Rachel Maskell comment on Abellio winning West Midlands rail franchise

Rachel Maskell MP, Labour’s Shadow Rail Minister, commenting after Abellio won the West Midlands rail franchise, said:

“With regulated fares up by 27 per cent on average since 2010 and with further fare increases to be announced next week, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the Tories to justify allowing private foreign and state-owned companies to run our railways and extract money that should be used to improve services or hold fares down.

“When in public hands, the East Coast Mainline returned over £1 billion to the Treasury, kept fares down, had record passenger satisfaction and had excellent industrial relations. Labour would replicate this success on the West Midland's franchise by bringing rail into public ownership to be run in the interest of passengers, not profit.”