Given that one of the victims who tragically lost their lives in 2016 was one of our members, it is our duty to ensure that those who use public transport to get to work are able to do so safely
GMB Southern Region is once again calling for a public enquiry into the Croydon Tram incident at Sandilands in November 2016.
In the wake of the inquest, which concluded on Thursday 22nd July and declared the deaths as accidental, the union is again calling on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to take immediate action.
It cannot be the health and safety of workers and passengers which takes the brunt of savings and economies made by these private contractors who are interested only in shareholder profits.
Justin Bowden, GMB Southern Regional Secretary
The union is fully supportive of the families at this time, and are echoing their calls for more witnesses to be heard, particularly management within the tram operator, Transport for London and other safety experts.
As well as this public enquiry, the union is also demanding a separate enquiry into the relationship between financial targets and accidents resulting in injuries or death within the TfL network.
Justin Bowden, GMB Southern Regional Secretary said:
“Once again, we are not in the business of blaming individuals for accidents, and this is not intending to be a witch hunt in any way. But there are frameworks in place which work the drivers and other ancillary workers so hard that these incidents become inevitable.
“Given that one of the victims who tragically lost their lives in 2016 was one of our members, it is our duty to ensure that those who use public transport to get to work are able to do so safely.
“It cannot be the health and safety of workers and passengers which takes the brunt of savings and economies made by these private contractors who are interested only in shareholder profits.
"The Mayor of London must move swiftly to examine the relationship between private companies and the running of these services, and make sure that the link between profitability and punctuality is removed.
“If the private companies cannot provide these services at a profit safely, let’s look at bringing them back into the public sector. What more fitting tribute could we ask for our member, who lost their life along with six other passengers?”
