Open letter: stop First Group, Arriva and other private firms clinging on to our railway

Image of Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander with over-text saying 'Urgent open letter: Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander: BLOCK NEW "OPEN_ACCESS" APPROVALS'. The image also includes the logos of We Own It, Association of British Commuters, Disabled People Against Cuts, the TSSA and Bring Back British Rail

15 Jul 2025

What you need to know

The future of Great British Railways is at risk from private companies, who are trying to resist public ownership and cling on through new ‘open access’ contracts. Open access is the ultimate free market model of the railway – where firms want to run in direct competition with publicly-owned operators, extracting hundreds of millions per year to their shareholders.

Currently, the government is drafting new legislation to replace this discredited system. But companies like First and Arriva have been flooding the rail regulator ‘Office of Rail and Road’ (ORR) with open access applications to exploit the situation before the rules change.

Shockingly, the ORR is still processing these applications, even ignoring warnings from the government on the economic dangers of this system. In doing so, it is acting against the public interest and disrespecting the democratic process of rail reform already underway. The danger could not now be greater, with the ORR set to decide on eight more open access applications any day.

In the open letter below, we call on the Secretary of State for Transport to intervene with the ORR and impose an emergency moratorium on open access. The new legislation must then permanently end this system and reform the ORR as a fully ‘public interest’ regulator, making all its decisions in the public and socioeconomic interest. Only if these actions are taken will it be possible to create an integrated InterCity network for Great British Railways, designed to bring back maximum profits to fund and grow the system.

Our co-signatories include the Association of British Commuters, Bring Back British Rail, Disabled People Against Cuts and TSSA union.

Open letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt. Hon Heidi Alexander

Dear Rt Hon Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport,

We write to request that you intervene in the failed system of open access to impose an urgent moratorium on any further approval of open access applications, pending the establishment of new rules.

The Department for Transport is currently writing a new Railways Bill to replace this discredited system, yet private operators like First Group and Arriva are flooding the regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), with applications in the hopes of being approved before you have the chance to reform the system.

Despite a series of warnings on the economic and timetabling dangers of open access, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is still processing applications, with many decisions expected imminently. As the government itself has recently stated, the ORR’s economic duty is not fit for purpose, and any more approvals would create ‘significant long-term constraints’ on Great British Railways.[1] By continuing, therefore, the ORR is acting against the public interest and disrespecting the democratic process. The only solution is an immediate moratorium on its activities.

Threats to the timetable

The entire railway’s timetable is at risk, with Network Rail making ‘Formal Declarations of Congested Infrastructure’ on the East Coast Main Line (ECML), warning that there will be severe repercussions for the December 2025 timetable if any more applications are signed off. [2] The ECML timetable has already been delayed for four years, and detailed analysis by Network Rail predicts dire performance outcomes even without the additional open access applications.[3] Despite these warnings, the ORR has already signed off a ten-year contract extension for Grand Central Trains (Arriva), locking in the taxpayer until 2038 and going explicitly against your Department’s commitment in February that it would honour current track access agreements only until 2029.[4]

Threats to the economy

Warnings on the economic dangers of open access are equally severe, with publicly-owned operator LNER finding that it would cost £1.1 billion in lost revenue on the ECML over the next decade.[5] The causes are well known and were acknowledged by the Secretary of State earlier in the year: 1) revenue abstraction, with ORR signing off applications that allow up to 70% of revenue to be abstracted from existing services; 2) indirect subsidies, as open access companies do not cover long-term maintenance and central support costs; 3) undermining of public investment, with the four year delay to the ECML timetable undermining the value of £4 billion investment in the line;[6] and 4) long-term and ‘cumulative’ economic impacts, with the ORR ignoring ‘the true scale of abstraction’ estimated by the DfT to be £229 million per year.[7]

Threats to rail reform

The current track access system creates a complex web of legal duties blocking rail integration, and it is now the biggest obstacle to rail reform. The ultimate cause is the competition-based legal framework, which prevents ORR from favouring socioeconomic interests in their decisions, since this is seen as ‘discrimination’ against private companies. The present dangers can be seen in the competition-based demands of lobbyists like First Group, including: stronger competition regulation by the ORR; separation of accounting and bans on cross-subsidy within GBR; bans on information-sharing and collaboration; and fewer powers for devolved regions. They even want the ticket retail licensing function to move to the ORR, weakening it further as a public interest regulator.[8]

The only solution is to fully repeal all competition clauses in the Railways Act 1993, and remove the competition duty of the ORR. No compromise solution will do, as already proven by four years of attempts by the previous government, which found it impossible to achieve even minor exemptions to competition law in favour of the public interest.[9]

How to reform the open access system

End open access: the ORR’s economic role has been overbalanced by the interests of private companies, and it is now acting against the public interest by continuing to sign off applications. The Secretary of State must impose an urgent moratorium and then bring a permanent end to open access in the new Railways Bill.
Repeal all competition clauses of the Railways Act 1993, removing the competition function of the ORR and the role of the Competition and Markets Authority.
Reform ORR as a public interest regulator - responsible for only safety, accessibility, passenger rights and rail performance. Any economic or timetabling functions retained should be solely in the interests of socioeconomic value or in balancing the needs of devolved regions.
A socioeconomic model for GBR, restoring public interest duties for ‘maximising social and economic benefits’, accessibility and environment. The socioeconomic duty should be an overarching principle synchronised across all law and regulation.[10]
A national InterCity network for Great British Railways, replacing the open access system and coordinated for the best possible rail performance and socioeconomic value. All profits should be reinvested to grow the network, using cross-subsidy to build regional networks and restore lost services.

Great British Railways has the potential to be a great success, but this will only happen if the government commits to full public ownership in the social and economic interest. After four years of the previous government’s failure to fix this system, it now comes down to a binary choice – a competition-based model that restricts rail integration, or a socioeconomic model that guarantees the best value for public money?

We look forward to your immediate intervention to impose an urgent moratorium on approval of open access applications and a permanent end to open access, ensuring that rail reform takes place in the best interests of the public.

Yours sincerely,

Signatories

We Own It
Association of British Commuters (ABC)
Bring Back British Rail (BBBR)
Maryam Eslamdoust - General Secretary, TSSA
Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC)

End Notes:

DfT, Letter to ORR from Director-General of Rail Reform and Strategy (20 June 2025). Though ORR recently rejected three open access applications (3 July), this was explicitly done for timetabling reasons, not economic ones, with the ORR including a disclaimer to this effect.
Network Rail, General representation on the ECML (14 March 2025).
Ibid, 8-9.
On March 26th, ORR approved Grand Central’s application for a ten-year extension of its current contract until 2038 – speeding this through in the space of one day without even performing a value for money test. The DfT had stated in its February consultation on Great British Railways that it would honour open access agreements only until 2029. (GBR consultation, p 29, para 3.31).
‘Impact of Open Access Services on LNER’ (10 April 2025), unpublished report held by the Department for Transport.
DfT, ‘Secretary of State for Transport’s expectations for how open access will operate’ (6 Jan 2025); DfT, A railway fit for the future: GBR consultation (Feb 2025), p 25.
DfT, Letter to ORR from Director-General of Rail Reform and Strategy (20 June 2025).
First Group submission to GBR consultation (April 2025); Independent Rail Retailers submission to GBR consultation(April 2025).
ORR response to Plan for Rail consultation (July 2022), CMA response to Plan for Rail consultation (August 2022); DfT, Plan for Rail consultation response (Feb 2024), p 56-59.
Association of British Commuters, DfT drops public interest duties from Great British Railways (24 Feb 2025); Association of British Commuters, Ministers must restore public interest duties to Great British Railways(28 Feb 2025)

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Comments

Christopher Wyeth 1 month ago

Your election manifesto included returning rail companies to public ownership when their franchise ended and the establishment of GBR. There is clearly no point in this if these public rail companies have to compete against private for rail time.

Reply
- Jane Wheelock 1 month ago
  
  Heidi Alexander, Please get fully on top of your brief (as promised by Labour) and realise that the current rail franchises will do everything they can to keep the profits rolling in - and thereby continuing to exploit taxpayers. Block all applications from private companies to run any part of our railway system.
  
  Reply
  - Sylvia Harvey 1 month ago
    
    I believe that full public ownership of rail & associated facilities is the best solution for an effective, well run and cost effective system.
    My understanding is that many & perhaps most railways systems in Eurooean countries run as effective but nor for profit systems.
    
    Reply
- Mr John Randall 1 month ago
  
  We demand all PRIVATE COMPANIES should be excluded from PUBLIC UTILITIES. And there should be total state control, including the carriage manufacture and engine construction.Using British manufacturing back into the fold, after years of Tory decline. This would benefit the economy 100%
  
  Reply
Chris Clark 1 month ago

Let's run our railways as a public service and drive the profiteers out.

Reply
Ros McGuirk 1 month ago

Please block all applications from private companies to run any part of our railway system. We tried privatisation and it did not work too well.
Public services should be in public hands.
Thank you.

Reply
David Gilbey 1 month ago

By allowing cherry picking at this stage you are ensuring any publicly run rail service will struggle. You should back public ownership, if nothing else the profits will help fill the black hole.

Reply
William Routledge 1 month ago

Public services should be run as public services, not as private enterprises. The private enterprise model for running public services in this country has time and again been shown not to work. Wherever you look it has failed, including our rail network. It is time that the Office for Rail and Road understands their responsibility lies, not with kowtowing to the private companies who still have vested interests in running the most profitable routes, but listening to the public majority interested in ending that shameful and discredited practice. We are desperate for our public services to be run for the public, not for profit and shareholder interest.

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Susan Tideswell 1 month ago

The rail network should be run for British passengers, not for profit for foreign companies and their shareholders.

Reply
Susan Tideswell 1 month ago

The rail network should be run for British passengers, not for profit for foreign companies and their shareholders.

Reply
Paul Durrant 1 month ago

Simply stop these applications being processed - these are employees who are simply doing what they have been told until told otherwise. Now is the time to tell them otherwise has arrived.

