► Publicly
owned
GBR
to
be
run
by
experts,
‘not
Whitehall’

► Remaining
passenger
contracts
will
be
allowed
to
expire


►
Open
access
passenger
and
freight
operators
to
continue



►
New
Passenger
Standards
Authority
to
become
watchdog

The
Labour
Party
has
unveiled
the
first
details
of
its
plans
for
Great
British
Railways,
if
it
wins
the
General
Election.

The
idea
of
a
‘guiding
mind’
for
the
rail
industry,
as
recommended
by
Keith
Williams,
would
be
confirmed
by
the
passing
of
a
new
Railways
Act.

Labour
is
also
announcing
plans
to
‘seize
on
the
huge
economic
potential
of
rail
freight’
and
‘deliver
a
new
long-term
strategy
for
train
manufacturing’
as
part
of
the
party’s
commitment
to
a
comprehensive
industrial
strategy.

Speaking
at
a
launch
event,
shadow
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
is
set
to
say
that
Labour’s
plans
will
‘put
the
passsenger
first’
with
a
best-price
ticket
guarantee,
automatic
delay
repay
and
digital
season
tickets.

It
would
also
establish
a
powerful
new
passenger
watchdog,
the
Passenger
Standards
Authority,
to
hold
Great
British
Railways
to
account
and
also
make
significant
savings
for
the
taxpayer
by
eliminating
fragmentation,
waste,
bureaucracy
and
by
stopping
profits
‘leaking’
to
private
sector
companies.

GBR
itself
would
be
‘unified,
publicly
owned,
accountable
and
arm’s
length,
led
by
rail
experts,
not
Whitehall’.

The
transition
to
public
ownership
should
be
completed
within
the
government’s
first
term
by
‘folding
existing
passenger
contracts
into
the
new
body
as
they
expire,
without
the
taxpayer
paying
a
penny
in
compensation
costs’.

Devolved
leaders,
including
Mayoral
Combined
Authorities,
would
have
a
statutory
part
to
play,
allowing
decisions
about
the
railways
to
be
taken
‘closer
to
the
communities
they
serve’.

Labour
would
also
‘support
successful
open
access
and
freight
operators
to
continue
to
deliver,
and
set
clear
objectives
and
targets
for
passenger
services
and
freight
growth’.

Louise
Haigh
said:
‘Labour
will
deliver
the
biggest
overhaul
to
our
railways
in
a
generation.
Whilst
the
Conservatives
are
content
to
let
Britain’s
broken
railways
fail
passengers,
Labour
will
deliver
root
and
branch
reform.

‘After
years
of
dysfunction
and
waste
our
broken
railways
are
unfit
to
meet
the
needs
of
modern
Britain.
Passengers
and
taxpayers
alike
are
being
failed,
and
our
economy
is
being
held
back.
Doing
nothing
is
simply
not
an
option.’

Andy
Bagnall,
who
is
chief
executive
of
the
private
sector
lobby
group
Rail
Partners,
has
expressed
reservations
about
Labour’s
plan..

He
said:
‘Train
companies
agree
that
change
is
needed
for
the
railways,
but
nationalisation
is
a
political
rather
than
a
practical
solution
which
will
increase
costs
over
time.
Creating
a
thriving
railway
for
customers
and
taxpayers
does
not
have
to
be
an
ideological
choice
between
a
monopoly
railway
in
public
hands
and
one
that
delivers
private
investment
and
innovation
through
franchising.

‘There
is
an
alternative
plan
which
gives
the
best
of
both
worlds
and
is
already
being
used
by
Labour
Mayors
and
increasingly
across
Europe.

‘To
change
the
railway
for
the
better,
we
must
correctly
understand
the
causes
of
the
current
situation
to
get
the
right
solutions.
Since
the
pandemic,
train
companies
have
been
effectively
renationalised
and
subject
to
a
level
of
micromanagement
by
government
not
even
seen
under
British
Rail.
Exclusively
blaming
train
companies
for
all
the
challenges
facing
the
railway
doesn’t
stand
up
to
scrutiny.’

Railway
Industry
Association
chief
executive
Darren
Caplan
said:
‘We
welcome
the
pledge
to
make
rail
reform
a
priority
early
in
the
next
parliament,
which
would
give
certainty
to
our
members
about
the
future
structure
of
the
railway
industry,
and
also
the
commitment
to
a
long-term
strategy,
which
RIA
has
been
calling
for
in
recent
years.
It
is
also
positive
that
rail
is
recognised
as
essential
to
economic
growth,
integrated
transport
connectivity,
levelling
up
the
nations
and
regions
of
the
country,
and
in
helping
to
deliver
Net
Zero;
and
that
there
is
a
need
to
deliver
value
for
money
for
the
taxpayer
in
rail.

‘We
now
look
forward
to
hearing
others’
contributions
to
the
debate.’