Eurostar collapse would be ‘disastrous’, warns RMT
The UK’s biggest union for transport workers, the RMT, has today warned the government that failing to support the Eurostar would be “disastrous” for the country.
The union has launched a petition calling on transport secretary Grant Shapps to “urgently agree” assistance for the cross-Channel rail link.
However, all the signs so far suggest that ministers are currently unwilling to take a lead on efforts to save the Eurostar, which has seen its revenues collapse due to the pandemic.
Last week Shapps himself told MPs that the 55 per cent French state-owned link was “not our company to save”.
His comments came after his opposite number in France, Jean-Baptiste Djebarri, said that the two countries were in negotiations over how best to support the rail link.
He did, however, say that the government would do its best to support its counterparts across the Channel, citing the 3,000 UK jobs that depend on the link.
The RMT’s general secretary Mick Cash said that a political stand off could be very dangerous for the link.
“Nobody should be under any doubt that the future of Eurostar, and the thousands of jobs that it supports, is threatened by the current stand off”. he said.
“It is essential that governments, including the British Government, make the emergency funding available to bridge a way through this current lockdown and ensure that Eurostar is there, fighting fit, to help the economy punch its way out of this crisis and provide the essential green rail links to the continent.”
The RMT is just the latest in a diverse group of businesses and politicians to call for government support for the rail link.
However, as ministers sold the UK’s stake in the company to private investors for around £750m back in 2015, they have as yet seemed reluctant to act.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We recognise the significant financial challenges facing Eurostar as a result of Covid-19 and the unprecedented circumstances currently faced by the international travel industry.
“The Government has been engaging extensively with Eurostar on a regular basis since the beginning of the outbreak. We will continue to work closely with them as we support the safe restart and recovery of international travel.”