A transport union has called for urgent talks with Andy Burnham amid fears over rail safety and after two derailments in the heatwave. Maryam Eslamdoust, General Secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), demanded more funding for staff and warned that reducing investment would not help meet the issues caused by the “climate crisis”.
Derailments in Essex and Lewes
A Greater Anglia train derailed on Friday south of Wickford railway station in Essex, while an incident at Lewes on Thursday seriously injured two passengers. Investigations into the derailments are looking at all possible causes, but officials have said that hot weather presented the railway with a series of challenges.
Union warns of funding cuts
In a letter to Mr Burnham seen by this newspaper, Ms Eslamdoust warned that the 2025 Spending Review was a real terms cut in investment for Network Rail, who required more investment to handle the crisis. She said: “This summer has seen exceptionally high temperatures, placing additional stresses on railway infrastructure. Maintaining and adapting the network so that it can withstand increasingly frequent extreme weather will require sustained investment in infrastructure, maintenance and workforce skills, not less. The events at Lewes demonstrate once again that when something goes seriously wrong on our railway, passengers depend not only on the infrastructure and emergency services, but also on the railway workers who are there with them. Those workers must have the training, resources and support necessary to respond safely and effectively.”
Network Rail's climate resilience case
Concerns over the impact of the weather were also raised on Saturday by Martin Frobisher, group safety and engineering director at Network Rail, who said there was “lots that we can do” to make the railway more resilient to climate change. Mr Frobisher told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “We’re in the process now of putting together our case for our next five-year funding cycle and we’ll be making a very strong case for climate resilience. There’s more that we need to do in the future. We’re modelling that in a very technical way, so as to make the best possible case for funding in the future.”
It came as London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan warned the PM not to “slow down on net zero”. He said national governments around the world “must choose action over apathy and commit to delivering Net Zero, reducing our reliance on oil and gas, and investing in the large-scale green projects we urgently need to cut emissions, adapt to extreme heat, and protect communities from flooding and wildfires”. Downing Street has been approached for comment.
