German state railway company Deutsche Bahn aims to benefit from a “back-door privatisation” of east coast intercity services between Scotland and London, the RMT claims.
The rail union fears the move could result in the “cherry picking” of the network and cost the taxpayer dear.
According to the RMT, Deutsche Bahn – through its UK Arriva business – has set up a company called Alliance Rail Holdings.
This in turn has applied to be an open access operator under the name of Great North Eastern Railway Open Access, the union says.
An open access rail operator is not part of a franchise agreement and simply needs the permission of the rail regulator to run services.
Deutsche Bahn already runs trains on part of the east coast network – covering services from Aberdeen and Inverness to London – through an open access operator, Grand Central Open Access.
The RMT claims that if Deutsche Bahn is successful in increasing its control, it would mean 70% of all UK rail services would be under foreign ownership.
Mick Cash, the union’s acting general secretary, called the potential German takeover of east coast services a “sickening indication of the nonsense of rail privatisation”.
Deutsche Bahn and Arriva failed to respond to requests for comment.
The warning comes ahead of a Doncaster march and rally aimed at protecting east coast services from any future cuts.
The network had to be renationalised nearly four years ago after two consecutive private-sector operators bailed out.
Directly Operated Railways took over the services on behalf of the UK Government in November 2009.
They were run previously by bus and train firm National Express (NatEx) under a franchise arrangement.
NatEx had struggled to make the network profitable, announcing in July 2009 it was no longer prepared to fund the operation.
GNER had previously given up the franchise, in 2007, after its parent – Bermuda-based Sea Containers – ran into financial difficulties.
Union bosses have fought to keep the route in public hands, but the Department for Transport is currently accepting bids, including one from Aberdeen-based transport giant FirstGroup, for a new franchise starting in March 2015.
