LABOUR is to look for opportunities to bring rail passenger franchises back into public ownership before franchise contracts expire, it has emerged at the party’s annual conference in Brighton.
A statement from the party’s National Executive Committee said that when rail franchises came up for renewal publicly-owned enterprises would be able to bid for the right to run them.
The statement said a party task force will develop ideas and, as well as bringing private franchises into public ownership as they expire it will also examine “using break clauses to accelerate this process when this is in the interests of passengers and taxpayers.”
The NEC statement – overwhelmingly backed today by the full conference – followed new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal during his election campaign to “progressively [bring] the railways back into public control” in response to “overwhelming support for a People’s Railway.”
In her conference speech today new shadow transport secretary Lilian Greenwood said Labour would oppose any further attempts to fragment or privatise rail services.
“We know that more fragmentation and more privatisation are the last things that passengers need,” she said, adding: “I promise you this. If they pursue the policy, we are not going to stand aside.
“So if they think they can get away with it, they can think again – because we are going to fight them every step of the way.
“The Tories have the wrong priorities for our transport networks. Those networks deliver for the many when they reflect Labour values. Now let’s make it happen.”
She said today’s railway was inefficient and among the most expensive in Europe, and a far-reaching shake-up was needed to deal with the “fragmented” network and a “broken” franchising system. More investment was needed in inter-city services, as well as greater devolution of rail services to the English regions.
The HS2 high-speed link connecting London, the Midlands and the North of England should be “an integrated national asset that our country can be proud of,” Ms Greenwood said, adding that HS2 should become a “public service under public ownership”.
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, which had led the push for a conference decision on re-nationalisation, said it was a “wonderful day” and that he had “never, ever been happier”.
He added: “I’m absolutely delighted that after years and years of campaigning the Labour party has finally seen sense and that we are telling the British people that there is clear red water between us and the Tories when it comes to our railways. We will be running our railways in the interests of passengers and taxpayers.”
Tosh McDonald, president of the train drivers’ union ASLEF, said having the railways in public ownership was “a no brainer” and the perverse situation facing Britain’s railways was summed up by the fact that the three preferred bidders for the next Northern franchise were state-run rail companies from Germany, the Netherlands and France.