An amendment to the Railways Bill introduced on Wednesday, 10th June, has enshrined Great British Railways (GBR) in public ownership.
The amendment requires that GBR must be publicly owned, meaning that a full Act of Parliament would be required to privatise the railways in the future. It will not affect the ability of Great British Railways to attract private investment or work in partnership with the private sector.
The Railways Bill is set to bring about the greatest change in Britain’s railways since the 1990s. The Third Reading of the bill took place yesterday, 10th June, and will now move to the House of Lords.
The establishment of Great British Railways will make it responsible for coordinating all of Britain’s railway network, including the tracks, trains, expenditure, and revenue. It is expected to be fully established next year, about 12 months after the Railways Bill receives Royal Assent.
Although Great British Railways is not yet fully established, 80 per cent of Britain’s train services have been transferred to public control, with Govia Thameslink Railway the latest, being transferred on 31st Monday.
Passengers are starting to feel the benefits, with services operated by publicly owned operators now showing better performance figures than operators still in private hands. Among these are South Western Railway, which has introduced into service around 40 new Arterio trains, pay-as-you-go is being expanded to provide simpler and cheaper ticketing, and a simpler fare structure is being implemented.
“For too long, decisions on our railways were made for private profit. This Government made a promise to change that, to build a railway run for the public good not private gain. Today we strengthened that promise, futureproofing Great British Railways to ensure it will always be in public hands. GBR will be run by industry experts and publicly owned – open to private investment with the flexibility to grow, but its founding purpose will always be the same: to serve passengers, not shareholders. Today takes us one step closer to delivering this lasting change and a railway this country deserves.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander
Responses
Chiltern Railways is expected to be nationalised in mid-September as well as Great Western Railway in December. With Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry nationalised next year.
I thought that SWR’s delay figures were worse not better as alleged above, which is presumably why they concentrate on ticketing and fares without saying what happens when you’ve bought the ticket