apparently, yet no one we have asked at various London stations today has even heard of a consultation.

This just stinks of TfL and Boris trying to screw even more money out of innocent travellers. There are already existing laws which are designed to deal with the habitual fare evader but these cost money to use. The main person who gets caught out with this increase is the tourist or irregular traveller.

The increase which happened on Jan 2nd 2012 will be enforced from 19th Feb 2012. So remember the new signs must be up everywhere and if you see an old sign or signs stating £50 or £20 this makes any Penalty Fare you are issued automatically wrong.

We have already heard of several people being charged the new amount, and these people have been advised to appeal showing a screenshot of http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14436.aspx.

PFAS continues to maintain that Penalty Fares are just another way for TfL and the train operators to increase their profits.

By Patrick Hardie, Industrial Relations Editor

Rail Union RMT has today confirmed that they will be balloting it’s First ScotRail Ticket Examiner members based at Airdrie, Bathgate, Dalmuir, Glasgow Central (Argyle Line), Helensburgh Central, Motherwell and Partick for both strike action and action short of strike.

This is because two ticket examiners were sacked for defending themselves from attack by a gang who have waged a two year campaign of abuse and violence against them.

Not only were RMT members, Darren Brander and Karin McLean, verbally and physically assaulted at work but their assailants continued to harass them when they were off duty and even followed them home the RMT union said.

The Union continued and said that in June 2010, matters came to ahead when the gang assaulted and spat on Karin McLean. They also shouted “paedophile” and “child molester” at Darren Brander and threw a bottle at him in front of two small children who were accompanying them while they were off duty.

In the face of extreme aggression and provocation Darren and Karin fought back to defend not only themselves but the children they were with. The British Transport Police brought no charges against Brother Brander and Sister McLean; however Scotrail decided to dismiss these members based on this incident.

RMT is demanding the immediate reinstatement of Darren Brander and Karin McLean.

The ballot will begin tomorrow – 1st February.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

This dispute on Scotrail is over the most blatant travesty of justice where two of our ticket examiner members have ended up sacked for simply defending themselves from a gang of thugs who have waged a two year campaign of violence and intimidation against them both at work and right up to their own front doors. We are determined to secure justice for Karin and Darren.

Following an appeal and a Director’s Level review of this case Brother Brander and Sister McLean still remain dismissed. Scotrail have shown themselves to be totally unsympathetic and uncaring during the whole process and their only objective has been get our members out of the door even though they have been the victims of this crime. We have no option but to ballot as part of our campaign for justice for Karin and Darren.

By Guest Editor Rory Daniels.

Tube Union RMT has rejected the latest offer put to it by London Underground, thus putting a loaded gun to TfL.

The offer would have resulted in staff getting paid extra just for doing their jobs.

The offer from London Underground was made up of £100 and £20 per shift worked during the 4 weeks of the Olympic Games.

This is typical of the RMT bullying London Underground into giving them extra money. The staff should be lucky they have jobs and to get on with them. If they can’t cope with the ‘extra workload and stress’ they should find another job.

Brother Bob Crow has always had a personal vendetta against TfL and this seems to be yet another chance for him to do this.

The RMT has failed to get extra payments, and in some cases hasn’t even tried, for all of the other London Train Operators who will also suffer extra ‘stress and workloads’ which proves it’s Bob Crows personal vendetta.

London Underground should now tell the RMT to accept that their members have jobs and get on with it/

RAIL UNION RMT warned this morning that the tender documents for the West Coast route issued this morning will allow train operators to cut and reduce services to maximise profits and contains the first concrete written confirmation from Government that fares can increase by RPI plus 8% in 2013 and 2014.

The West Coast route will be tendered specifically on the McNulty Rail Review commercial criteria – pre-empting the Governments long-awaited command paper and making a mockery of the Parliamentary process.

