SCOTLAND’S rail line sell-off must be stopped to allow the service to be run under public ownership, rail unions and Scottish Labour politicians demanded yesterday.

The RMT, Aslef and TSSA unions united with Labour MSPs and MPs to urge a halt to the handing over of the 10-year franchise deal for Scotrail and the Caledonian Sleeper Service which is due to be announced this month.

Shadow transport minister Mark Griffin was among MSPs who said the process should be paused until 2015 — when the Scottish government will be given powers that will allow it to run the line.

The statement said: “We are concerned that under the current tendering process the winning bidder for the Scotrail franchise is to be notified in October 2014 and the franchise, to start in April, will be 10 years in length,” said the statement.

“This will mean Scotland’s rail passenger services will be privatised for the next decade and will make the promise of rail powers meaningless.

Part of the proposals put forward by Gordon Brown before the independence referendum included the option for the Scottish government to bring Scotrail services into the public sector, with Brown stating that ‘enforced rail privatisation will be no more.’

Public subsidy to the rail companies in 2012-13 was £7.60 per passenger journey in Scotland, compared to £2.19 per journey in England, according to the rail regulator. The franchise, currently run by FirstGroup, runs out on March 31 2015.

joegill@peoples-press.com