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David White 1 month ago

An overwhelming majority of the British public, which does not have access to private jets, chauffeured limousines and personal drivers, is desperate for a rail network that serves them fairly and efficiently. This means, in essence, the public no longer paying the shareholders’ cut in our currently eye-wateringly priced tickets; the public NOT requiring a PhD to understand how to buy the right tickets at the best price for the traveller (for far too long a big marketing con that must cease) and a rail system that truly belongs to the nation.
Corporate greed is no longer acceptable; it has deeply damaged society and we expect our Labour Government to do the right thing (down to the small print and fine detail) in this and all other areas where private enterprise has no moral and sociological place. Time for Labour to find its teeth, its courage and its moral compass. That’s what we expect of you. The railways used to belong to us – the British people – and must do so again. Meanwhile, the perpetrators of Rip-Off Britain must be ejected from our services and institutions. Sensible citizens of all political hues can identify and support such progress. Don’t kow-tow to commercial pressures. Be brave! If you are unsure of what policies to adopt, please take your cues from Private Eye. The magazine paints a vivid picture of sensible, fair options that Government could choose to implement to improve modern Britain and its citizens’ day-today lives. Live up to our expectations, and live up to your raison d’etre. CHANGE, remember?! Thank you for reading this. Good luck.

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Tim Hawkes 1 month ago

Really time that PUBLIC transport became PUBLIC owned again. The losers running out current rip off shambles of a railway system need to be relieved of their duty asap

Reply
Norman Hooks 1 month ago

At last we have the opportunity to produce a rail network that works for users not the shareholders and top managements of private companies. Good public transport is also an essential part of tackling carbon dioxide emissions reducing car use.

Reply
Judy Screeton 1 month ago

Rt. Hon. Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport.
Please step in to place a moritorium on open access applications by private companies so that no approvals are passed before new legislation comes in to end the discredited system of Open access - the ultimate free market model of the railway – where firms want to run in direct competition with publicly-owned operators, extracting hundreds of millions per year to their shareholders. Every penny in our railway should be put toward cutting our sky-high fares, not shareholder dividends.

Reply
John Lomax 1 month ago

Do not let private companies cherry pick any parts of the railway network , return it all to public ownership

Reply
Ray Corness 1 month ago

Dear Rt Hon Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport,
We write to request that you intervene in the failed system of open access to impose an urgent moratorium on any further approval of open access applications, pending the establishment of new rules.
The Department for Transport is currently writing a new Railways Bill to replace this discredited system, yet private operators like First Group and Arriva are flooding the regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), with applications in the hopes of being approved before you have the chance to reform the system.
Despite a series of warnings on the economic and timetabling dangers of open access, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is still processing applications, with many decisions expected imminently. As the government itself has recently stated, the ORR’s economic duty is not fit for purpose, and any more approvals would create ‘significant long-term constraints’ on Great British Railways.[1] By continuing, therefore, the ORR is acting against the public interest and disrespecting the democratic process. The only solution is an immediate moratorium on its activities.
Threats to the timetable
The entire railway’s timetable is at risk, with Network Rail making ‘Formal Declarations of Congested Infrastructure’ on the East Coast Main Line (ECML), warning that there will be severe repercussions for the December 2025 timetable if any more applications are signed off. [2] The ECML timetable has already been delayed for four years, and detailed analysis by Network Rail predicts dire performance outcomes even without the additional open access applications.[3] Despite these warnings, the ORR has already signed off a ten-year contract extension for Grand Central Trains (Arriva), locking in the taxpayer until 2038 and going explicitly against your Department’s commitment in February that it would honour current track access agreements only until 2029.[4]
Threats to the economy
Warnings on the economic dangers of open access are equally severe, with publicly-owned operator LNER finding that it would cost £1.1 billion in lost revenue on the ECML over the next decade.[5] The causes are well known and were acknowledged by the Secretary of State earlier in the year: 1) revenue abstraction, with ORR signing off applications that allow up to 70% of revenue to be abstracted from existing services; 2) indirect subsidies, as open access companies do not cover long-term maintenance and central support costs; 3) undermining of public investment, with the four year delay to the ECML timetable undermining the value of £4 billion investment in the line;[6] and 4) long-term and ‘cumulative’ economic impacts, with the ORR ignoring ‘the true scale of abstraction’ estimated by the DfT to be £229 million per year.[7]
Threats to rail reform
The current track access system creates a complex web of legal duties blocking rail integration, and it is now the biggest obstacle to rail reform. The ultimate cause is the competition-based legal framework, which prevents ORR from favouring socioeconomic interests in their decisions, since this is seen as ‘discrimination’ against private companies. The present dangers can be seen in the competition-based demands of lobbyists like First Group, including: stronger competition regulation by the ORR; separation of accounting and bans on cross-subsidy within GBR; bans on information-sharing and collaboration; and fewer powers for devolved regions. They even want the ticket retail licensing function to move to the ORR, weakening it further as a public interest regulator.[8]
The only solution is to fully repeal all competition clauses in the Railways Act 1993, and remove the competition duty of the ORR. No compromise solution will do, as already proven by four years of attempts by the previous government, which found it impossible to achieve even minor exemptions to competition law in favour of the public interest.[9]
How to reform the open access system
End open access: the ORR’s economic role has been overbalanced by the interests of private companies, and it is now acting against the public interest by continuing to sign off applications. The Secretary of State must impose an urgent moratorium and then bring a permanent end to open access in the new Railways Bill.
Repeal all competition clauses of the Railways Act 1993, removing the competition function of the ORR and the role of the Competition and Markets Authority.
Reform ORR as a public interest regulator - responsible for only safety, accessibility, passenger rights and rail performance. Any economic or timetabling functions retained should be solely in the interests of socioeconomic value or in balancing the needs of devolved regions.
A socioeconomic model for GBR, restoring public interest duties for ‘maximising social and economic benefits’, accessibility and environment. The socioeconomic duty should be an overarching principle synchronised across all law and regulation.[10]
A national InterCity network for Great British Railways, replacing the open access system and coordinated for the best possible rail performance and socioeconomic value. All profits should be reinvested to grow the network, using cross-subsidy to build regional networks and restore lost services.
Great British Railways has the potential to be a great success, but this will only happen if the government commits to full public ownership in the social and economic interest. After four years of the previous government’s failure to fix this system, it now comes down to a binary choice – a competition-based model that restricts rail integration, or a socioeconomic model that guarantees the best value for public money?
We look forward to your immediate intervention to impose an urgent moratorium on approval of open access applications and a permanent end to open access, ensuring that rail reform takes place in the best interests of the public.
Yours sincerely,
Signatories
We Own It
Association of British Commuters (ABC)
Bring Back British Rail (BBBR)
Maryam Eslamdoust - General Secretary, TSSA
Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC)

Reply
- Helen McIlroy 1 month ago
  
  Rail privatisation has been a disaster. We need publicly owned and affordable rail network to see us through the 21st century and beyond.
  
  Reply
Carole Faithorn 1 month ago

I fully support the arguments put forward by the signatories of this letter to Ms Alexander and urge her to recognise that she should step in now to ensure that railway users are put before commercial competition.

Reply
Patricia Hornsby 1 month ago

Please keep private companies away from Great British Railways who are only interested in their shareholders not the passengers. Same with the privately owned water companies.

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Sheila Cross 1 month ago

As a regular train passenger on the LNER route I was appalled to learn, when I zoomed an on-line debate, that competitor companies like Grand Central gain profit that weakens the LNER income, even though Grand Central is very unreliable and frequently cancels trains. To allow access to TOCS like that makes a mockery of the government policy on rail nationalisation, private companies should not profit at the expense of the public.

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Audrey Walsh 1 month ago

How can publicly owned railways remain publicly owned while businesses continue to serve their own profit making interests at the expense of that stated aim. I say no to privately owned engines and rolling stock on publicly owned rails.

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Bob Brecher 1 month ago

Please ensure that the attempt to sabotage the denationalisation of the railway fails.

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Barbara Henderson 1 month ago

I am a regular train commuter in the north east. These companies have trashed the rail service and rip passengers off in numerous ways on a daily basis. We need a truly nationalised railway.

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Louise Hichisson 1 month ago

Make British Rail publicly run, don't let private companies monopolise and take over in this underhand way, it isn't right or fair to allow them access in this way.

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David Stuart 1 month ago

Open Access Operators have grown the overall rail market and brought through train services to London from places such as Hartlepool, possibly for the first time ever?! The NATIONALISED British Rail used to CUT these types of services, e.g. latterly only serving Hull from King's Cross once a day! LEAVE THE OPEN ACCESS OPERATORS ALONE - THEY DON'T GET A PENNY FROM THE TAXPAYER!

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Richard Hillier 1 month ago

Over the years the East Coast Line has proved to be a clear example of why privatisation in railways does not work. Twice it was privatised after GNER’s franchise and twice the privatised operator walked away from the contract, stating that the line was unprofitable. Under national control, as East Coast Mainline and LNER, it turned a clear profit for the government. Unfortunately it was re-privatised during Covid and again the private company claims to be floundering.
Surely this shows that the overheads associated with privatised rail operators consume profits with no benefits to passengers.
This should not be ignored.
There is no room for privatisation in public transport, especially the railways, it is a wasteful and inefficient way of providing services.

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Richard Tassell 1 month ago

Ms Alexander
Please prevent private rail companies using the back door to gain franchises from the rail regulator.
We know privatisation doesn't work.
We don't want that again!!!

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Stephanie Carn 1 month ago

Public ownership should mean just that, nit allowing private companies to cherry pick the most profitable routes.

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a gordon 1 month ago

give us our railways back under OUR CONTROL NOT PRIVATE OBSCENE PROFIT

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Deborah Conway Read 1 month ago

Full public ownership is needed to create properly functioning system that provides good public transport at affordable prices.

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John Morgan 1 month ago

Bringing rail back into public ownership is the right thing to do. Run it as a public service. Don't allow the private companies to keep running routes.

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Sue Carole 1 month ago

It is crucial to put public interest before that of large companies whose only interest is profit. Privatisation hasn't worked and the free-for-all that is Open Access would bring rail travel to it's knees, destroying thousands of jobs and forcing travellers back into there cars; speeding up our relentless and self-inflicted progression towards environmental breakdown.

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Mike Yeadon 1 month ago

Please, let’s have a proper fully integrated rail transport network, that is run for public benefit and without key routes cherry-picked by the private sector. The latter has milked the system for years, this must stop.

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Suzanna Harris 1 month ago

Please stop private railway companies from using open access applications to hold onto some railway routes. I believe all the railways should be brought back into public ownership as soon as possible.

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Stephen Lancashire 1 month ago

On behakf of the Southwark Pensioners Action Group (SPAG)I fully endorse the above letter and urge you, as Secretary of State, to declare a moratorium on Open Access Applications from private companies

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William lamb 1 month ago

Please don't allow private rail to cherry pick best routes,full public ownership.Thankyou.

