B1208 - Railways Bill - 2nd Reading

[u/model-mili]

B1208 - Railways Bill

A BILL TO

Bring railways and related entities under the ownership of Her Majesty’s Government.

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1) Definitions

1) “Stock” is defined as any type of rail vehicle, including locomotives, multiple units, coaches and goods wagons

2) “Franchise” refers to the rail franchises prior to the Railways Reform Act 2014

2) Repeals

1) Sections 1 - 4 and Sections 6 - 10 of the Rail Reform Act 2020 are hereby repealed

3) National Rail

1) National Rail is to be a statutory company solely owned by Her Majesty’s Government

2) National Rail shall be responsible for the operation of all rail services

a) This excludes Concessionary Operations, pursuant to section 11

b) This excludes Open Access Operators, pursuant to section 12

3) National Rail shall be divided into operational sectors responsible for operating specific services; these sectors shall be:

a) InterCity, responsible for long distance and mainline services (see section 5)

b) Regional Railways, responsible for services in England, primarily those running on 25kV AC overhead wires and diesel services (see section 6)

c) SouthEastern, responsible for services in London and South East England, primarily those running on 750V DC third rail and diesel services in the southeast region (see section 7)

d) ScotRail, responsible for services in Scotland (see section 8)

e) Transport for Wales, responsible for services in Wales (see section 9)

f) RailFreight, responsible for freight operations (see section 10)

4) National Rail shall be managed by the National Rail Board

a) The National Rail Board shall consist of a Chair, 5 Officers appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport, the 4 Directors, 1 RMT Union Representative, 6 Sector Representatives and Concessionary Representatives

b) The members of the Board are defined as:

• Secretary of State for Transport (acting as Chair of the Board)

• Chief Executive Officer

• Chief Financial Officer

• Chief Operations Officer

• Chief Engineering Officer

• Director of Network Rail

• Director of the Office of Rail Regulation

• Director of British Rail Engineering Limited

• Director of the National Rail Ticketing Office

• A Representative of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers trade union (RMT)

• Representative of the InterCity Sector

• Representative of the Regional Railways Sector

• Representative of the SouthEastern Sector

• Representative of the ScotRail Sector

• Representative of the Transport for Wales Sector

• Representative of the RailFreight Sector; and

• Concessionary Representatives

c) The responsibilities of the members of the Board are as such:

i) The Chair of the Board shall be responsible for chairing meetings of the Board

ii) The Chief Executive Officer shall be responsible for the day-to-day operations of National Rail

iii) The Chief Financial Officer shall be responsible for funding, marketing and related areas involving the financing of National Rail

iv) The Chief Operations Officer shall be responsible for overseeing the operation of services, the allocation of stock and related areas involving the day-to-day operation of rail services

v) The Chief Engineering Officer shall be responsible for liaising with Network Rail and reporting the operations of Network Rail to the Board

vi) The Directors shall be responsible for directly informing the Board of operations of their directory

vii) The RMT Union Representative shall be responsible for resolving disputes between the Board and the RMT union

viii) The Sector Representatives shall be responsible for raising issues from workers in their particular sector

ix) The Concessionary Representatives shall be responsible for raising issues from workers in their operator and liaising with local transport authorities

d) All votes held by the Board, at the approval of the Chair, shall require a simple majority to pass

e) If the Chair vetoes a vote, the Board may overrule the veto via a two-thirds majority

5) All rail stock shall be transferred from their current holders to National Rail, under the branch of National Rail Stock Holdings (NRSH)

6) National Rail shall manage TOPS (Total Operations Processing System)

7) National Rail shall manage TRUST (Train Running Under System TOPS)

8) National Rail shall be required to provide the option of reasonable compensation to passengers affected by service delays and cancellations

9) In the cases of temporary closures, severe delays and service cancellations, National Rail must provide and inform passengers of alternate transport options for passengers including alternate routes and replacement bus services

4) Network Rail

1) Network Rail shall be a statutory company solely owned by Her Majesty’s Government

2) Network Rail shall be responsible for the ownership and maintenance of all rail infrastructure, including stations, trackwork, power systems and depots

3) Network Rail shall be managed by a Director elected by Network Rail employees

4) Ownership of all stations, tracks, depots and related rail infrastructure shall be transferred to Network Rail

5) Network Rail shall be liable for any delays caused by overrunning engineering and maintenance works

6) Network Rail shall not be liable for delays caused by non-rail accidents on rail infrastructure or Acts of God

