Labour’s plans to get our railways back on track

Labour has pledged to get local train services back on track with detailed plans to reform Britain’s railways.

Labour’s plans to get Britain moving are crucial to delivering our missions for Government by boosting productivity and driving growth. A growing economy and public services fit for the future need a modern transport system to support the flow of people and goods across the country.

Under the Conservatives Britain’s broken rail network is simply not delivering: cancellations have soared to record high levels, fares have risen almost twice as fast as wages since 2010, and strikes are costing taxpayers £25m for every day they go ahead, whilst taxpayers fork out huge subsidies to pay for trains that are overcrowded, delayed or cancelled.

Labour will fold existing private passenger rail contracts into Great British Railways as they expire, without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs, as part of a publicly owned and passenger focused railway.

Labour’s plans mean an end to the misery Crawley’s Southern and Thameslink passengers face on a constant basis.

Since 2010, Crawley commuters have endured a huge 66% increase in rail fares, while facing 13,641 cancelled services each year,[i] and only 64.5% of trains on time in during the latest reporting period.

During its first term, a Labour Government would:

Put the passenger first, by delivering a best-price ticket guarantee for passengers, and rolling out automatic delay repay and digital season tickets across the network
Establish a powerful new passenger watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold Great British Railways to account for passengers
Deliver significant savings to the taxpayer by eliminating fragmentation, waste, bureaucracy and by stopping profits leaking out to private operators
Create a unified, publicly owned, accountable and arm’s length Great British Railways, which will be led by rail experts, not Whitehall
Expect to complete the transition to public ownership within the first term of a Labour Government, by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into the new body as they expire, without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs
Give devolved leaders, including Mayoral Combined Authorities, a statutory role in the rail network, allowing decisions about the railways to be taken closer to the communities they serve
Support successful open access and freight operators to continue to deliver, and set clear objectives and targets for passenger services and freight growth

Labour’s plans mean delivering a unified, publicly owned rail within the first term of a Labour Government, as franchises are brought in house as contracts expire, meaning taxpayers won’t pay a penny in compensation costs.

Peter Lamb, Labour candidate for Crawley, said:

“Having regularly commuted to London on and off for almost two decades, I have experienced first hand the frustration of unreliable and inefficient train services, with the added insult of it costing more and more to get to work.

“It’s bad for commuters, its bad for our economy, and—by pushing people away from public transport—it’s bad for the environment

“Labour’s plans to create Great British Railways – a new, publicly owned and expert-led body to run our railways and put the passenger first will be the most significant improvement to our rail provision in decades and a step towards creating the reliable, safe, efficient, accessible, affordable and quality train services, Crawley’s commuters deserve.”

Louise Haigh, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Transport said:

“Labour will deliver the biggest overhaul in our railways for a generation, ending the deepening crisis and chaos that passengers have been forced to endure in recent years.

“Underinvestment, fragmentation, inefficiency, waste and 14 years of tinkering by Conservative Ministers have left our railways unfit to meet the demands of modern Britain.

“Under Labour, a publicly owned and controlled railway will focus on what matters to passengers.”