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udy seymour 1 month ago

Dear Secretary of State for Transport, I write in support of the letter created by We Own It. The return of the rail service to public ownership has been a beacon of light for me - a hugely important step that stands up against the profit before people and service culture that quite simply, threatens to engulf and destroy us. Please dont let this chance siip away. Judy Seymour

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Nicola Vincent 1 month ago

Dear Heidi please will you stop ORR from processing applications from big companies that are trying to obtain the most profitable routes. This would put publicly owned routes in competition with them and at a disadvantage before they even get going and threatens to undermine the whole idea. Let’s go ahead with our plans for a fully publicly owned railway that’s fair and works for us all rather than a few big companies share holders. That way hasn’t worked in the past and will not serve us now.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely
Nicola Vincent

Reply
Nicola Vincent 1 month ago

Dear Heidi please will you stop ORR from processing applications from big companies that are trying to obtain the most profitable routes. This would put publicly owned routes in competition with them and at a disadvantage before they even get going and threatens to undermine the whole idea. Let’s go ahead with our plans for a fully publicly owned railway that’s fair and works for us all rather than a few big companies share holders. That way hasn’t worked in the past and will not serve us now.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely
Nicola Vincent

Reply
Jane Marshall 1 month ago

The railway network should not be broken up with the most potentially profitable routes given to private companies to make huge profits, it should be used to make a better, more integrated network which could substantially increase sustainability and be genuinely useful to the public.

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Jean Siegal 1 month ago

We need a system that works for the benefit of the public where profits are used to improve our network and not handed to private companies and their shareholders.

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Kathryn Hawley 1 month ago

I’m not an expert in railway management or finance but simply my logic tells me that taking money from a system to give to a few who haven’t contributed to the system will ultimately lead to the system not being able to reinvesting in itself for maintenance or improvements. Meanwhile all that use the system pay more to keep it running, in short we pay the private companies and shareholders for contributing nothing!! Please don’t allow this to happen.

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Derek Woollestone 1 month ago

Nationalise the system !

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Gillian Paterson 1 month ago

I rely on the railway network especially as I get older and am unwilling to make long journeys by car. Please do not allow profiteering operators to put rail travel out of my reach. Thank you.

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Hilary Ellwood 1 month ago

Our system of railways being run for private profit is ludicrous. Transport must be run for the benefit of the passengers with all money being used for their benefit. The Government must stop any decisions being made which undermine this objective before a proper discussion and decision can take place.

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Alan WOODWARD 1 month ago

Like most of the Conservative privatisations the railways are a complete mess. The public have been ill served by fractured services, underinvestment and rip off fares. The companies like Virgin have been happy to take huge profits from the likes of the main west coast line but unwilling to honour contractual commitments when failing.
Customers often cannot rely on trains turning up with cancellations and breakdowns of aging stock.
This experiment has gone beyond time to stop. I urge you not to make or renew any further contracts but to bring it all back under public control. Perhaps then we can get up to European standards and the public have the railways they deserve.

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Caroline Stedman 1 month ago

Now that the government has decided to end the failed experiment of privatised rail services, it is vital that this is not frustrated by the businesses that have been involved, which is shamefully being enabled by the current regulator acting against public interest and the will of parliament. A broken up rail service has been a disaster and must not be allowed to subsist.

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Caroline Stedman 1 month ago

Now that the government has decided to end the failed experiment of privatised rail services, it is vital that this is not frustrated by the businesses that have been involved, which is shamefully being enabled by the current regulator acting against public interest and the will of parliament. A broken up rail service has been a disaster and must not be allowed to subsist.

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Richard Ogilvy 1 month ago

Please block all applications from private companies, to ensure British Rail is public, to save it for a peoples future.

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Michael Treanor 1 month ago

Please block new "Open access"approvals.
Thank you

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Julie Miller 1 month ago

Open access approvals spell disaster for the railways and need to be stopped.

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Jane Wess 1 month ago

Please end profiteering from essential services such as the rail network. Passengers have suffered too long.

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Stephen Bottoms 1 month ago

Private companies have failed to run railways for the public good, failed to run decent reliable services and milked the public purse of millions of pounds. Public services should be run efficiently but not for profit. Privatised rail has failed so please don’t be fooled by false promises anymore.

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Gill Gibbins 1 month ago

It is essential that the Government understand the basic premise that no national asset should be in private or foreign ownership. There is a clear case here for applying that rule from the start and following suit with other national crises in vital services which only public ownership should control.

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Kathleen Hall 1 month ago

Secure the future success of GBR as an organisation operating in the public interest by stopping immediately private rail companies which put profit before passengers from rushing to secure future contracts ahead of the GBR reforms.

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Maia Glover-Watts 1 month ago

It is of great concern to me that ‘open access applications’ are still being processed . THERE MUST BE A PERMANENT END TO OPEN ACCESS.

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Dave Powell 1 month ago

Please do not allow firms such as Virgin to drive a "coach and horses" through this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a truly publicly-owned railway for this country.

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Maggie Matthews 1 month ago

I travel by rail a lot from Cornwall. I have seen the service and conditions of travel deteriorate while private companies have been running our lines. I would very much like to see a fully publicly owned railway system. Please do not let the private companies, who have performed so badly, cherry pick the best lines.

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Andy Chatts 1 month ago

Dear Rt Hon Heidi Alexander,
The privatisation model doesn’t work, I have worked in both the private and public sector and I can hand in heart say, these private companies do not have the best interests of the nation in mind. We will find our public elements doing all the work, paying all the money, whilst the private companies laugh themselves to sleep at night. Please stop the open applications system.
Kind Regards
Andy

Reply
Linnet Evans 1 month ago

Incoming private interests are a distraction, and will dilute the efficiencies and economies of scale of ultimate 100% public ownership. Let's stay focused.

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Andrea Sparling 1 month ago

Privatisation does not work, railways alongside other companies need to be put back into public ownership where shareholders money can be used for improvements to services not lining the pockets of the rich.

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Jan Plummer 1 month ago

I understand and agree with all the above. What it boils down to is who and which are more important? The social and economic well-being of the British people who are your voters, alongside the environment and tackling climate change, OR the profits of private companies and their rich shareholders? It is very clear to everyone that services suffer disproportionately when profits are not reinvested.

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Jenny Embleton 1 month ago

Private companies are fighting hard now to get their "open access" applications approved before new legislation comes in. And, if approved, they could lock in privatisation for decades.
“Open access” is the ultimate free market model of the railway - where firms want to run in direct competition with publicly-owned operators, extracting hundreds of millions per year to their shareholders.
Every penny in our railway should be put toward cutting our sky-high fares, not shareholder dividends.

Reply
Hazel Helm 1 month ago

It is time this labour government stood up for working people and returned British Rail to us, not the money grabbing profiteers who have been allowed to run it since Thatcher. As retired railway employees we have watched with dismay as the rail industry has been decimated by private ownership.

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Lou Bradley 1 month ago

Signing for all the above reasons. 80% of public and voters support true public ownership. Enabling private companies to lock in their contracts that undermine and compete with publicly owned model is not public ownership. The public might not be aware of all the loopholes the private companies can make ué of, but they know if something changes for the better or doesn’t. That’s why there’s so much disillusionment and people feeling like they can’t trust the people who represent them

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Hagar Babbington Esquire 1 month ago

Dear Rt Hon Heidi Alexander
I would not only like to add my name to the signatories regarding the above letter but also to bring to your attention that the Rolling Stock Leasing Companies require bringing back into public ownership to omit private companies form having anything to do with our railways.
It's already been proven that privatisation does not work.... look at the shenanigans with Thames Water or go back to before British Rail, which was formed from from not just the Big Four which came into fruition in 1923 until 1948. From those early railway privateers, we got a publicly owned railway which operated and looked after everything from the ground it owned upwards including buliding our own locomotives & rolling stock.
Lets learn from the past and bring our railways bacj into public ownership along with other methods of transport like bus services & road haulage.
Thank you for taking the time to read my views.
Blessed be
Hagar Babbington ESQ

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Desmond Ritchie 1 month ago

Please impose an urgent moratorium on approval of open access applications and a permanent end to open access as this will just return us (the public and your voters) to the chaos and insecurity of failed companies making money first then collapsing. None of this is in the public's or your goverments interests.

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Julie Gibbon 1 month ago

Our complete railway network- infrastructure, trains and services should be in public ownership.

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Claire Ireland 1 month ago

Please do not allow private companies to wreck the plans for public owned railways.

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Timothy Adshead 1 month ago

Allowing companies who have already failed to meet their obligations in the past and to remain involved in a new National railway system by picking the best routes must surely undermine the idea of a single rail network.

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Ron Major 1 month ago

Let's get the railways properly nationalised. This is a public service and should not be exploited for private profit. Regular travellers have suffered for long enough.

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Roger Holland 1 month ago

I completely applaud bringing our rail services back into public ownership. That must mean, full public ownership, not private companies choosing which routes they'd like to run, for profit. Look at the mess we've had to put up with over the last 40 years. Our rail system has been an international standing joke for years, falling standards, cuts in staff, lack of service to users etc. It cannot be beyond us surely,to run and maintain our rail network for the benefit of us all, who ultimately fund it through taxation and ever rising fares. All we want is a rail system that works solely for us, not private shareholders who actually might be called speculators. They are not interested in our rail services, per say. Their interests lie in making money.

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Tim Erskine 1 month ago

Please don't allow private companies to be involved in the new public railways. It's public transport that should be there to reduce pollution and serve the public, not to profit private shareholders.

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Stephen Clarke 1 month ago

Rail privatisation has shown itself, over plenty of evidence now, to be a failure and expensive for passengers compared to what might have been had the railway remained a public and entirely state-owned utility.

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Caroline Jackson 1 month ago

I fully support this open letter and hope you are able to bring the railways into full public ownership.

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Gail Wagstaff 1 month ago

I'm rather shocked that the ORR is still considering new applications, trying to circumvent the bill.
I hope you will act to stop this. Otherwise the purposed legislation will just not work as the government plans.

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Mike Campbell 1 month ago

No more shareholder dividends at the (considerable) expense of customers and the general public! Private companies have proven over and over again to have failed as rail operators and we pick up the tab. Enough!

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Janet Blackburn 1 month ago

Privatisation has resulted in rail services that are too expensive for many people to use, so unreliable that many people resort to driving if they cannot afford to arrive at their destination late and are often dirty with inadequate toilet and refreshments facilities. Please don’t permit the companies that have so mismanaged the rail services to get a foot in the door under renationalisation. We need a reasonably priced, clean, coordinated, coherent and reliable service run for the benefit of those who use it.

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Rosco White 1 month ago

ALL Public Transport in Government ownership, NO private enterprise whatsoever!

