- By Katie Austin, Transport Correspondent, Kate Whannell
- bbc news
Labor has said it expects to renationalise most passenger rail services within five years if elected.
The party says it will meet its pledge by bringing passenger services under public control as the contract expires, but the private sector will still have a role.
Automatic refunds for train delays and improved internet connectivity are among the various promises made for rail.
Rail Minister Hugh Merriman said the plans were “pointless” and “underfunded”.
“They have no plans to pay the bills associated with rail nationalization,” he said. “If we don’t have a plan to pay for this, it means one thing: taxes go up for hard-working people.”
Although the word “nationalization” does not appear in Labour’s plan, that is what it means in practice.
Announcing the plans, Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Hague said there was still a role for the private sector.
He added that his party is not an “ideologue” and that it is right to use private companies that add value.
Labor will continue to allow privately funded “open access operators” such as Hull Train and Lumo to continue.
Currently, the proportion of services run by open access operators is relatively very small. They operate independently of government funding and often compete with franchise operators.
Labor also has no plans to nationalize rail freight or rolling stock companies.
Private rail companies have supported Britain’s rail travel boom since the days of British Rail, but they have also faced intense criticism over fares and reliability.
Four major carriers, including TransPennine Express, are also placed under public control and run by the government’s Operator of Last Resort model.
The government has already committed to creating a new public sector company, Great British Railway, which will be responsible for rail infrastructure and awarding contracts to private companies.
The plan was originally announced in 2021 but has been delayed, and although legislation has now been published to implement the proposals, it is unlikely to be passed before the general election expected this year.
During the pandemic, the government effectively took control of the railways, with most railway companies in England moving to fixed-rate contracts for their operations, with taxpayers taking the financial risk.
Like the government, Labor is committed to creating a Great British Railway, but says it will be led by “rail experts, not Whitehall”.
The party claims the move to bring the service back into public control will not cost taxpayers “a dime in compensation”.
This pledge may not cover all current passenger rail services.Contract with Abellio East Midlands Expiration date is October 2030.
Mr Haig told BBC News the current system was “broken” and was causing delays and overcrowding.
He said the model was plagued by “conflicts of interest” and that merging services under Great British Railway would improve the passenger experience.
Labor says “significant” savings can be made through public ownership, including reducing friction between operators and reducing duplication of resources.
It said the government estimates in its 2021 reform plan that it will save £1.5bn a year over five years by eliminating inefficiencies and fragmentation.
The party also announced automatic refunds for delayed or canceled trips, improved internet connectivity on trains and a ‘Best Price Ticket’ guarantee that passengers will automatically pay the lowest possible ticket price when making contactless payments. We also promise to provide a guarantee.
Mr Haig said the guarantee would not necessarily mean lower prices, but the system would be “more transparent and clear”. The government also wants to simplify ticketing, he said.
He said the new watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, would “ruthlessly” hold British Rail to account.
Asked how quickly passengers would see improvements to their labor insurance claims service by bringing their railways to GBR, Mr Hague said: ‘We know there is no quick fix. We know we won’t see big changes overnight; we need to legislate and introduce structural changes over time.”
He also said Labor had no plans to close ticket offices.
Asked how Labor would try to resolve its ongoing pay dispute with train drivers’ union Aslef, he pointed out that the transport secretary had not met with the union since early last year, and said Labor would “sit down and answer… “We will find out.”
He told the BBC that the party “always wants to modernize railways and labor practices” but that this needs to be done “in partnership with workers, rather than treating them as the enemy”. Told. He said Labor had no intention of leaving reform out of the negotiations.
He did not say whether he would increase the salary offered by Labor.
Andy Bagnall, chief executive of Rail Partners, which represents rail companies, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that he agreed that “fundamental change” was needed, but that nationalization would achieve that. He said that’s not the way to do it.
He said it was the “best of both worlds” to run Great British Railway as a public authority while leveraging private operators to “bring back passengers and re-grow the railway”.
That way, “subsidy to the railways would be kept to a minimum,” he said.
“That is the danger of nationalization. Without a commercial focus, we think costs will creep up over time, revenue growth will slow, and it will be taxpayers who lose out. ing.”
Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman Wella Hobhouse said the Conservatives were “making commuters pay higher prices for poor service and endless disruption”.
“Liberal Democrats want a plan that puts commuters first by establishing the Great British Railway after years of government uncertainty.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said Labour’s plan to bring rail operators into the public network was “in the best interests of rail workers, passengers and taxpayers”.
But he added that the plan “should be the first step towards bringing all railways into full public ownership.”