Nuclear plant scraps £1m workers' travel subsidy

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Sellafield is to scrap the £1m plus it spends every year subsidising workers' travel to and from the site.
The money is paid directly to Stagecoach and Northern Rail.

The companies, in turn, provide cheaper fares for workers but Sellafield Ltd has confirmed that bosses are looking to end the subsidy by April 2010.

Bus travel alone costs £1m a year with £175,000 on top of that for trains.

A company statement said: "The service is under-used and costs more than £1m a year.

"We recognise it is a long-standing provision for employees but it is not part of the terms and conditions of employment.

"We are finding it increasingly difficult to justify the cost in Sellafield's role as a contractor."

Only 4% of Sellafield staff are said to use the Stagecoach bus fleet. There is no regular bus service to the site but Sellafield Ltd is having talks with site owners the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority over how to provide an alternative transport scheme without cash subsidy.

"We are working closely with public transport providers to see how arrangements can work best to suit the needs of our employers," a spokesman for the west Cumbrian nuclear plant added.

Consultation is ongoing with unions and other site stakeholders on the alternatives.

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