,
Labour’s Shadow Rail Minister, commenting on the NAO’s
report on the state of the Government’s long-delayed rail
reforms, said:
“This report is a damning indictment of the Tories’ failure to
reform our broken rail system: It is crystal clear that our
railways are not delivering for passengers or the taxpayer.
“Despite promising rail reforms for a half decade, the
Government’s refusal to act this side of an election means no
improvements for passengers and higher costs for taxpayers.
“The next Labour Government won’t sit back as our railways are
run into the ground. We will bring our railways back into public
ownership as contracts expire and will put passengers at the
heart of the system.”
Ends.
Notes:
- The National Audit Office’s new report, ‘Rail reform: the
rail transformation programme’ has highlighted the woeful state
of our rail network, and the costs of Conservative delay to
desperately needed rail reform.
- In the damning report the NAO says:
-
“The way the rail system works needs to change, with
performance not good enough for passengers and cost to the
taxpayer too high”
-
“DfT has made limited progress against its plans, with
most of its work and expected savings now delayed until at
least the next Parliament”
-
“Governance arrangements for the Programme have been
complex and ineffective”
-
“Delays to reform have added pressure to DfT’s finances
and higher costs to the taxpayer for longer.”
A timeline of failure on rail reform:
- September 2018: The Government establishes the
Williams-Shapps rail review.
- May 2022: The Conservatives commit to legislating for rail
reform in the Queen’s Speech.
