Rail plans attacked in BR report

(First Edition)

THE PRIVATISATION of British Rail is so ill-conceived that it is impossible to convince staff of its benefits. So says a confidential consultants' report obtained by the Independent on Sunday, writes Christian Wolmar.

Burson-Marsteller, commissioned to assess why communication about privatisation was so poor within BR, which employs 130,000 people, found that 'overall the issues are more to do with the message than the medium'.

Staff morale had been made worse by 'exhortations to keep the eye on the ball': staff felt such messages meant 'stop thinking about the future'. Nor did they like receiving letters sent to their homes about privatisation: these had 'become associated with bad news' and were resented.

The report concluded: 'Simply and bluntly put: an embattled management and staff, only now coming to grips with a previous reorganisation, is faced with a complex and little understood set of changes, the anticipated outcomes of which for individuals and the railway are negatively viewed.' Even more damning, the the privatisation proposals lacked 'any apparent external or internal intellectual support and are felt by most people to have been imposed by an adversarial and mistrusted government'.

Brian Wilson, Labour's transport spokesman, said: 'These comments by the consultants further isolate the small number of zealots who are driving rail privatisation, for which there is no rational or intellectual justification.

'The remarks expose the myth that there is great enthusiasm for privatisation among railway managers.'