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Pamela Tidswell 1 month ago

The privatisation of railways is costing so much to passengers that many more people are using coaches. This is madness. Trains are a mass transport system that I believe is better for environment and passengers alike.

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Sheila Levi-Watkins 1 month ago

I want a nationalised better rail system, I live in Cumbria, and the rail service to Manchester Airport is often cancelled and and we cannot rely on the trainservice, we want a better rail system.

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Steve Corkhull 1 month ago

Please ensure the public ownership of our railways. As a frequent rail user annoyed at the privatisation scam, I press you to return our railways to the public finances rather than private pockets and other states treasures!

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David Lewis 1 month ago

It is absolutely obvious the privatisation of the railways has been a disaster from every perspective. As a basic point, it can never be better to have a private company running a national public service, simply because there is a profit element, which otherwise does not exist.
Broadening this, companies will always pass money to shareholders and for bonuses before putting anything into the service.
Fragmenting a national service into separate areas, with umpteen different operators for every component part of the service (operators, suppliers, manufacturers, funders, maintenance, etc.) simply splits out more financial losses to the service and brings in chaos, confusion and uncertainty.
The UK is a very small area and having a broken-up arrangement only leads to a broken operation, huge completely unnecessary cost and chronic inefficiencies due to the complexities of having a relatively small operation run by countless different companies.
This is another example of the public being ignored by the government it voted into power, wasting tax payers’ money on a concept which, plainly, cannot and obviously does not work at any level, except for profit for the companies involved. Even more staggering is that the main operators are mainly non-UK governments or offshore companies so any tax and income benefits there may have been, disappear abroad. Unbelievable!

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Yvonne Myers-Lamptey 1 month ago

Dear Rt Hon Heidi,
Please push water to come to public ownership and block all “open access” applications of private companies.
Thank you,
Yvonne Myers-Lamptey.

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RUTH SILLAR 1 month ago

Please read this appeal. Disabled passengers need a great railway system.

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Barbara Cunningham 1 month ago

Imperative that we have public ownership of our rail network. Private companies have been making huge profits but have provided abysmal services in many parts of the country.
The environment and the economy will benefit hugely from a system of co-ordinated and well run public rail.

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Jonathan Dunne 1 month ago

Please follow through on your promise of a publicly-owned railway, and make it all of it, including rolling-stock.

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Lynda Crosweller 1 month ago

Please don’t allow private profiteering to continue.

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Susan Hannis 1 month ago

The railways are for us and should be owned by us. There is no place for private profit in an essential public service such as our train network. It has to be affordable to all and available to all, and we must keep it that way.

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Tina McKevitt 1 month ago

We need excellent, affordable public transport as a metter of urgency to try and combat climate change, as well as to make business and personal travel more convenient. Public ownership should be just that - owned by the public, for the public - not for the benefit of companies and their shareholders, who profit at the expense of the passengers.

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Sharon Williams 1 month ago

Make it private, keep it private, all of it. You know it’s the right thing to do.

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Anya wancke 1 month ago

End privatisation of railways, don’t accept private companies bid for “open access” private contracts.

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Karen Russell 1 month ago

I have experienced privatisation of the railways. Like all privatisations, it sounds good on paper but in the end is just lining pockets of those already rich - many of whom do not live in the UK. The result is lack of investment, no stake in this country or its people and deterioration of the infrastructure. NO to more privatisation and YES to ensuring a reliable rail future.

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Lynne S-Jones 1 month ago

Public ownership is essential rather then share dividends for private firms.

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Billy Ross 1 month ago

All privatisation is a financial disaster for the vast majority!

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Deborah 1 month ago

Railways should be run for all of us, as a public service, not for the benefit of share-holders

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Geoff Stocker 1 month ago

Taxpayers have had enough of this ‘failed’ Tory debacle, giving our taxes to shareholders of the franchisees, please follow your strategy of bringing the railways back under the public umbrella and rescind the mistakes made earlier this year in handing out further franchises to 2038. No other country in Europe has privatised utilities and transport systems because it is not in the interest of the public who pay for these inefficient schemes.
Support Great British Railways now.

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Stephen Boyd Davis 1 month ago

Privatisation has been a disaster. Public ownership is the only solution.

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chris lock 1 month ago

Just returned from Greece with a broken leg and fully appreciated how essential public transport is.
We need to move away from car use ( yes I have one and yes I use it) to a fully integrated north South, east west public transport system. Intelligently timetabled and ticketed that allows domestic and business flow of traffic. Not the current for profit bun fight currently in operation.

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Cheuk L Lam 1 month ago

Please prevent the rail to become profit-taking tool for large corporations and instead make it publicly owned, for the sake of all brits!!

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Frankie Duggan 1 month ago

Dear Heidi Please please act in the interests of the public, to encourage greater and more affordable use of public transport, respect the democratic process, and not enable private companies to profit at the public's expense. Time is running out! We need an emergency moratorium on open access applications.

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Sheila Dorsett 1 month ago

I would like all railways to be in public ownership and all the railstock.This is desired by most UK residents. Rail services are very expensive and private companies want a profit. Accessibility should be improved across the network.
Please ensure that this public ownership takes place with no involvement of the private sector. This will be popular with the electorate.

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A.KWhittle 1 month ago

Complete Nationalisation of all public utilities is essential for the security and economic success of the UK . The only way to control what is becoming a runaway acceleration of the cost of living ;where money is diverted to the pockets of shareholders rather than to Capital and infrastructure!

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Annie Teurtroy 1 month ago

we should nationalise all public transportation

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Jane Kysow 1 month ago

Please put the rail service of this country back in public ownership and keep private companies out.

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Joanna Souster 1 month ago

In order for public ownership to work effectively, it is imperative that profitable elements are included. Allowing the most profitable sections to be taken by private companies clearly makes a mockery of the scheme and leaves the burden on the public. This must be blocked.

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Margaret Cook 1 month ago

The public remember the deterioration of services when British Rail was first privatised. We want our transport system back!

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Thomas Francis Saunders 1 month ago

Please create a level playing field that all services will be run by a Universal British Railway with no private cherry picking routes that make more profits stripping profits that should be shared inside the new publicly owned railway system

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Stephen Everson 1 month ago

Please do not change your policy of taking the services into public ownership as contracts expire. Do not give into pressure from the operating companies, because we expect service before profits.

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Stephen Everson 1 month ago

Thank you

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Gordon Berriman 1 month ago

A fully nationalized rail system is the first essential step to an properly integrated transport system. This will not only help popularize public transport but also improve our environment and, ultimately climate.

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Mick Duggan 1 month ago

For heavens sake, Nationalise our railway PROPERLY

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Craig Sykes 1 month ago

The railways should be run for the benefit of the many not just the few.

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Norman Spalding 1 month ago

It already takes decades to reopen a closed railway, even with a cast - iron business case. Instead of allowing private companies to cherry pick profitable services on tracks provided at someone else's expense, why not require them to provide tracks as well as trains and restrict them to parts of the UK where residents are crying out for a railway?

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Norma Hunter 1 month ago

NO to private firms using our railways for profit.
Public owernership of the railways is essential.
End privatisation of all parts of the railways NOW

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Robin Woods 1 month ago

The democratic mandate for public ownership of our railways did not include private open access operations of any kind and so these should not be permitted

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Robert Collison 1 month ago

Railways have been destroyed by privatisation, high fares bad service private companies taking public money and delivering Nothing for public good.

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David Robinson 1 month ago

Please don't back-track or u-turn, on a publicly-owned railway.

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Rebecca Roseff 1 month ago

It will be so silly to hinder our rail service becoming a good service by hiving off parts to private companies. We must have connecting trains at affordable prices as other European countries enjoy in Britain. Why water down the opportunity you now have by watering down the Bring Back Rail to Public Ownership under one organisation. Why do this? It makes no sense. Stick to the principle of one organisation, publicly owned, one network

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Les Stretton 1 month ago

Don’t allow private companies to cherry pick services! All routes should be run public for non profit.

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Deborah Field 1 month ago

You cannot allow private firms with shareholders anywhere near this! Learn the lessons of the past.

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Brian west 1 month ago

To sell off profitable parts of the rail network to private companys defeats the object of nationalisation as it automatically takes money away from other subsidised non profitable routes which the profitable routes subsided leaving the tax payer to pick up the bill. Creating the same problems which lead to privatisation. So in the meantime the rich still get richer and the taxpayer foots the bill as usual with these half baked schemes. You cannot allow this to happen to the services we have paid for and own. You need to follow other European examples of railway nationalisation which provide cheap clean and efficient transport for all. After all isn't that what governments are meant to do? Don't ruin this opportunity for the benefit of a few leaving the rest of us to pick up the tab. Thankyou.

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Chris Purnell 1 month ago

Keep railways public ownership scheme intact with no privatisation.

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David Romeo 1 month ago

All trains train lines and rail infrastructure must be totally in public ownership.

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Sarah Alcoy 1 month ago

Private companies have done such damage to our railways. We want to see a properly functioning rail network, which is run as a public service not a profit making machine.

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Sue Rockliffe 1 month ago

This is our one chance to create an integrated train system that works in the interests of the public who use it rather than the interests of private companies. Please hold firm to this and resist private companies' pressure

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Denis Sheridan 1 month ago

public service not profit

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Michael juniper 1 month ago

It is time the railways were nationalized

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Andrea Titterington 1 month ago

Privitising basic infrastructure has been a disaster for this country. People before profit should be a key plank of anything that the Labour Party does. That is never the case for private, profit seeking companies. The more we can re-nationalise the better.

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Jon Tickner 1 month ago

I run a small business and train travel pricing is cripplingly expensive. I’ve seen single tickets from Paddington to Swansea for over £500. An annual ticket from anywhere west of Chippenham is the price of a significant mortgage. Rail involves enormous investment, but this is extortion and it has to stop. Rail must be for the good of the people and small businesses. And principally that means it has to be cheaper, without the burden of paying shareholders.

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Belle Conduct 1 month ago

Private companies are by their very nature there primarily to make profit for share holders.The interests of the service users come second.Re-investment into the service is done (if at all- witness water companies) only with this in mind.Nationalisation, with efficient monitoring to ensure optimum efficiency has the consumer's not the shareholder's needs as a prime consideration.use public money ,not to bale out private greed but to reform a broken system that has let down the majority of it's users.

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Belle Conduct 1 month ago

Private companies are by their very nature there primarily to make profit for share holders.The interests of the service users come second.Re-investment into the service is done (if at all- witness water companies) only with this in mind.Nationalisation, with efficient monitoring to ensure optimum efficiency has the consumer's not the shareholder's needs as a prime consideration.use public money ,not to bale out private greed but to reform a broken system that has let down the majority of it's users.

