Britain's railways will be renationalised within the first five years of a Labour government in the "biggest overhaul in a generation”.
The party today will vow to improve journeys for passengers and reduce costs for taxpayers by bringing routes back into public ownership. Great British Railways, a new body, will take over the running of all lines in the first term of a Labour government as existing contracts with private firms expire.
The plan will nationalise the network "without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs".
Writing in the Mirror, Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has vowed it will put passengers first with a best-price ticket guarantee, automatic money back if services are delayed and digital season tickets across the network. The renationalisation will end bumper profits being siphoned off by private firms.
The Mirror understands a new Railways Act will be included in the first King’s Speech if Labour gets power. The Passenger Standards Authority will be set up as a watchdog to fight for consumers.
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Labour also plans to massively increase the use of freight trains to reduce traffic clogging up roads, reduce carbon emissions and boost the economy. A single freight train can carry as much as 129 lorries.
Ms Haigh last night 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.
“Labour’s detailed plans will get our railways back on track - driving up standards for passengers, bringing down costs for taxpayers, driving growth and getting Britain moving.”
Under Labour’s plans, mobile phone reception will be improved on trains with the aim of giving passengers 5G signal. The best-price ticket guarantee will mean that people automatically pay the lowest possible fare when using contactless cards at train barriers nationwide, in the same was as Transport for London already does for train and Tube journeys in the capital.
Timetables, ticketing and fares will be better integrated. Labour believes money will be saved by cutting out franchise bidding costs and removing the current duplication from having different train operators.
Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary, said the renationalisation plan was in “the best interests of railway workers, passengers and the taxpayer”. "For too long private companies have made millions in profit from taxpayer subsidies and in return provided appalling levels of service,” he added.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: "We have seen more positivity in this stunning Labour Party vision for rail than anything at any time from the Tories during their failed privatisation and subsequent incoherent rail reform programme.”
Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Anyone who relies on trains in the North of England knows the current system is simply not delivering. Unaccountable private operators have let down countless passengers and held back economic growth across the country. Labour’s plans will put passengers back in the driving seat, empower local leaders to deliver better services for their communities, and end the cycle of chaos on our railways.”
More than 4.5million train journeys are made in Britain every day. Four rail operators - LNER, Northern Trains, Southeastern and Transpennine Express - are currently run by the Government after franchise agreements collapsed.
The Sunday Mirror this week revealed eight train operators have had their service standards lowered making it easier for them to meet targets they had previously failed to.
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In October, the Tories abandoned plans to shut almost every railway ticket office in England. Train firms had drawn up proposals to close counters at 974 stations. The Mirror led efforts to stop the closures - which would have particularly hit the elderly, vulnerable and disabled - with our Save Our Ticket Offices campaign.
'British Rail was one of the best run railways in Europe'
By Jason Beattie
There was a time when British Rail sandwiches were a national joke that summed up the state of the railways. But the sarnies did not tell the true story.
In fact, by the mid 1980s British Rail was one of the best run railways in Europe, offering a reliable service at a competitive price. One study found “BR” was 40% more efficient than eight comparable networks on the continent. This was despite the Margaret Thatcher government cutting its subsidies by 70%.
Then came the botched privatisation overseen by John Major’s government in 1993. The network was broken up with Railtrack (now Network Rail) responsible for the infrastructure and the trains run by private train operating companies (TOCs) on a franchise system.
Privatisation was supposed to bring down prices for passengers and improve efficiency but the latest figures show that more than 1,000 trains were cancelled a day between November 2023 and February this year. Of those services which did run, fewer than 65% were on time. And rail fares have increased by more than 20%. This was despite the operators receiving billions of pounds a year in taxpayer funding - far more than when the railways were nationalised.
Much of this money has gone directly to shareholders rather than being spent on improving services. Figures from the TUC show rail firms paid out more than £1billion to shareholders between 2012 and 2017. The franchising system is also deeply flawed. Private firms bid for the right to run a franchise but they only pay the bulk of the money owed at the end of the contract.
This has allowed the companies to walk away without paying their dues. In 2011 FirstGroup decided not to extend its franchise for the Great Western. By doing so it avoided forking out the £826million it was due to pay the Government for the right to run service. To underline the craziness of the privatisation system, FirstGroup immediately launched a new bid - and won - the Great Western contract it had just abandoned.
The Conservatives have persisted with the privatised system despite evidence that train companies perform better under public control. After the East Coast Main Line was taken back under public control in 2009 it provided a more efficient service and paid more money back to the Government.
The Tories then privatised it again only for the new operator to fail. It is now back under Government ownership.
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