A buried section of the invitation to tender says:

The current regulated fares policy will be applied to the InterCity West Coast franchise. All fares ....will be subject to a fares policy, which increases the permitted aggregate value of the fares baskets by RPI+1% in 2012, by RPI+3% for the years 2013 and 2014 and by RPI+1 thereafter. Increases in individual fares are limited to no more than RPI+1% +5% year-on-year in 2012 and RPI+3% +5% year-on-year for the years 2013 and 2014. Bidders should assume that increases in individual fares are limited to RPI+1+5% thereafter.

Other fares will be unregulated, and may be priced or varied at the commercial discretion of the operator, subject to the normal constraints of the Ticketing & Settlement Agreement and other industry arrangements.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

The West Coast tender documents make it clear that this Government intends to crash on with its policy of making the railways a rich man’s toy” – allowing the bidders for the gold-plated franchise to alter timetables and reduce capacity to maximise profits.

“Fares will be jacked up at the operators “commercial discretion” bleeding the travelling public dry and leading to double digit increases to line the pockets of the train companies.”

ENDS

We are pleased to announce that the 2 winners of the sets of tickets to the London Aquarium are as follows….

1. Susan Willshee with the answer: My two girls love to splash and to play with their bath toys – which are all dolphins, penguins and fish. They really should see fish in their natural environment instead of a hot bubble bath so they understand that fish are real and not just playthings

2. Kate Holderness with the answer:

A-ll I’d like is a change from the

Q-uiet afternoons I

U-sually endure!

A-quarium tickets would be

R-ight up my street, an

I-nstant boredom cure!

U-tterly perfect, some tickets for two

M-ake my dreams come true!

Well done to both winners and thank you for all that took part. The winners have been contacted and tickets will be posted shortly.

London Undergrounds petty attempt at quashing the strike and wasting public money by going to the High Court has failed and as such the strike by ASLEF tube drivers will still be happening.

Drivers working for London Underground voted 92.3% in favour of taking strike action.

If the dispute is not resolved, the union intends to take further action on 16 January and 3 and 13 February.

It is also expected that most RMT drivers will refuse to cross picket lines, in support of their colleagues.

London Underground have issued a revised timetable and is as follows:

Bakerloo line:
Will run between Queen’s Park and Paddington only, with a reduced frequency, starting at around 09.30.

Central line:
A limited service, with trains running at a reduced frequency, will operate between Hainault and Ealing Broadway, starting at around 09.30. After 13.00 the service would run between Leytonstone and White City only.
There will be no service on other parts of the line. Fairlop station will be closed.

Circle line:
No service

District line:
No service will operate through the central area or on the Richmond, Edgware Road and Olympia branches.
A very limited shuttle service will operate between Ealing Broadway and Acton Town starting at around 08.30, and between West Ham and Upminster starting at around 09.15.
There is a planned closure on the Wimbledon branch and replacement bus services will operate:
Service A all stations Wimbledon to Fulham Broadway Service B from Wimbledon to Hammersmith calling at Putney Bridge.
Upminster Bridge station will be closed.

Hammersmith & City line:
Trains will run between Hammersmith and King’s Cross St. Pancras only, at a reduced frequency, starting at around 09.30.
No service will operate on other parts of the line.

Jubilee line:
No service will operate in the central area or at the eastern end of the line – trains will only run between Stanmore and Finchley Road at a reduced frequency starting at around 08.30.

Metropolitan line:
A very limited service will operate from Baker Street to Harrow- on-the-Hill only, starting at around 09.30.
No service will operate on other parts of the line.

Northern line:
No service will operate in the central area or on the northern branches of the line – trains will only run between Morden and Stockwell, at a reduced frequency, starting at around 10.00.
There is a planned closure on the High Barnet branch and replacement bus services will operate serving all stations from Camden Town to High Barnet and Mill Hill East.

Piccadilly line:
No service will operate through the central area. A limited shuttle service would operate between Acton Town and Heathrow, starting at around 09.30.
The Acton Town to Heathrow service will only stop at Acton Town, Boston Manor, Hatton Cross and Heathrow Terminals 123.

Victoria line:
Will run between Seven Sisters and Brixton only at a reduced frequency, starting at around 09.00.

Waterloo & City line
Planned Closure, Line is closed on Bank Holidays.