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Sheila Bartlett 1 month ago

It is absolutely essential that we free ourselves from the bind of privatisation which serves the few shareholders rather than the many users which defies logic and fairness, driven by greed and not the commonsense of profits being ploughed back into the system for renewal, repairs and investment.

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Lucy Conder 1 month ago

Getting the railways back on track as a national asset would be a huge win for Labour and a vote of confidence in the country.

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Claire Healey 1 month ago

It is time to get the railways under control and work for the people of Great Britain, not for the profit of a small minority.

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Maggie Smallwood 1 month ago

Please keep private companies like virgin out of the UK rail network. We have an opportunity to bring the whole system back into public ownership which is well proven as the most effective way to run a natural monopoly like the railways. Allowing the private sector to cherry pick the profitable lines will destabilise the residual service and prevent proper strategic control of investment in the whole system.

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Andrew Langdell 1 month ago

Ensure Great British Railways is 100% nationalised.keep out the money driven,private company leeches.

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Mrs Christine Wardle 1 month ago

Margaret Thatcher was responsible for trying to privatise our nationalised industries. Pretty soon we'll have privatised air to breath! DON'T DENATIONALISE OUR RAILWAYS!

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Linda Taylor 1 month ago

Please find time to listen to the worries of the ordinary public. Thankyou.

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Colin Pitt 1 month ago

To privatise the railways is long overdue, just do it as soon as possible.

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Paul Cooke 1 month ago

Dear Secretary of State for Transport.
I am a retired British Rail/Network Rail Signalman. I passionately believe int the railway system as an effective means of public transport. I worked for BR from 1974 until it was privatised in 1996 and then Railtrack & Network Rail from then until 2023. I saw how BR worked and I've seen how the railway has tried to work since BR disappeared. In the years since the demise of BR it has been a shambles, the like of which our railway system had never, ever seen. BR, although not perfect, actually worked. We had a coherent system, which gelled together through the previous years of evolution. I cannot stress highly enought - it did work.
I am almost begging you to put our railway system back to what we had. BR did have it's critics and a lot have of those have arisen in the years since it went - in other words, people talking about the failings of the nationalised system when they have never been around to have known it. I have and the only way a country's railway correctly functions is if everyone working on it and for it are singing from the same hymn sheet and pulling together for the one and one only same company. It's a tried and trusted method and it's worked successfully for decades around the world. The public travelling by rail do not want or care about trains in different colours trying to compete with each other for their business - they just want to get on a train for the journey from A to B, to know it's going to turn up when it says it will, to be reliable, clean and friendly - that's their priority. Competition on the rails is a non-starter; the railway system is not like the road system and although mis-guided people in the last 30 years seem to think they are the same and can be treated as such - they are totally different and not comparable
I am hoping you can deliver something close to what we once had. I voted for this Labour Government and I am happy to have it in power in Westminster. You have a good majority - my wish is that you use it.
Kind regards,
Paul Cooke
LINCOLN
LN2 4AZ

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Jill Slaughter 1 month ago

Please, please stop approving private rail companies applications, instead block them. We need a railway for people not millionaire’s profits.
Thank you.

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Durrah Mahmood 1 month ago

I urge the government to proceed with nationalisation and not work with private companies. The railway system needs to be fully owned by the state and not be eroded further.

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Ian Morris 1 month ago

The nations transport system should be run and owned by the nation and not for private profit. A large majority of the people of the UK want a nationally owned rail service that is run efficiently with all proceeds flowing back into the system and infrastructure for a better future.

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Sylvia Reid 1 month ago

We need a fully nationalised transport system which cuts all connections to profit making companies including those which are subsidised &/or make losses. The sooner the whole railway system is nationalised the better the economy of our country will become.

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John 1 month ago

A publicly owned railway should be that with no private operators taking up profits for shareholders which should be reinvested in the railway system. Private operators often run shorter trains which reduces the potential capacity for a line eg: Lumo.

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Katharina Midgley 1 month ago

With the current system, I rarely even bother looking at options of making a journey by rail, sadly - too much faff, too expensive, too many possibilities of things going wrong. Please make sure that the urgent reforms you are planning aren't scuppered. Thank you.

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LIZ MARSHALL 1 month ago

NOW IS THE TIME TO BRING BACK BRITISH RAIL INTO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP.
MAKE RAIL TICKETS MORE AFFORDABLE FOR THE PUBLIC.PRIVATE OWNERSHIP WILL ONLY DRIVE THE COSTS UP MORE FOR THE PUBLIC AND MAKE THE LABOUR PARTY MORE UNPOPULAR AT THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION!

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Russell O'Donnell 1 month ago

A little less conversation, a little more action.

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Annette Scott 1 month ago

We desperately need fully publicly owned railways, not a piecemeal approach. We all deserve a fairly priced efficient service that works for users only, not for shareholders and fat cats.

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DALE MARSHALL 1 month ago

NOW IS THE TIME TO BRING BACK BRITISH RAIL INTO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP.
MAKE RAIL TICKETS MORE AFFORDABLE FOR THE PUBLIC.PRIVATE OWNERSHIP WILL ONLY DRIVE THE COSTS UP MORE FOR THE PUBLIC AND MAKE THE LABOUR PARTY MORE UNPOPULAR AT THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION!

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Dr David Cross 1 month ago

Privatisation in general has not brought us the benefits which were much vaunted by Margaret Thatcher et al.
It is evident that the railways, in particular, should be brought back under government control.
Existing private companies must not be allowed to cherry pick the potentially lucrative parts of the network.
All success in this change which is desired by the majority of voters.
Yours sincerely,
David Cross PhD

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Annette Scott 1 month ago

We desperately need fully publicly owned railways, not a piecemeal approach. We all deserve a fairly priced efficient service that works for users only, not for shareholders and fat cats.

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Christine Hyde 1 month ago

I was fortunate to travel on the final journey of the East Coast mainline train while it was still in public hands not so long ago. It was a very successful nationalised venture which was not improved by the private company who took it over. Too many people in this country are in poverty or destitute. Too many children go to school hungry. Why not Nationalise the railway and share surpluses with the hungry instead of allowing them to go to already wealthy shareholders. That money that you put into the pockets of the poor and hungry would be spent straight into the local economy. Dare I say it, there may even be growth.

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Alan Coleman 1 month ago

Getting this far towards renationalisation has been a terrific achievement, PLEASE don’t allow the privatised lobbyists to now cherry pick the most profitable routes again leaving the tax payer out of pocket yet again!

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Julia Haines 1 month ago

Private ownership will never be interested in less profitable routes. There will never be any improvement in rural services and this will undermine any effort to bring about equality of access and opportunity. Rural residents need public ownership of essential services

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Nicholas Weaver 1 month ago

I am a longstanding user of the railway network. I have not seen any improvement in the service as a result of privatisation. I am appalled that government funded ‘profits’ on the service are syphoned off by investors instead of being reinvested in the service itself.

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sue ulrich 1 month ago

Every penny in our railway should be put toward cutting our sky-high fares, not shareholder dividends.
This is a quote from 'weownit.org' and is a view that as a user of the railways and a pensioner I absolutely supp

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Baz Razzell 1 month ago

NO public service or facility should be owned privately, ever, they are for the greater good, not to swell profits for the 'wealthy' all income should pay for improved systems/services.

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A Charlotte 1 month ago

Madness of privatisation of public services. Should be nationalised. Vast money making racket, no upkeep, safety problems, appalling service, no accountability.

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Lise Bosher 1 month ago

Allowing private companies to bid for parts of the rail system will damage and endanger the success of Govt reforms currently being worked on. The British public deserve better than to be asked to assume the costs of services the private sector don't want. Economics requires successful aspects to help maintain necessary but less obviously lucrative aspects of any public service. Railways ARE a public service (Try running the economy without railways). Don't destroy them the way the postal system is being destroyed (by allowing the split between services).

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Sue Carter 1 month ago

Please stop this latest tactic of private companies yet again trying to make more money from the taxpayer, without any consequences Thank you for all you are doing.

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Lorna Brockett 1 month ago

8 in 10 of us back public ownership of rail. Please stop private companies getting open access applications approved before new legislation comes in.
With thanks for all you do,
Yours sincerely,
Lorna Brockett

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Shirley Smsrt 1 month ago

Friends travelling from Strasburg got to Paddington earlier than expected. Years ago they coukd have caught any train going to tgeilir destination without any difficulty but no now if you wish to go via another route example train goes via Newport but booked ticket goes via Worcs they would have to pay an extra charge for the journey as they would be using another train company rolling stock. Back when it was a nation railway you would have not had this problem as all one railway.

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SHARON MITCHELL 1 month ago

Public ownership should mean that,not part private ownership through the back door

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Fiona Tusk 1 month ago

The state of the current railway system, the way in which it is run and its short-fallings, fewer services in throughout the day but especially in the evenings, the high cost of travel and diversion of profits to shareholders all contribute to making train travel far less accessible to ordinary people than it should be. Please taje on board all the points made in this letter and do everything you possibly can to bring the entire railway system into public ownership as fast as possible.

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Emma Bradley 1 month ago

End open access

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Matt Ekins 1 month ago

It is well past time that public services are returned to the nation and run for the benefit of the people and not companies that put profit before people. The profits can be reinvested in the rail service and not whisked away to benefit other countries and keep shareholders happy as our public services are stripped bare.

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Andrea Page 1 month ago

I support We Own It's open letter to Heidi Alexander to end ORR. The UK's rail services need to be in public ownership to focus on providing a decent service, not endless profit growth for shareholders.

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Anne Wareing 1 month ago

I am 82 and remember when British Rail was publicly owned. It may not have been perfect, but it was a great deal better than it is now! After Beeching trashed the railways in 1961, in order to build more roads, Freight alne was reduced from 900 to 100, resulting in dangerous lorryloads and passengers are being treated as as bottomless banks and cattle, crammed into smaller spaces, because the greedy owners need their profits for shareholders and fatcats. When I last travelled by train, only 2 carriages instead of 4, were put on and we were forced to stand from Bedford to Nottingham,over an hour's journey. At 80 years old, I should NOT have had to stand, exspecially as I, like others, had reserved a seat. My brother now pays for a taxi to take me to and from Bedford each year, but wouldn't have been necessary if the railways and trains were in PUBLIC HANDS!!

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Sue Peet 1 month ago

Public transport must be for the public, not private shareholders who are mainly interested in personal profit.

