Party pledges to bring all passenger rail – but not rolling stock – into public ownership as contracts with train operators expire

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/10932557

Labour will fully nationalise the train network within five years of coming to power, with a pledge to guarantee the cheapest fares as part of “the biggest reform of our railways for a generation”.

One of Labour’s first major acts in government will bring all passenger rail into national ownership under Great British Railways as contracts with private operators expire, a plan endorsed by the architect of the Conservatives’ own rail plan.

Labour will announce it plans to cut waste and claw back shareholder dividends, saving £2.2bn. It will establish a watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to scrutinise the new system. Passengers will be offered best-price ticket guarantees, automatic delay repay and digital season tickets across the network.

bIn a speech on Thursday, the shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, will say renationalisation “is not going to be easy and it will take hard graft, but it will be my mission to get us to the right destination and to deliver for the Great British passenger”.

Labour insiders hailed the announcement as the moment the party would begin to champion its more radical proposals in the run-up to an election campaign, after a number of U-turns including over green investment.

  • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
    181·
    2 months ago

    The linked post says…

    …but not rolling stock.

    So just the building and maintenance of the rail network. Not the franchises that run on the rail network.

    SMH!

    • TWeaK@feddit.ukEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      Exactly. The rolling stock is where all the money goes, meanwhile the public-facing train companies you buy tickets from (who rent rolling stock) operate at or near a loss. This way the train companies can negotiate better contracts with local governments - “Look, we’re barely making any money, we have to charge ludicrously high fares for piss poor service!”

    • Jaccident@lemm.ee
      5·
      2 months ago

      I think you may have misunderstood. Rolling stock means just the physical trains themselves. The franchises (one of the two major profit extraction points) will go. The rolling stock firms will still exist but after a time be negotiating with a unified British Rail with a unified plan to negotiate prices.

      • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
        4·
        2 months ago

        I’ll be honest. I thought the franchises owned the rolling stock. This does sound less anaemic than I first thought.

        • Jaccident@lemm.ee
          1·
          2 months ago

          It’s a pretty common misconception; especially because it makes a certain sense!

    • blackn1ght@feddit.uk
      2·
      2 months ago

      Isn’t network rail already a state owned company? This policy is talking about replacing the private operators.