THE RMT said it had 'seized the opportunity' at an evidence session of the Transport Select Committee to demand that MPs 'pull the government back from embarking on the catastrophic course of cuts and profiteering set out in the McNulty rail review'.

The union is claiming that the report's recommendations would create the perfect 'lethal cocktail' of conditions for another major disaster on the scale of Hatfield or Potters Bar.

It has already launched a new campaign of opposition to the McNulty plans, in conjunction with the TUC and other unions. 

RMT general secretary Bob Crow was among those union leaders giving oral evidence on RAIL 2020 to the Transport Committee.

He said: “MPs are slavishly following the McNulty recommendations without thinking about the financial and safety implications for their voters – higher fares, increased profiteering, safety-critical job cuts and the running of infra-structure for profit through the creation of a whole series of Railtrack#2 operations.

“This situation is deadly serious and the McNulty plans are already being rolled out on South West Trains, London Midland and the new Great Western franchise, with dire consequences, before they have even been approved by Parliament.

“The fight against McNulty, and the fight against the Government’s Command Paper, is a fight for a safe and affordable railway for all.”