Travel industry demands help after revelation of no railway redundancies

Exclusive: ‘We have, during the pandemic, stepped in to save every single rail job without exceptions’ – Grant Shapps

Numbers game: Waterloo station in London, formerly the busiest transport terminal in Europe (Simon Calder)

The travel industry is demanding more support after the transport secretary boasted that no rail workers have been made redundant during the coronavirus crisis.

At a conference on the future of public transport, Grant Shapps said: “We have, during the pandemic, stepped in to save every single rail job without exceptions.”

Taxpayers are currently paying £1m per hour to run trains that are less than half full compared with pre-pandemic levels. The government has put in place a £12bn package to support the railways after fares revenue collapsed. Without support, train operators would have faced imminent financial collapse.

But industry leaders say that the support for the rail industry is in sharp contrast to the many travel workers who have lost their jobs.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, said: "The ambitious manner in which the transport secretary describes the importance of the UK’s transport infrastructure is at complete odds with how the travel industry has been supported during the pandemic.

“Two hundred thousand jobs have already been lost – amongst travel agents, TMCs, tour operators, cruise lines and airlines, with around 70 per cent of staff still on furlough.

“Once a world-leading sector, ‘Little Britain’ risks being overtaken even further by our competitors across Europe and further afield.”

A spokesperson for Abta, the travel association, said:“The remarks made by the transport secretary about saving every rail job are welcome, but we need this government to commit to supporting travel agents and tour operators through what will continue to be a gradual restart of international travel.”

“Travel will be the most restricted economic sector coming out of the pandemic and this needs to be recognised through the targeted extension of employment support, such as furlough, keeping full business rates relief, and adequate recovery grants to help businesses through to recovery.”

Paul Goldstein, a travel industry veteran who is co-owner of Kicheche Safari Lodges in Kenya, said: “Why is there one rule for trains and another for travel? On my train to Stansted last Sunday all 12 passengers had a carriage each.

“What Mr Shapps patently does not care for is the travel industry, butchered with a tortuous trinity of traffic lights, corridors and quarantine.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “We recognise the challenging times facing all sectors of transport as a result of Covid-19, which is why we have put in place a world-beating support package, including around  £7bn of support benefitting the air transport sector.”

The figure is estimated spending until the end of September 2021. The government says airlines, airports and ground handlers are receiving help in the form of loan guarantees, the Bank of England’s Covid corporate financing facility and furloughing.