Just a quick message to all our valued visitors both old and new.

We would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Please note that we will have a very limited support service both via our website and on our Twitter page over the festive period.

We will also be making a donation to the staff charity of the year which is the Railway Children, instead of sending wasteful Christmas Cards, which will only get binned after the New Year.

RMT members working for Wightlink on the Portsmouth to Isle of Wight routes will be taking strike action in support of their colleague who was, in the view of the Union, unfairly dismissed for Union Activities.

The strike action will take place from 00:01 until 23:59 on 24th December 2011 and again from 00:01 until 23:59 on 26th December 2011. Wightlink have no services on 25th December 2011.

The RMT union have also instructed its members not to work any overtime or rest days from 00:01 on 24th December 2011 until further notice.

The Union claims that Paul Kelly was dismissed by Wightlink on trumped up charges when his only real crime was actively supporting his members and following the democratically agreed policies of the union. The Union also claims that an initially reasonable response to a minor incident, with informal advice accepted by all involved, was suddenly escalated into an all out attack on Paul resulting in his victimisation and unfair dismissal.

RMT is firmly of the view that Paul’s real ‘crime’ is that he had been instrumental in leading a union campaign against the imposition of new rosters and highlighting management deficiencies which had led to the intervention of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the grounds of safety.

A local manager took exception to the strong campaigning role of the union and as a consequence bulldozed through dismissal on the grounds of the most minor of infringements and on trumped up charges for an alleged incident for which there are no witnesses and which was only thrown into the mix later in the campaign of victimisation.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

Paul Kelly’s case is one of the most blatant examples of victimisation for union activities you will ever come across. RMT members have voted overwhelmingly for action in support of their colleague and management should take note of that strength of feeling.
Once again RMT finds itself having to defend an elected and accredited union representative, whose only real crime is to fight for the members he represents, regularly challenging the company and ensuring all agreements are followed correctly.
The events leading up to our member’s dismissal appear farcical, with informal advice suddenly escalated to dismissal, and clearly show an employer jumping at the opportunity to remove an effective representative.
RMT remains available for talks and we will continue to pursue all channels to obtain justice in Paul Kelly’s case.

The Ballot results were as follows:

• Are you prepared to take strike action?
  Total Votes Cast… 117
  Those Voting Yes… 87
  Those Voting No… 30
  Spoilt Papers… 0
• Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike?
  Total Votes Cast… 117
  Those Voting Yes… 101
  Those Voting No… 14
  Spoilt Papers… 2

Signallers working at the West of Scotland Signalling Centre will be taking strike action for 72hours from 05:59 on Saturday 24th December 2011 until 05:58 on Tuesday 27th December 2011.

All RMT members are instructed not to book on for any shifts commencing between these times.

The dispute concerns management’s continuing refusal to adhere to a long standing local arrangement where, when a resident post becomes vacant, the senior General Purpose Relief (GPR) is slotted into that position. This has been in place for over three decades but management are suddenly refusing to apply this custom and practice arrangement. The RMT union claims that members are outraged at the behaviour of local management over this issue and are demanding action.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

RMT has tried to reach a negotiated settlement to this unilateral ripping-up of a local arrangement but unfortunately the management have refused to see sense and RMT members will not stand by while management unilaterally rip up agreements and practices that have been in place at local level for decades.
As a consequence of management’s intransigence we have no option but to go ahead with this strike action.
RMT members are furious at this refusal to comply with a local arrangement that offers genuine career progression opportunities.
RMT remains available for talks at any time aimed at resolving this dispute.

It is expected that there will be severe disruption during this time, with First Transpennine Express, CrossCountry, East Coast and First ScotRail services being affected. ScotRails already limited Boxing Day service is at risk of not running.

A Notwork Rail spokesman said:

Network Rail does not consider that any agreements have been breached – slotting is an out-dated practice which has not been recognised since privatisation. We feel that appointing on merit rather than just seniority is a reasonable ambition in the 21st Century workplace. We are disappointed the union is attempting, through its choice of dates, to disrupt Christmas travel, but are confident we can still run a full service.