Britain’s railways are broken.

Cancellations have soared to record levels, fares have risen almost twice as fast as wages, and taxpayers are paying through the teeth to prop up a failing system.

Labour will deliver a publicly owned railway that puts the passenger first. pic.twitter.com/BZZdl98yNT

— Luke Pollard MP (@LukePollard) April 25, 2024

Labour have announced today that we will create Great British Railways, a new publicly owned, arm’s length body to run our railways in the interest of the passenger and the taxpayer.

Under the Conservatives our railways have been run down into a shocking state. Cancellations have soared to record high levels, fares have risen almost twice as fast as wages since 2010, and strikes are costing taxpayers £25m for every day they go ahead, whilst taxpayers fork out huge subsidies to pay for trains that are overcrowded, delayed or cancelled.

Under Labour things will be different. We will bring our railways back into public ownership as contracts expire, create a single directing mind to run the railways more efficiently, and test every decision on our railways against whether it delivers for the passenger.

Labour’s plans for a publicly owned and passenger-focused railway will:

· Put the passenger first, by delivering a best-price ticket guarantee for passengers, and rolling out automatic delay repay and digital season tickets across the network

· Establish a powerful new passenger watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold Great British Railways to account for passengers

· Deliver significant savings to the taxpayer by eliminating fragmentation, waste, bureaucracy and by stopping profits leaking out to private operators

· Create a unified, publicly owned, accountable and arm’s length Great British Railways, which will be led by rail experts, not Whitehall

· Expect to complete the transition to public ownership within the first term of a Labour Government, by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into the new body as they expire, without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs

· Give devolved leaders, including Mayoral Combined Authorities, a statutory role in the rail network, allowing decisions about the railways to be taken closer to the communities they serve

· Support successful open access and freight operators to continue to deliver, and set clear objectives and targets for passenger services and freight growth

🚨JUST ANNOUNCED: Labour will create Great British Railways.

Under Labour our railways will be:

✅Publicly owned
✅Passenger focused
✅Fit for the future

Only Labour has a plan to get our trains back on track:https://t.co/VOW3LmtGpV pic.twitter.com/WePttcKfJD

— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) April 25, 2024

Labour will be making sure Great British Railways delivers against our six key objectives:

1. Reliable – so that people can have confidence in their journey, whether it’s a one-off trip or their daily commute.

2. Affordable – so that prices are kept, wherever possible, at a point that works for both passengers and taxpayers.

3. Efficient – so that people know that their journey will be as straightforward as possible, from booking to travel, and to provide better value for the travelling
public and taxpayer alike.

4. Quality – so that passengers have the service experience they have a right to
expect.

5. Accessible – so that our railways are available for everyone to use.

6. Safe – so that people don’t worry about their safety on the railway and are not in fear of accidents or crime while travelling.

Read more here about Labour’s plans to fix Britain’s railways.