New figures released by the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) last week revealed that since privatisation took effect, ticket prices have skyrocketed, with much of the rise happening in unregulated…Read more…
The Future of Rail in Europe – briefing in the European Parliament
On 28 May representatives from rail unions, the rail industry, policy makers and legal experts met in Brussels to discuss the impacts of rail liberalisation and privatisation on passengers,…Read more…
The Future of Rail in Europe: Learning from the mistakes of the past
Policy makers, legal experts and rail trade unions met in Brussels yesterday (28 May) to discuss how Europe’s decision makers can learn from the experiences of Britain and Sweden on the railways. The…Read more…
The Four Big Myths of UK Rail Privatisation
Rail privatisation was promoted in the early 1990s in the UK with promises of a better, cheaper service for rail users and reduced taxpayer subsidy. Private rail companies, it was argued, would bring…Read more…
CLASS briefing on publicly-owned rail
The Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS), has produced a short, informative briefing on publicly-owned railways, taking into account some recent political announcements on rail, including the…Read more…
Conservative rail fares pledge masks high costs of privatisation
The Conservative Party have pledged to freeze regulated rail fares for the next five years. What this announcement obscures is that even if capped at the level of inflation (what is meant by the term…Read more…
Season tickets could be 10 per cent cheaper by 2017 if rail services were run by public sector, says TUC
Season tickets could be 10 per cent cheaper by 2017 if rail services were run by the public sector, according to new research published by the Action for Rail campaign today (Tuesday). The research,…Read more…
Campaigners take action for public ownership of rail
Today, 31 March, union activists and rail campaigners took action at over 40 stations across the UK, meeting passengers to raise awareness of the benefits of public ownership of our railways. The…Read more…
48 hours of Action for Public Ownership of Rail
Every year, privatisation wastes over £1bn – with money leaking out in areas such as shareholder dividends, company profits, and costs arising from fragmentation of our railways. In 2013-14,…Read more…
Public ownership of rail is not only necessary; it is the only realistic option
A recent article in BBC News Magazine asks the question Would it be realistic to renationalise the railways? Using as a premise the recent passing of the East Coast main line from public to private…Read more…
Network Rail head attacks industry’s safety record
Mark Carne, the head of Network Rail has said that unsafe working practices are causing “appalling tragedies” and hundreds of casualties each year. Carne noted in a speech to rail industry figures…Read more…
The East Coast Mainline: Why was the government so quiet about one of its great successes?
Organisations generally want to celebrate their successes. A bit of boasting burnishes an organisation’s public image, as well as boosting the reputations of its staff, management, and promoters….Read more…
Survey finds passengers “pushed to distraction” with long delays, high fares and poor customer service
Consumer group Which? has released their annual rail passenger survey for 2015, illustrating a worrying picture of passengers “pushed to distraction”, experiencing long delays and low…Read more…
Private rail operators using public subsidies to fund pay-outs to shareholders
The taxpayer is footing the bill for private train companies who then pay out millions of pounds to shareholders, says the TUC in response to today’s (Monday) report by the Office of Rail Regulation…Read more…
Wasting public money to re-privatise East Coast
Over £2.4m has been spent by the government on external advisors for legal and financial expertise in order to re-privatise the East Coast Main Line. In a time of austerity, this is a huge waste of…Read more…
Competition watchdog raises concerns over East Coast sell off
Government plans to sell off the successful and publicly owned East Coast main line to the private sector have run into problems after concerns were raised by the Competition and Markets Authority…Read more…
Closure of London Underground ticket offices will cost £134m
The closure of ticket offices on the London Underground will cost the taxpayer nearly £134m, according to figures released by Transport for London (TFL). The costs were revealed in papers from a…Read more…
Third of trains were late in 2014
Figures released by Network Rail reveal that over a third of trains were late in 2014. Many of these trains were on peak commuter services, such as the 7.29am Brighton to London Victoria service…Read more…
Rail campaigners protest New Year fare rise and call for public ownership
On 2 January 2015, rail passengers were greeted with yet another wage-busting fare-rise. Union activists and campaigners gathered at London King’s Cross station to protest the unnecessary…Read more…
UK commuters spend more than twice as much of their salary on rail fares than most European passengers
As many people prepare for their first day back to work after the Christmas break, rail campaigners are today (Friday) warning that commuters on the UK’s privatised railways could be spending more…Read more…