Article on LabourList by Andrew Kersley
Labour has called on Downing Street to “bring our rail franchises
back into full public ownership” after the government announced
an overhaul to the railways that stopped short of ending
privatisation.
The new plans from the Department for Transport (DfT) represent
the biggest
shake-up to the industry in decades, bringing an end to the
franchise system and replacing it with a fixed fee paid to train
companies based on performance.
Transport union TSSA’s general secretary Manuel Cortes has
slammed the new policy for continuing to favour inefficient
private companies, suggesting that “heads or tails the privateers
always win”.
Labour’s shadow railways minister said: “We
welcome the government admitting privatisation hasn’t worked and
bringing greater public-sector involvement in managing the
railways.
“But today’s agreements mean taxpayers are set to continue paying
hundreds of millions of pounds in profit to private rail
companies to run the network. This is completely unacceptable.
“These agreements paper over the cracks of a broken rail system.
It’s time to put passengers before profit and bring our rail
franchises back into full public ownership.”
The new DfT
policy serves as an extension to the previous coronavirus
emergency measures agreements (EMAs) introduced earlier this
year, in which the government covered the losses of railway
franchises at a cost of £3.5bn.
Emergency funding for railway companies has now been extended for
up to 18 months, with the government ending regional franchising
in a step towards unifying Britain’s rail network.
Commenting on the changes, Cortes said: “Sadly, it looks like the
government is once again kicking into the long grass what to do
with our railways and instead of grasping the nettle is opting
for transitional measures which prop up the status quo.
“The system was broken well before coronavirus arrived, but the
pandemic has completely exposed its many weaknesses. Heads or
tails the privateers always win.”
The head of the transport workers union added: “There have been
payments to private rail company shareholders of £100m since the
emergency measures agreements came in, even though passenger
numbers have plummeted.
“Frankly, it’s a national scandal that our money – taxpayers’
hard-earned cash – has been stuffed into the mouths of greedy
rail shareholders at a time of a national health emergency. The
Tory government must stop dithering about the future of our
railways. Only public ownership will cure its many ills.”
Shadow Transport Secretary told the Commons last week that £100m of
bailout money given to train companies under the EMAs had
been paid out to private shareholders.
TSSA urged the
Transport Secretary to work with trade unions to
renationalise the railways in July to make sure there were no
cuts to services. Rail travel has
collapsed to 70% of the usual pre-pandemic level as a result
of Covid.
The government has been forced to renationalise several private
franchises in recent years, including the East Coast
Mainline on two separate occasions before the pandemic hit.
