a day ago
Nationalisation of train operators ‘tackling deep-rooted problems'
Bringing train operators into public ownership is 'tackling deep-rooted problems' with the railways, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
The Cabinet minister made the claim ahead of c2c becoming the second operator to be nationalised by the Labour Government on Sunday.
The operator, which runs services between London Fenchurch Street and south Essex, has been owned by Italy's state-owned rail company Trenitalia since 2017.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said c2c is 'consistently rated one of the best performing operators in the country'.
It achieved a passenger satisfaction rating for the overall journey of 89% in the most recent research by watchdog Transport Focus.
This was the joint sixth best performance out of 22 operators.
Ms Alexander said: 'Whether you're shopping in Lakeside or walking along the beach in Southend-on-Sea, from this Sunday you will be able to get there on a train service run by the public, for the public.
'Public ownership is already tackling deep-rooted problems we see on the railway that's led to spiralling costs, fragmentation and waste.'
Customers of a nationalised train company can use their tickets on another publicly-owned operator at no extra cost during disruption.
Ms Alexander added: 'A unified network under Great British Railways (GBR) will take this further with one railway under one brand with one mission – delivering excellent services for passengers wherever they travel.'
GBR is an upcoming public sector body that will oversee Britain's rail infrastructure and train operation.
Nationalised services are currently the responsibility of DfT Operator.
South Western Railway became the first operator brought into public ownership by the Labour Government in May.
It joined Northern, TransPennine Express, Southeastern and LNER, which were nationalised under the Conservative government because of performance failings by the former owners of those franchises.
Rob Mullen, managing director of c2c, said: 'We are proud of the reliable and high level of service we offer our passengers, consistently being rated as one of the best performing operators in the country.
'We now have a golden opportunity to collaborate with the wider family of publicly-owned operators, sharing our successes and best practice, but also learning from a wide range of different and diverse operators who have already benefited from public ownership, to drive even more improvements for the people and places we all serve.
'A unified and focused railway can deliver more for our communities, including better growth, jobs and houses.'
Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, welcomed the nationalisation of c2c but expressed frustration that staff cleaning its trains and stations will still be employed by private company Bidvest Noonan.
He said: 'The injustice of outsourcing must end so all railway workers can reap the benefits of public ownership and greedy private contractors can no longer extract obscene profits from the industry.
'Our members working for Bidvest Noonan deserve decent pay and the same terms and conditions as their colleagues, and we will fight tooth and nail to achieve it.'
Paul Nowak, general secretary of trade union body the TUC, said: 'We need a fully integrated national rail service that works for passengers and the rail workforce.
'That means tackling outsourcing in the sector.'
The next operator to be nationalised will be Greater Anglia on October 12.
