RAIL workers staged protests at stations on two of Britain’s key main-line rail networks yesterday against brutal cuts to services.

Rail union RMT has accused the government and privateer bosses of planning to introduce an “upstairs-downstairs” two-tier service on some intercity trains by cutting buffet cars, onboard staff and maintenance workers on First Great Western and East Coast services.

East Coast, linking London King’s Cross with Edinburgh, is being reprivatised despite making £1 billion for the taxpayer after being in public ownership for five years because privateers proved incapable of operating the service efficiently.

Rail travellers at King’s Cross and Cardiff were urged to join RMT’s campaign against plans for driver-only operation and the removal of buffet cars and their replacement by a trolley service.

The union is also warning that the role of guards and conductors could be reduced and ticket offices closed.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “This government of the rich, for the rich and by the rich now intends to introduce an upstairs-downstairs service on Britain’s long-haul rail services which would condemn the vast majority to pay through the nose to travel in rammed-out carriages where the catering trolley is jammed at one end while the elite glide through the country like extras from Downton Abbey.

“RMT believes that all rail users deserve a high-quality service and that means employing the staff to deliver that rather than cutting corners to maximise profits and targeting what’s left at the rich.”