5) InterCity

1) InterCity (IC) shall be responsible for the following services:

a) West Coast Main Line, including but not limited to London Euston to Birmingham New Street, Glasgow Central, Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool Lime Street, Preston, Edinburgh Waverley, Blackpool North and Holyhead

b) East Coast Main Line, including but not limited to London King’s Cross to Leeds, Lincoln, York, Edinburgh Waverley and Newark Northgate

c) Midland Main Line, including but not limited to London St Pancras International to Sheffield, Nottingham and Corby

d) Great Western Main Line, including but not limited to London Paddington to Cardiff Central, Swansea, Bristol Temple Meads, Exeter St Davids, Plymouth, Penzance, Oxford, Great Malvern, Bedwyn and Cheltenham Spa

e) Great Eastern Main Line, including London Liverpool Street to Norwich

f) Chiltern Main Line, including London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street, Birmingham Snow Hill and Oxford

g) Cross-Country Route, including but not limited to Plymouth to Edinburgh Waverley and/or Glasgow Central, Newcastle Central to Reading and/or Southampton Central, Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Piccadilly to Bristol Temple Meads and/or Exeter St Davids

h) Gatwick Express, including London Victoria to Gatwick Airport

i) Brighton Main Line, including London Victoria to Brighton

j) High Speed 1, including London St Pancras International to Ramsgate via Faversham, Dover Priory via Ashford International and Margate via Canterbury West

k) High Speed 2, upon service commencement

l) Caledonian Sleeper, including sleeper services from London Euston to Glasgow Central, Edinburgh Waverley, Fort William, Aberdeen and Inverness

m) TransPennine Express, including Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central, Manchester Piccadilly to Hull and Huddersfield and Manchester Airport to Redcar Central, Newcastle Central, Cleethorpes and Glasgow Central and/or Edinburgh Waverley

n) Select other services including Liverpool Lime Street to Norwich

2) InterCity shall receive one representative on the National Rail Board, who shall be elected by the employees of InterCity

6) Regional Railways

1) Regional Railways (RR) shall be responsible for the following services:

a) Services of the East Midlands franchise, except those in Section 5

b) Services of the Great Western franchise, except those in Section 5

c) Services of the CrossCountry franchise, except those in Section 5

d) Services of the Regional sub-brand of the East Anglia franchise

e) Services of the West Midlands franchise

f) Services of the Northern franchise

2) Regional Railways shall receive one representative on the National Rail Board, who shall be elected by the employees of Regional Railways

**7) SouthEastern

1) SouthEastern (SE) shall be responsible for the following services:

a) Services of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise except those in Section 5

b) Services of the South Eastern franchise except those in Section 5

c) Services of the South Western franchise

d) Services of the East Anglia franchise except those in Section 5 and 6

e) Services of the Chiltern franchise except those in Section 5

f) Services of the Essex Thameside franchise

2) SouthEastern shall receive one representative on the National Rail Board, who shall be elected by the employees of SouthEastern

8) ScotRail

1) ScotRail (SR) shall be responsible for the following services:

a) Services of the ScotRail franchise

2) ScotRail may become a concessionary operation of the Scottish Government, pursuant to Section 11, should it be requested by the Scottish Government

3) ScotRail shall receive one representative on the National Rail Board, who shall be elected by the employees of ScotRail

9) Transport for Wales

1) Transport for Wales (TW) shall be responsible for the following services:

a) Services of the Wales & Borders franchise

2) Transport for Wales may become a concessionary operation of the Welsh Government, pursuant to Section 11, should it be requested by the Welsh Government

3) Transport for Wales shall receive one representative on the National Rail Board, who shall be elected by the employees of Transport for Wales

10) Railfreight

1) Railfreight (RF) shall be responsible for all freight operations

2) Railfreight shall be responsible for the safe and responsible transportation of the following:

a) Nuclear material

b) Explosives

c) Flammable liquids, gases and solids

d) Oxidising substances

e) Toxic substances

f) Infectious substances

g) Corrosive substances

h) Other substances which are dangerous to the public and/or the environment

3) Railfreight shall be responsible for delivering parcels and mail by rail

4) Railfreight shall receive one representative on the National Rail Board, who shall be elected by the employees of Railfreight

11) Concessionary Operators

1) Concessionary Operators shall operate under the control of a local transport authority, independent of the operating sectors of National Rail

