Conservative response to the publication of the Rail Reform Bill

Richard Holden MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, said:

“Labour's blueprint hands the key levers of our railway to militant union leaders. State-run rail has already led to record cancellations and rising fares on routes taken over already. Labour's Rail Bill doubles down on those errors.

“Our test is simple. Does change cut delays, cut costs, and improve value for the fare-payer and the taxpayer? If not, it fails. Great British Railways must deliver for the public by keeping fares under control, protecting open access and freight, and implementing a watchdog with real teeth to stand up for passengers if the system lets them down.

“Labour's plan ignores growth and modernisation, puts union bosses in the driving seat and leaves passengers stuck on the platform.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Labour's consultation will hand over more power to militant hard-left Union Barons and unelected officials:

• Labour are proposing introducing a tangled web of bureaucracy, despite complaining that the railways are ‘too fragmented' and ‘too complicated'. Labour claim the railways are ‘too fragmented, too complicated, and too expensive to run', but are proposing a tangled web of bureaucracy with no clear lines of accountability. Labour's plan divides responsibility between the Secretary of State for Transport, Great British Railways, the new passenger watchdog, and devolved leaders (DfT, Open Consultation, 18 February 2025, link).

• Trade Unions have welcomed Labour's consultation, seeing nothing more than an opportunity to ‘level up' working conditions across the railway, leading to further declines in services. The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) welcomed the consultation, stating that a ‘just transition' to nationalisation ‘means levelling up pay and conditions' (TSSA, Press Release, 18 February 2025, link).

Labour's political choices have set Great British Railways up to fail:

• Labour's reckless plans will bring the best performing operators into public ownership, worsening services for commuters. Greater Anglia, which is scheduled to transfer into public ownership in Autumn 2025, is among the three most reliable rail operators (The Telegraph, 4 December 2024, link; Department for Transport, Press Release, 4 December 2024, link). 

• Having capitulated to the unions – bribing train drivers with a ‘no strings attached' pay agreement – passengers are facing chaos, confusion and delays. In August, ASLEF union members were offered a 5 per cent backdated pay rise for 2022-23, a 4.75 per cent pay rise for 2023-24, and a 4.5 per cent increase for 2024-25. The union accepted this offer in September and called the agreement a ‘no strings deal'. Over Christmas, numerous services were cancelled because train drivers rejected overtime (Department for Transport, Press Release, 14 August 2024, link; BBC News, 18 September 2024, link; The Times, 12 December 2024, link).

• Labour are abolishing Minimum Service Levels, allowing unions to hold the country's railways to ransom. The Strikes Act 2023 introduced Minimum Service Levels for rail. This Act and any minimum service regulations would lapse upon the Government's Employment Rights Bill receiving Royal Assent (UK Parliament, Employment Rights Bill Explanatory Notes, 10 October 2024, link). 

• Labour's Autumn Budget hiked up regulated rail fares by 4.6 per cent – one percentage point higher than RPI inflation – pushing up costs for commuters. ‘The government confirms that the annual regulated rail fares cap will rise by 4.6 per cent on 2 March 2025, one percentage point above RPI' (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2024, 30 October 2024, link).

• Labour scrapped the Restoring Your Railway Fund, abandoning dozens of vital projects. In 2020, the previous Conservative government pledged £500 million for the Restoring Your Railway Fund to reopen lines and stations. In July 2024, Labour scrapped this scheme (DfT, Guidance, 27 October 2021, link; Real Business Daily, 29 July 2024, link).