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E Daly 1 month ago

Please nationalise the rail industry fully and don’t allow private companies to take advantage of this situation . They have had year of a free ride while the public end up paying for poor service.

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JOHN ARCHER 1 month ago

Please fully nationalise the rail system for everybodies benefit. Thank you

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Robert Fleming 1 month ago

As a UK citizen, I want public services that work for ordinary people, not rich oligarchs, powerful corporations or even private shareholders from the UK and/or abroad. Public services like rail and water should be owned by the people for the people.

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Harry Carapiet 1 month ago

I fully agree with this. Virgin and other companies should definitely NOT be allowed to cherry-pick the best lines. This must be stopped now. We need FULL PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF THE RAILWAYS ASAP.

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Jacky Hendley 1 month ago

Please don't let private companies suck funding from our rail network with false claims of providing choice while diverting taxpayer funds to shareholders. We've had 40 years of this experiment and it hasn't worked!

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Mr Richard John Wade 1 month ago

Open acsess should be stopped now nobody should have any advantage

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Maggie Lloyd 1 month ago

Please make everyone proud of the Labour government for bringing railways back into full public ownership - for passengers, not for profit.

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Ian Kennedy 1 month ago

Not only does public ownership make more sense for public transport it should be a core ideal for the Labour Party!

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mickclark2013@gmail.com 1 month ago

Please do not dilute the renationalisation of our railways there should be no room for private companies in our railways. People before prfit

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Jeanne Hampshire 1 month ago

I support public ownership of the railways so that that this service has an integrated system that serves the needs of rail travellers. The current privatised railway is splintered, difficult to navigate with poor formation; all serving profit motives rather than the needs of service users. There needs to be total reform of the system to provide integration with no open access applications.

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Tricia Sheerer 1 month ago

Dear Heidi Alexander
Please please block all open access applications to your railway reforms.
Public ownership of our railways is essential and is also what you promised us.
Thank you,
Tricia

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Roger Lewis 1 month ago

I write to request that you intervene in the failed system of open access to impose an urgent moratorium on any further approval of open access applications, pending the establishment of new rules.

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Eileen 1 month ago

Please do not let these private companies keep their grubby hands on our railways. thank you.
Eileen

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Susan Foster 1 month ago

We've seen the results of privatisation of utilities and services. Crumbling infrastructure, no investment in services and huge pay outs to shareholders. The public need and deserve better.

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Eileen 1 month ago

Please don't let the private companies keep their grubby hands on our railways. Thank you. Eileen

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M Mawby 1 month ago

To the ministers for rail,
I ask you not to allow private companies to private companies to cherry pick the most profitable part's off British Rail in the proposed Re Nationalised Railways.
It's called British Rail for a reason and needs to be brought back into public ownership,
Yours M.Mawby.

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Carole Pring 1 month ago

British Railways should be owned by the public and not private companies who only wish to make profits for their shareholders at the expense of the general public. The British public deserve better than being exploited once again, by rich investors.

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Dr M. Ribiere 1 month ago

It is time to learn the lesson of the past 45 years: the privatization of public services did not work. Public ownership means running together both profitable and non profitable routes.

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Charlie Bridge 1 month ago

I worked for British Rail from 1978 to 1995 and saw attempts at cherry picking attractive services by private rail companies, attempts which would have undermined the capacity of British Rail to serve passengers at the time, and which threaten to do so now.

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Katharine Gillen 1 month ago

Don't let companies like virgin embed themselves in our public transport! We need reliable and affordable trains!

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Annie Holling 1 month ago

Block private companies trying to get contracts in advance of the bill. Make our railways publicly owned.

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David Emeny 1 month ago

This providers have failed in the past although turning a profit. Any profits should be re-invested.

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C Hart 1 month ago

The Rail network is a national asset. No profit based company should be allowed to exploit this invaluable resource and
concomitant with that force fares up while reducing service, all to pay dividends to (probably) foreign bodies.

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Carol Mills 1 month ago

It is my firm belief that railways should be a public service owned and run by the government. We have seen how inefficient and exploitative a system which is under any kind of private ownership can be. Open access will only make way for more exploitation and cherry picking of the most profitable aspects of the system which will inevitably be run for the benefit shareholders rather reinvested into the system.

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Jason Went 1 month ago

N

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Sue Tate 1 month ago

Dear Heidi Alexander, We have seen what has gone wring with the current privatisation of the railways. It is so welcome that the Labour Government is addressing the issue. However, there is risk that private companies will 'cherry pick' before the Railway Bill becomes law. Please do put a stop on new contracts being issued before the bill comes to parliament. Thank you

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Christopher Thornton 1 month ago

Please commit to full public ownership of railways in the UK and to the five point plan for reforming the failed open access system proposed by We Own It and other concerned stakeholders. Thank you.

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Julie Foster 1 month ago

Please support Great British Railways by stopping any further open access applications from going forward. The success of the government's plans for the future of the railways depends on this.

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Alan Goodridge 1 month ago

Among the many excellent reasons for full public ownership is the value of the ethos of public service shared by the workforce that was so prominent before privatisation. People derive enormous satisfaction in and take great pride in working for the community.

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PETER CANE 1 month ago

PRIVATIZATION OF OUR RAILWAYS HAS BEEN A DISASTER, WITH FRAGMENTATION, SKY-HIGH FARES, AND PROFIT BEING PLACED BEFORE SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC. OUR RAILWAYS SHOULD BE RE-NATIONALIZED IN THEIR ENTIRETY. PRIVATE COMPANIES SHOULD NO LONGER BE ALLOWED TO PROFIT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE PUBLIC.

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MARK RIDLEY 1 month ago

I want all former British Rail Railways to be re-nationalised.

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Andrew Ray 1 month ago

I appreciate the decisions you and your predecessor have already made. Please end open access it will only complicate Great British Railways management task. It will be extractive to the disadvantage of all passengers on non open access services. Please introduce a long term plan to complete all the HS2 routes cancelled by the previous government.

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MARK RIDLEY 1 month ago

I want all railways to be national controlled. Private companies should not be made to suffer from greedy shareholders and directors.

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Jennifer Carpenter 1 month ago

Dear Rt. Hon Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport
I am greatly perturbed that several of the private companies that at present have a stake in railway operation are making open access applications to the Office of Road and Rail. Will you please impose an urgent moratorium on any further approvals of these. Open access agreements constitute a threat to future timetabling, will undermine public investment and preventthe full public ownership that the Government has promised. If the public were more widely aware of the way that promised public ownership is being compromised, there would and should be a massive outcry.

Yours sincerely
Jennifer M. Carpenter

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Eko Eko 1 month ago

We are once again being ripped off by private companies who haven’t done much to improve services the only thing they’ve done is to put up cost of tickets which is why people won’t use them, DONT BE A TORY.

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Julie Boltwood 1 month ago

Please stop letting private companies bleed our country dry in the name of profits for the few

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Ian Gibbs 1 month ago

Irrespective of political ideology, it is obvious to all that privatisation of our railways has failed. It is now appropriate for public transport to be returned to public ownership. Our railways provide the only alternative to the UK’s failing road networks and it is therefore essential to provide a rail service that is reliable, fair and equitable. It is not fair or appropriate to sell off the most lucrative sections of our rail networks to investors, or organisations seeking to make quick profits. Successive governments have sold almost all of our most essential infrastructure to foreign investors. This is an opportunity to return part of our transport system to state ownership.

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- Christine Burden 1 month ago
  
  Hear, hear.
  
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Christine Lehnen 1 month ago

Dear Rt. Hon Heidi Alexander,
Secretary of State for Transport,
I am very concerned about what’s happening with our railways rat the moment. A number of private companies currently involved in running services are putting in open access applications to the Office of Road and Rail. I urge you to put an immediate stop to any further approvals.
These open access deals threaten future timetables, undermine public investment, and stand in the way of the full public ownership your government has promised and that the majority of residents in Britain are so keen to see you deliver. Please do not allow open access decisions to chip away at that promise!
Yours Sincerely,
Dr Christine Lehnen

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Keith Denman 1 month ago

Full nationalisation of our railway system. No private involvement whatsoever.

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Keith Denman 1 month ago

Full nationalisation of our railway system. No private involvement whatsoever.

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Colette McNeil 1 month ago

After the complete chaos of the railways run by several private companies interested only in profits and bonuses for bosses, there is now a chance at last for the long suffering travelling public to have a properly run, integrated system. Great British Railways has the potential to be a great success, but this will only happen if the government commits to full public ownership in the social and economic interest. After four years of the previous government’s failure to fix this system, it now comes down to a binary choice – a competition-based model that restricts rail integration, or a socioeconomic model that guarantees the best value for public money? Any private interests trying to muscle in on this should be strongly rejected

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Joseph Campbell 1 month ago

Please fully renationalised our railways. Private companies do not put passengers as priority one. If Labour allow private company involvement - neither will they be putting passengers first. This is tantamount to Labour putting voters and the public last. Not Labour values. Stay honest and fully nationalise the whole Railway.

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Christine Burden 1 month ago

No privatisation yet has worked for the benefit of the public. Instead public money seems to go into subsidising private companies, whenever things go wrong, or their own mismanagement results in disaster. Railways should be returned to public ownership as the Government promised.

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Debra 1 month ago

I write in support of the letter by We Own It. The return of the Rail service to public ownership is a hugely important step, standing against the profit before people and service culture that is destroying a valued industry.
Don't allow private companies to be involved. Public Transport should be for reduction of pollution and to serve the public, not to provide profit to private shareholders.

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Nick Child 1 month ago

This situation totally undermines the policy decision of renationalisation and must be prevented. It is a backward step after years of positive campaigning reaching a positive goal of bring the railway back to the people rather than for private (and public operators abroad) profiteering.

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Ellen Priestley 1 month ago

Private companies do not not a service they run a business and a very profitable one for themselves. They display lack of forethought in rolling stock, training staff and awareness of public requirements. Take ALL public transport back into public ownership and run a service. You said you would but you don't appear to recognise
your own words.

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Arnold Simanowitz 1 month ago

Allowing probate companies any
part in the running of the railways would be a betrayal of the British people who

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Polly Blacker 1 month ago

We travel by train very frequently and private companies clearly care little for their passengers, squashing far too many people into far too few carriages when they know from prior use that the trains will be busy. If we really want a sustainable future for the country, and the planet, we must invest in rail travel with plenty of space for bike carriage. Proper government investment under public ownership would bring in finance for further investment and a positive spiral for us all rather than the rich investore.

