Rail industry proposals would be a disaster - we need public ownership

Today the Rail Delivery Group (who represent private train companies) has put forward their proposals for the Williams Rail Review.  Surprise surprise, they want more privatisation.

The Williams Rail review is the biggest review of our railways in a generation, and promises to make real, long-lasting changes to the structure of the railway. We’ve met with Keith Williams, who is heading up the review, and told him that public ownership is the only way to fix our broken railway.

Now, the Rail Delivery Group is putting forward their proposal for the future of our railway.

They’re arguing for something called Open Access Rail - allowing different private companies to compete to provide services on the same length of rail track.

This would be a complete disaster for passengers - if you think buying train tickets is complicated now, wait until you’ve got a choice of three companies who won’t accept each other’s tickets, use different timetables, and stop at different stations, all going on the same route from your platform!

Not to mention the segregation this would cause - cheaper tickets for slower, less equipped trains, and expensive tickets for ‘deluxe’ fast trains on the same route.

This proposal just creates more opportunities for private companies to make a profit, at the expense of passengers. It doesn’t fix any of the problems with the current system - private profits, fragmentation, complex ticketing, and a lack of clear responsibility for faults and delays.

The only model that can fix these issues, and deliver a railway that really works for passengers, is public ownership.

Our campaigns officer Ellen Lees made the case on BBC news: