The
Labour
Party


has
published
its
proposal
for
creating
Great
British
Railways,
which
is
called


‘Getting
Britain
moving’
and
runs
to
28
pages.

Speaking
in
London
this
morning,
shadow
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
said:
‘If
I
am
secretary
of
state,
I
won’t
be
running
the
railways
day-to-day,
but
I
will
act
as
‘passenger-in-chief’
–
setting
the
strategy
and
objectives
for
Great
British
Railways,
and
holding
it
to
account.

‘But,
unlike
current
Ministers,
I
will
trust
the
experts.
Experts
who
don’t
just
come
from
the
rail
sector
–
because
we
all
know
that
it
can
sometimes
be
a
little
too
inward-looking.
But
external
experts
in
providing
exceptional
customer
service.’

Instructions

She
revealed
that
if
Labour
is
elected,
instructions
will
be
given
immediately
to
the
Department
for
Transport,
Network
Rail,
the
Rail
Delivery
Group
and
the
Operator
of
Last
Resort
‘to
work
together
from
day
one
to
create
a
“shadow”
Great
British
Railways’.

She
continued:
‘This
will
fire
the
starting
gun
on
reform
and
make
sure
we
don’t
lose
valuable
time.
Step
Two
will
see
us
pass
the
primary
legislation
needed
to
formally
establish
Great
British
Railways
as
an
arm’s
length
body,
ensuring
that
it
is
structured
around
the
needs
of
passengers
and
freight.

‘Every
five
years,
the
Secretary
of
State
will
issue
a
long-term
strategy,
which
will
set
out
how
the
railway
should
deliver
against
clear
passenger
objectives.
And
Great
British
Railways
will
be
incentivised
to
grow
the
number
of
people
using
rail
and
the
revenues
from
it.
And
importantly,
it
will
provide
the
clarity
and
certainty
of
outlook
the
sector
has
been
missing
for
so
long.’

Open
access
passenger
and
freight

Labour
says
open
access
passenger
and
freight
operators
will
not
be
nationalised.
Labour’s
document
‘Getting
Britain
Moving’
says:
‘The
Secretary
of
State
will
impose
a
duty
on
Great
British
Railways
to
enable
the
growth
of
rail
freight
alongside
passenger
services,
setting
clear
and meaningful
targets
for
rail
freight
growth’. 

Labour
also
wants
third-party
ticket
retailers
to
continue,
and
held
its
event
at
the
offices
of
Trainline.

RoSCOs

Rolling
stock
leasing
companies
will
continue
to
exist.

Labour
says:
‘We
will
develop
a
long-term
industrial
strategy
for
rolling
stock
which
supports
British
manufacturing,
innovation
and
interoperability
and
aligns
with
the
wider
objectives
of
the
industry.
This
will
seek
to
end
the
current
boom-and-bust
cycle,
ensure
a
strong
pipeline
of
work,
and
consider
the
best
financing
structures
for
future
orders,
in
partnership
with
private
capital.’

Stations

Great
British
Railways
would
take
over
the
management
of
National
Rail
stations,
and
the
creation
of
GBR
as
a
‘single
directing
mind
and
brand’.which
is
in
contrast
to
Keith
Williams’
description
of
Great
British
Railways
in
the
2021
Rail
Review
as
a
‘guiding
mind’.

Watchdog

Although
answerable
to
the
transport
secretary,
GBR
would
be
held
to
account
in
the
first
instance
by
a
‘tough
new
passenger
watchdog’,
to
be
called
the
Passenger
Standards
Authority.

The
PSA
would
absorb
Transport
Focus
and
the
Rail
Ombudsman,
and
also
inherit
some
of
the
ORR’s
functions
–
passenger
assistance,
passenger
information,
complaints
and
compensation
codes
of
practice,
monitoring
and
compliance,
and
consumer
law,
investigation
and enforcement.

The
future
status
of
London
TravelWatch
is
not
mentioned,
perhaps
because
it
is
sponsored
and
funded
by
the
Greater
London
Authority.

ORR,
HMRI,
RSSB,
RAIB,
BTP

His
Majesty’s
Railway
Inspectorate
would
continue
as
the
safety
regulator,
and
the
ORR
would
also
continue
to
decide
such
things
as
open
access
applications,
although
‘on
the
basis
of
an
updated
framework
and
guidance’
from
the
transport
secretary. 

The
status
of
the
Rail
Safety
and
Standards
Board
would
be
reviewed,
‘to
ensure
it
is
able
to
fulfil
a
similar
role
within
the
new
model’.

Organisations
which
would
keep
their
present
functions
and
responsibilities
include
the
Rail
Accident
Investigation
Branch
and
British
Transport
Police. 

Reactions

The
plans
have
received
a
cool
reaction
from
the
Government.

Rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
said:
‘They
don’t
have
a
plan
to
pay
for
the
bill
attached
to
their
rail
nationalisation.
Without
a
plan
to
pay
for
this,
it
means
one
thing:
taxes
will
rise
on
hard
working
people.’

However,
Labour
is
claiming
that
re-uniting
track
and
train,
along
with
abolishing
contracted
passenger
operators,
could
save
more
than
£2
billion
a
year.

There
has
been
a
broad
welcome
for
the
proposals
from
many
railway
industry
figures,
including
GB
Railfreight
chief
executive
officer
John
Smith,
who
said:
‘We
welcome
Labour’s
plans
to
seize
the
huge
economic
potential
of
rail
freight
–
an
industry
which
already
contributes
£2.45
billion
to
the
UK
economy.
We
look
forward
to
the
opportunities
Labour’s
plans
may
present
to
our
industry
in
the
future.’

Paul
Tuohy
of
the
Campaign
for
Better
Transport
said:
‘We’re
pleased
to
see
that
Labour’s
plans
for
the
railways
aim
to
deliver
much-needed
reforms
and
promise
to
put
passengers
and
freight
first.
Rail
reform
is
long
overdue,
and
passengers
have
waited
long
enough,
so
we
particularly
welcome
the
commitment
to
fares
and
ticketing
reforms
and
to
establishing
Great
British
Railways.

‘We
are
also
pleased
that
many
of
our
own
recommendations
for
improving
the
rail
network
–
including
a
best
price
ticket
guarantee,
a
commitment
to
move
more
freight
by
rail
and
nationwide
digital
season
tickets
–
have
been
taken
on
board.

‘However,
we
are
concerned
that
these
plans
may
not
strike
the
right
balance
between
the
government’s
strategic
direction
for
the
railways
and
the
benefits
of
private
sector
delivery.
Our
preferred
model
for
the
railways
would
be
a
franchising
model,
similar
to
Labour’s
plan
for
buses,
with
a
role
for
open
access
operators.’