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tess goodwin 1 month ago

Please - a truly nationalised railway with an integrated ticketing service rather than this disjointed, expensive complicated to navigate 'system' that we have now. I just want to be able to turn up on the day and buy a reasonably priced ticket - not have to buy weeks in advance so that I avoid having to buy expensive tickets. Our railway systems are not working!!!!

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Pete Kemp 1 month ago

We want and need a railway run for passengers, not private profit.

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Dr Phil Jackson 1 month ago

The renationalisation of our Railways is a promise made to voters by the Labour Government. This promise needs to be honoured whatever it takes, and as rapidly as possible.

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Gavin Wood 1 month ago

The Labour Manifesto was clear. Publicly owned national rail under the banner of GBR. There is no reason that any voter of the Labour Party would accept private companies gaining further contracts through the OBR process. This is clearly contrary to the will of the government and those that elected it. Reject all new applications now and close OBR.

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Susan Francis 1 month ago

The open letter has the details, but basically, you promised to renationalise the railways, so do that. No new Open Access licences or extensions should be granted, and any granted since the GBR launch (and extending past 2029) should be cancelled on the grounds that they were known to be against the public interest when granted.

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F J Harper 1 month ago

Please act now to protect the progress you have made in delivering the public service rail network that people want and need. Suspend approvals of open access applications and move to end open access by which public money is diverted to private profits.

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Julia Daly 1 month ago

Dear Heidi Alexander, Please do not allow the privateers to keep control of any part of our railways. Their shareholders get the money that should be ploughed back into the system in order to improve services, keep ticket prices affordable, renew rails and rolling stock, allow stations to be adequately staffed and for the drivers and other workers to be paid a fair wage. Allowing private companies to continue taking our money in any guise is against the whole concept of public services. They never never serve the public, only their shareholders, leaching money from the system. Thank you.

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Adrian Greenwood 1 month ago

Years of experience have shown that private ownership of essential services does not work, and is not in the public interest. The taxpayer and customer end up paying more, the service suffers, while shareholders extract maximum profits.

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Catherine Carrigan 1 month ago

Dear Heidi Alexander,
Please urgently instruct the ORR to pause all open access rail applications.
These bids threaten to pre-empt the Railway Bill and entrench private profiteering on key routes.
Protect public ownership. Block them now.

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Dusty Miller 1 month ago

I am tired of having our railway system undermined and perverted simply for the financial profit ends of big business. Here is a golden chance to restore the whole of the railway system to public ownership and scrutiny, free of interference and undermining by vested commercial interests, with all monies going directly to reinvest in the system and not be syphoned off by for profit conglomerates. Ms Alexander, I urge you and your government to seize this opportunity to free the railways from any kind of private cherry picking, ransomholding and taking money from us the taxpayers.

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Ian 1 month ago

No to further privatisation - suspend all approvals for open access applications and keep public money in public services for public benefit!!!

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Ruth Smith 1 month ago

I write in support of the letter by We Own It. A number of private companies currently involved in running services are putting in open access applications to the Office of Road and Rail. I urge you to put an immediate stop to any further approvals, and to reverse any made.
These open access deals threaten future timetables, undermine public investment, put private profit before public usefulness, and stand in the way of the full public ownership that your government promised and that the majority of residents in Britain are keen to see you deliver.

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Sam 1 month ago

We're tired of our failing railways. Deliver.

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David Lewis 1 month ago

If private companies want to run rail routes, it's because they can make money from them. A better alternative would for the people of the country, in the person of the state, to have the benefit of those potential profits, either as cheaper fares or an improved service – or perhaps even both.

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Marie Hammond 1 month ago

please do not allow private rail companies to try to sneak in to what we want to be a wholly publically owned rail service.

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John Easey 1 month ago

I fully support the open letter from We Own It. We were promised that our railways would be re-nationalised. It is absolutely essential to the integrity of that promise and the integrity of GBR that Open Access and competition in ticketing are entirely eliminated from the model. The remit of the ORR must be curtailed to that effect immediately.

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Terry Knight 1 month ago

Public transport is for public good, not private profit

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V Collins 1 month ago

There is no point in nationalising only part of the railway if we are to reap the benefits of a better integrated service with more money to invest in the system and in providing a better deal for customers. The rail system is at breaking point and the only answer is one centralised governance and not these silos that lead to confusing pricing structures, and not enough services where they are most needed for people and not profit.

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Maggie Winters 1 month ago

Please deliver on your promises. Resist the pressure of the private companies and immediately impose a moratorium on the competition function of the ORR. We recently returned from Portugal where we travelled extensively on the state owned, state run, publicly delivered railway - all on time, all very comfortable, all well used, all very reasonably priced. What's not to like?

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Ian Johnson 1 month ago

Nationalising the Railways and Open Access is a contradiction in terms. I wish to see the railways nationalised not provide continuing opportunities for commercial organisations make profits and benefit their shareholder
Ian Johnson

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Amanda O'Driscoll 1 month ago

Please ensure that our railways are run for the passengers and not for private profit

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Philip Bolt 1 month ago

Please get these leeches out of the system altogether. Also, what about the rolling stock etc that these parasites live off? Not to mention the track, which they doubtless get the use of for nothing. The whole purpose of the actions in the mid 90s was to make things so fragmented and messy that any change would be impossible - show them they have failed.

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john hawkins 1 month ago

how can a nationalized railway cope if the best routes are cherry picked by private companies.

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Mary Wilkins 1 month ago

We know the involvement of private companies in the rail operation doesn’t work. I, and the general public, want rail to be nationalised and that means a unified, integrated service. We cannot have for profit companies in the mix. We deserve an efficient, not for profit service.

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Mary Wilkins 1 month ago

We know the involvement of private companies in the rail operation doesn’t work. I, and the general public, want rail to be nationalised and that means a unified, integrated service. We cannot have for profit companies in the mix. We deserve an efficient, not for profit service.

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Gwyneth Kimble 1 month ago

Please step in now to block all applications from private companies to embed themselves into the system before the government completes work on public ownership bill. They are trying to cherry pick the best routes.

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Catherine Chisnall 1 month ago

Private companies are fighting hard now to get their "open access" applications approved before new legislation comes in. And, if approved, they could lock in privatisation for decades.
“Open access” is the ultimate free market model of the railway - where firms want to run in direct competition with publicly-owned operators, extracting hundreds of millions per year to their shareholders.
Every penny in our railway should be put toward cutting our sky-high fares, not shareholder dividends.

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Liz Spencer 1 month ago

Please don't let us down. We voted you in - don't waste your power!
We are fed up of being the shame of Europe with our filthy water and our hugely overpriced, inefficient, poorly maintained and unreliable trains. Stand up for us, and stand out from the crowd by doing a good job!!

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Mr John Randall 1 month ago

All PRIVATE COMPANIES should be excluded from all PUBLIC UTILITIES even carriage and engine manufacture using BRITISH steel and BRITISH labour also BRITISH COMPANIES.Ding all this would stop the decline in heavy industry as we have had in years of TORY mismanagment. It would help the ECONOMY 100%.

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Astrid Clifford 1 month ago

Please deny all applications from private companies to run any part of our railway system. Why on earth should they be permitted to continue to exploit the railways for the profit of their shareholders? And how could you even consider open access to them? We all know how badly privatisation has turned out for the British public. For rail users it's been awful: confusing, unfair, overpriced and often degrading. Clearly, the rolling stock should also be in public ownership. Please do what the majority of rail users want: make the rail network fully publicly owned. I hope you will deny private companies further opportunity to lounge on the gravy train.

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John Ockrim 1 month ago

Simply, please keep private interests out of our railway. The government promised a publicly owned railway. Please ensure this is fulfilled without compromise.

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Elb Ha;; 1 month ago

Public services should be run as public services, not as private enterprises. The private enterprise model for running public services in this country has time and again been shown not to work. Wherever you look it has failed, including our rail network. It is time that the Office for Rail and Road understands their responsibility lies, not with kowtowing to the private companies who still have vested interests in running the most profitable routes, but listening to the public majority interested in ending that shameful and discredited practice. We are desperate for our public services to be run for the public, not for profit and shareholder interest.

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Stephanie Williamson 1 month ago

I've been so pleased that this Labour government plans to renationalise the railways for the benefit of ordinary citizens. Be brave, Heidi, and stand up to the companies trying to hold onto slices of the cake for shareholder profit. The vast majority of voters are behind you on this issue!

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Terry Weston 1 month ago

End all privatisation on the railways in the UK and nationalise them now. Cease taking cherry-picked applications from private companies who are only in it to make profits for shareholders and bonuses for senior management. It is the consumer and railway staff that suffer under privatisation and this has no place in a fair and just society.

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Alexander Kershaw 1 month ago

Railways should be a public service providing quality transport for the public. Not a profit making venture.

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Janet Marks 1 month ago

Dear Heidi Alexander, Please stop the private rail companies sneaking back into the railways by cherry-picking the profitable bits and putting in bids to run them. This is what has happened to the NHS. And voters will see through this. Please carry on and fulfill what you promised in your last Manifesto.

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george Proffitt 1 month ago

Please nationalise the Rail system. Just one aspect ticketing - could be simplified under Nationalisation.Whitehall has consistenty refused to do this since 2007 - probably fearing revenue would drop and subsidy rise. Simplifying would bring in more passengers,make evasion easier to detect,reduce unfair convictions thus cutting rail subsidy (PE 1653)

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Mr Martin J Roper 1 month ago

Please place an urgent moratorium on all open access applications, to prevent exploitation of the railways by unscrupulous private operators.

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Alistair Russell 1 month ago

Please sustain and deliver on your commitment to bring our railways into public ownership. I recognise that it will require a specific governance model to deliver on the public benefits of an integrated rail infrastructure for us all, but that is much more preferable to the current model that drives decision taking and action in service of private shareholders.

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Jennifer Kidman 1 month ago

For the likes of Arriva, FirstGroup and Virgin the privatisation and disintegration of our public railway service was a veritable el dorado so it is understandable that they will fight hard to retain such a source of immense wealth. For the rest of us, this sorry and painful episode must be consigned to history, promptly and completely, leaving no remnants such as Open Access straggling behind. I urge you to carry out the steps advocated by We Own It immediately. Your failure to do so could have disastrous and long lasting consequences.

