Vijay Dutt
London, February 4
The outsourcing stream continues to flow towards India. The Trainline Service, 80 per cent owned by Virgin, is moving its operation from Edinburgh and Dingwall, near Inverness, to New Delhi. All rail bookings would be done from India or over the company's website. Unions claim that 350 jobs are at risk from the outsourcing.
The company is following National Rail Enquiries, most 118 directory inquiry operations, HSBC, Abbey National, Barclays, Marks and Spencer and Tesco in taking advantage of quality service at low costs that can be availed in India.
The Trainline, which sells around one in 10 of all rail tickets, plans to complete the shift to India by next year. But critics are saying that people in India do not have the local knowledge of how the UK rail network operates. " They (Indians) may have a map and a computer but they do not have local experience."
The TSSA transport union accused Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson of putting jobs in Scotland on line. One said it seemed Sir Richard was not willing to spend in the country, which provided enough money to him " to buy toys like hot air balloons".
But Director of the Trainline insisted that the move ould help improve service for commuters.
