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From The Socialist newspaper, 28 September 2016
Wales: school students late and hungry due to privatised trains
Commuter trains are packed, unreliable and overpriced, photo Kurtis Garbutt (Creative Commons) (Click to enlarge)
Neil Stonelake, Socialist Party Wales
Just weeks after Jeremy Corbyn was taken to task by the media for highlighting overcrowding on trains under privatisation, more evidence has emerged of its effects.
Treorchy Comprehensive lies in the Rhondda Valley in south Wales. It is one of the Welsh government's flagship schools. It has been marked out as a "centre of sixth form excellence" by the Labour-led administration in Cardiff.
Now students complain their education is suffering as a result of overcrowding and poor service on Arriva, the privatised company paid a whacking subsidy to get pupils to school on time.
Passengers in the morning are frequently forced by overcrowding to stand in the toilets. Pupils have been forced to spend their dinner money on bus fares if they are not to be late. Carriages have been cut from four to two at the busiest times.
Angry students and their parents have started a campaign following the decision to end free bus passes and charge up to £32.90 a term for a season ticket.
One parent commented: "They have us both ways. The Government in Cardiff subsidises the railways, then the companies clean up on fare increases, no matter how abysmal the service is."
At the same time, transport union RMT is in dispute with Arriva over plans to further compromise safety and passenger welfare with more cuts to staffing. Investment, not cuts, is what's needed. The patchwork of privatised bus networks add to the problem.
The Socialist Party fights for immediate public ownership of the transport system under democratic workers' control and management. Pay compensation to owners only on the basis of proven need.
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In The Socialist 28 September 2016:
#CorbynWins
Consolidate the Corbyn victory
Labour Party conference: campaigning to reinstate socialist ideas
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
#CorbynWins: New tasks for TUSC
Socialist Party news and analysis
Theresa May attacks migrants and refugees
One million victims of 'rogue' landlords
£46m spent on suspending public sector workers
Students late and hungry due to privatised trains
Socialist Party youth and students
"Suspended adulthood" the norm for young people
Socialist Students launched in USA
Knowsley: No A-level education on offer
Setting out our stall... reports of campus campaigning
Battle of Cable Street
Cable Street: When workers united and fought the fascist threat at Cable Street
Black History Month
Black history month and its relevance today
Socialist Party workplace news
The guard stays on the train after the RMT defeats ScotRail bosses
Junior doctors' strikes off - coordinated action needed
Victory for firefighters facing dismissal in Manchester
Napo conference 2016: Bloodied but unbowed!
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Newcastle: Socialist Party defies ban to counter the far-right
Socialism 2016: Get face to face with the socialists!
NHS heart centre campaign intensifies
Washdyke v Shoreline: the housing battle in Immingham
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