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Daniel Wimberley 1 month ago

Dear Heidi Alexander,
I am simply amazed that I am having to write this letter to you.
Once again agencies within the remit of the Department for Transport, your department, or agencies linked to the DfT, are shown to be operating in a way that is not in the public interest.
Please get a grip.
It appears that the government are going to reform the ORR and rewrite its operating rules, because they simply do not allow for government policy on railways to succeed.
In fact it appears that they are deliberately grantting licenses at speed and beyond the limit which has been recommended to them firmly by your own department.
Put an end to this rogue behavior immediately and show that this government is firm in its beliefs and actions.
I would particularly remind you of the comment in one of the hundreds of comments now on this blog, to the effect that we are the only country in Europe where essential utilities such as water and essential services such as transport are privatized.
Please reflect on why this is so.
And please don't spend too much time reflecting; it really is a no-brainer.
I expect you to get on with it!!!
And if you fail I will make absolutely sure that has many people as possible get to hear about this failure and I assure you that with public opinion as it is this will lose you a lot of credibility and a lot of votes.

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Joel 1 month ago

Open Access steals money from the taxpayer and denies revenue to Network Rail as the private operators do not pay fair / appropriate track access and infrastructure charges, just exploit the work others have put in to provide those facilities. By carefully using the odd station or two to hide their real revenue objective, they try to hide that all they are doing is stealing money which rightly belongs to us.

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Francis Duncan 1 month ago

Dear Heidi Alexander,
Please make sure that the ORR do not grant any new Open Access licences or extensions and that any granted since the GBR launch are cancelled.
The renationalisation plans must be protected.
With many thanks
Francis Duncan

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Ibrahim Kucukguzel 1 month ago

Dear Secretary of State for Transport, Rt. Hon Heidi Alexander,
In order to fulfil an essential service ethically so without the interests of the public getting compromised it must be wholly owned by the public, thank you.

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Jane Bateman 1 month ago

I fully support nationalising the railways. They should never have been privatised in the first place. Commercial organisations should not be involved - their priorities are NOT for the national good.

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Nick Tidiman 1 month ago

Nationalisation means what it says- the national ownership and operation of the whole of the rail system, network, rolling stock, operations, ticketing etc.. It does not mean just bailing out the less profitable aspects while some private company continues to cream off the profitable stuff.

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Julia O'Shea 1 month ago

I grew up in London and used public transport. I now live in Ireland but frequently visit family in the UK.
Recently I went to Germany and bought a monthly train ticket to travel all over Germany for €58!! German investors make profits from the UK transport system. Their own transport system offers cheap, subsidised fares to German workers and travellers. The UK government should stop profits leaving the country and instead use them to invest in a national transport infrastructure, with cheaper fares and owned by the State, for the Economy and Common Good.

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Julia O'Shea 1 month ago

I grew up in London and used public transport. I now live in Ireland but frequently visit family in the UK and travel by train, buses and underground etc.
Recently I went to Germany and bought a monthly train ticket to travel all over Germany for €58!! German investors make profits from the UK transport system. Their own transport system offers cheap, subsidised fares to German workers and travellers. The UK government should stop profits leaving the country and instead use them to invest in a national transport infrastructure, with cheaper fares and owned by the State, for the Economy and Common Good.

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Simon Hales 1 month ago

Our country desperately needs transport infrastructure designed and run in the interests of the people who use it, not the corporations who can profit from it. Don't let them get in the way of actually making progress and delivering on your promises!

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Patricia Bannister 1 month ago

Please take urgent action to ensure that your brilliant and highly popular plans to make the railway network a truly public service, is not derailed by the very people who messed it up in the first place.

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Susan Collier 1 month ago

I back public ownership of the railway services. Currently private companies are flooding the ORR with applications. Please intervene and impose an emergency moratorium on open access, and then bring in legislation to end this system.

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Ann Dorey 1 month ago

Dear Ms Alexander,
It has been good to read about the nationalisation of South Western Rail Service and, more recently, c2c. However, this and future nationalisation plans will be undermined by allowing Open Access applications. Thus, there is a need to stop these applications immediately.

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Alan Hearn 1 month ago

Time to admit Thatcher lied and start TAKING back everything STOLEN from the public by that Pinochet-loving psychopath and the crooks that followed her!

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Nicholas Kitson 1 month ago

Subject: The Unassailable Case for Public Ownership of British Rail Services - A Cold Rationality
Dear Heidi Alexander,
I am writing to you today as an economist, passenger and a deeply frustrated citizen concerned for the future and efficacy of our national infrastructure, specifically British rail services. My perspective is rooted in a cold, hard economic rationality that compels me to argue unequivocally for the return of our railways to public ownership. This is not an ideological stance, but a conclusion drawn from the abject failure of the neoliberal experiment in this sector.
The privatised model of British rail is a classic and stark example of the misapplication of market principles to a natural monopoly. The fundamental economic characteristic of a natural monopoly, where the most efficient outcome is achieved by a single provider due to high fixed costs and economies of scale, has been wilfully ignored by proponents of privatisation. This blind spot has been catastrophic, leading to a system that has demonstrably failed the public, despite vast sums of taxpayer money being funnelled into it.
We have witnessed first-hand the spectacular collapse of this experiment, culminating in the necessity of bringing multiple failed franchises back into public hands. The public funds "lost" in these rescue operations are not merely theoretical figures; they represent a tangible financial betrayal. For instance, the renationalisation of services like those previously run by Virgin Trains – and indeed many others – has cost the public purse hundreds of millions, if not billions, of pounds. These are sums that could and should have been invested in improving services, reducing fares, and modernising rolling stock, instead of shoring up failing private entities.
The promise of privatisation – better services and lower prices – has been spectacularly unfulfilled. In reality, we are now saddled with demonstrably higher fares, fewer direct routes, and an unfortunate consistency in late-running trains, often comprising ageing rolling stock. This is an unacceptable status quo that cannot be allowed to persist.
Furthermore, the notion that private enterprises are inherently more efficient than public entities is thoroughly debunked by the current state of our railways. It is ironic that our "private" railway companies often include subsidiaries of other nations' state-owned railway operators – entities that are, in effect, their governments. This alone renders the efficiency argument of neoliberalism a mockery, exposing the hypocrisy of a system that advocates private sector superiority while welcoming foreign state-backed competition. If other European nations, with their superb rail services under public ownership, can achieve such efficiency and quality, so too can we.
The current lobbying efforts by private companies to secure "open access" applications before new legislation is introduced represent a desperate attempt to lock in privatisation for decades to come. "Open access" is the ultimate free-market model, where firms seek to directly compete with publicly-owned operators, extracting hundreds of millions per year for their shareholders. This is precisely the kind of profit extraction that diverts vital funds away from the very improvements our railway desperately needs. Every penny generated by our railway should be reinvested into cutting our sky-high fares, enhancing services, and modernising infrastructure, not enriching shareholders.3
The historical evidence is clear: the private railway model, particularly in the context of a natural monopoly, is fundamentally flawed. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes that led to the collapse of Virgin and numerous other private operators.
It is time to acknowledge the overwhelming evidence, learn from the successful public models implemented across Europe and in nations like China, and bring back British Rail. This is not merely an aspiration; it is an economic imperative for the prosperity and efficiency of our nation.
Sincerely,
NIcholas Kitson

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Paul McCarroll 1 month ago

Privatisation has failed public services for decades - it's time to fully nationalise, not put the profits of a few before the benefit of the country.

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Catherine Cresswell 1 month ago

There is no point in nationalising the railways if Open Access is simply going to continue allowing private companies to profit from public services. This is the opposite of what Labour should stand for, and I voted for the party on the basis of your promises regarding nationalisation- it would be a betrayal of the election to go forward with this bill.

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Katherine Martin 1 month ago

Allowing private involvement in public services is madness. The profits that should benefit the services go to shareholders instead. Please stand up to the commercial organisations. Their aim is to make money, not to benefit the public.

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J Rippl 1 month ago

FFS. It's really quite simple. Maintain public services in exclusive public ownership for the public good.

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Verity Roberts 1 month ago

Public transport, for the public, owned by the public. Its that simple.

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Alessandro Sisto 1 month ago

Privatisation has not worked and it never will. What is even the point of Labour if it allows private companies to make money off of public services?

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David Kemp 1 month ago

Privatisation of public services, including railways, has been a huge disaster for the British people. Money that could have been invested in infrastructure and improvements has been paid out to shareholders instead. It is time to bring this to an end, starting with the railways. No more private companies running franchises. Once railways have started to be brought into public ownership, then do the same with the water companies, energy providers, Royal Mail, etc.
The act of selling off public services was a huge scam. Yes, it did clear the deficit at that time, but at what price? We are all paying through the nose for services that mostly do not deliver.

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B LeSeelleur 1 month ago

Its totally clear that the privatised model applied to the utilities sector has utterly failed but the repeated failures have been ignored or covered up by successive govts. mostly for ideological reasons or for their personal (investment) benefits. If I cite the water industry, that should clinch the case.
Current private utilities use their financial muscle to browbeat ministers, they have over-cosy relationships influencing those in power, with the profit principle at heart, not the interests of consumers who ultimately have no choice in many cases eg with water, road/rail networks, health services
Please don't let them turn you into carbon copies of the economy- & soul-destroying Tories/Reform; you stand for more than that; so I ask you to resist the efforts of those who want to keep their gravy train rolling with open access calls

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Margaret Coffey 1 month ago

Labour is moving in the right direction with this bill. Don't let private companies shunt us into the same old privatisation siding with these open access calls. Rail privatisation doesn't work, we don't want it and we're tired of paying for it.

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John Hunt 1 month ago

The question of OPEN ACCESS has emerged as a divisive issue, one reason being passenger confusion and frustration.
My nearest station is on the East Coast Main Line, served by London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) and open access Hull Trains (HT).
Picture a typical scene: an HT train arrives on time, accompanied by profuse announcements warning passengers not to board if they have the "wrong" tickets. The problem is, they can see from the screens that the following LNER train, for which they have the "correct" tickets, is running late. (It could be either way round.)
Dilemma - have a delayed trip and perhaps a missed connection, or have a good journey but pay a "penalty" for the privilege. How absurd.
You must think again, and put a simple system and passenger convenience first - open access guarantees the opposite. Its only benefit is to its operators.

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Professor Oliver Springate-Baginski 1 month ago

There is no place for profiteers in natural monopolies like rail and water.

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John Beattie 1 month ago

Open Access is privatised rail operation by another name. Since the objective of the proposed legislation is to block that, I suggest that HMG allow the applications but the licences should be valid up until the date the bill becomes law.

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Jeanne Warren 4 weeks ago

I want my taxes to go to publicly-provided services, not private companies who will pass it on to shareholders and high executive salaries. That is just privatisation under another name.

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Paul Forinton 4 weeks ago

The railway network is too important to the public to leave in the hands of private profiteers.

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Open letter: stop First Group, Arriva and other private firms clinging on to our railway

What you need to know

Open letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt. Hon Heidi Alexander

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