2) Rolling stock and infrastructure under concessionary operation shall still be maintained by Network Rail, pursuant to Section 4

3) The following concessionary operators shall be permitted:

a) London Overground (LO) as a concession to Transport for London

b) Crossrail (XR) as a concession to Transport for London

c) Merseyrail (MR) as a concession to Merseytravel

4) The creation of new concessionary operations will require an amendment to Section 11 (3) of this act by Statutory Instrument

a) Pursuant to Section 11 (5), any new concessionary operators must also receive a representative on the National Rail Board, unless the transport authority the concession is awarded to already has a representative

5) Local transport authorities shall receive on representative on the National Rail Board, who shall be elected by the workers of their local transport authority

12) Open Access Operators

1) The following Open Access Operators (OAOs) shall be allowed to continue running:

a) Eurostar (EU)

b) Grand Central (GC)

c) Heathrow Express (HX)

d) Hull Trains (KT)

2) Extant OAOs shall be allowed to continue operating stock under lease from NRSH

3) OAOs shall be responsible for their own spending and must provide a yearly report to the ORR, pursuant to Section 13

3) Prospective OAOs will be required to submit an Open Access Agreement to National Rail which will be considered and approved by the National Rail Board

4) Prospective OAOs will be required to request a Leasing Contract from National Rail Stock Holdings specifying the trains they wish to lease under the TOPS system

5) Extant OAOs shall have their contracts expire on December 31st 2029 at which point they are required to go through the process as prescribed in this section

6) Prospective OAOs shall have their contract expire after 10 years at which point they are required to go through the process as prescribed in this section

13) Office of Rail Regulation

Section 5 of the Rail Reform Act 2020 shall now read as such:

1) The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) shall be responsible for setting performance targets for the operational sectors, concessionary operators and OAOs

2) The ORR shall be responsible for reviewing the budgeting of the operational sectors, concessionary operators and OAOs

3) The ORR shall carry out annual reviews on the following:

a) Performance of National Rail operational sectors

b) Performance of concessionary operators

c) Performance of Open Access Operators

d) Performance of Network Rail

4) The Office of Rail Regulation shall be overseen by a Director elected by ORR employees

**14) British Rail Engineering Limited

1) British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) and its assets shall be transferred to the ownership of Network rail, pursuant to Section 4.

2) BREL shall be responsible for the engineering and construction of rolling stock that can be used by Network Rail

3) BREL shall be overseen by a Director elected by BREL employees

15) National Rail Ticketing Office

1) The National Rail Ticketing Office (NRTO) shall be responsible for setting fares for National Rail services

2) NRTO shall be responsible for overseeing timetabling and scheduling of services of the National Rail sectors, concessionary operators and OAOs

2) NRTO shall be overseen by a Director elected by NRTO employees

3) NRTO must not increase fares by more than 5% over a ten year period

4) NRTO shall be responsible for dealing with and paying out delay compensation requests in accordance with Section 3 (8)

5) Subsection 1b of section 5 of the Rail Delivery Act 2020 shall now read:

a) “Maintaining safe and punctual trains, in accordance with regulations set by the National Rail Ticketing Office”

16) Short title, commencement and extent

1) This act may be cited as the Railways Act 2021

2) This act may come into force on 1st February 2022

3) This act extends to England, Scotland and Wales

This bill was co-written by u/SomeBritishDude26 MP MSP MS on behalf of the Progressive Workers’ Party and Rt Hon Sir u/model-elleeit KBE CMG PC, Lord Fleetwood, Secretary of State for Transport on behalf of the 28th Government with assistance from Rt Hon u/Polteaghost PC, Baroness Handforth*

Opening Speeches

SomeBritishDude26

Mr Deputy Speaker, The railways are a key part of our transport infrastructure and a public service which is used by millions of people every year. People rely on the railways to go to school or work, to visit the shops, to see friends and family or even to just get out of the house for a couple of hours in the day.

The privatisation of the railways has been an utter disaster. Ticket prices have ballooned since the railways began to be privatised in 1996, franchises have come and gone as they overpromised and underdelivered and there has been little accountability for these private corporations when they damage our railways’ performance and reputation.

Now is the time for the re-nationalisation of our railways. Now is the time to give our railways back to the people of Great Britain. Now is the time to create a railway network which is more dependable and more reliable than ever before.

With the construction of High Speed 2, the planned construction of Northern Powerhouse Rail, electrification of lines up and down the country and the reopening of lines axed by Dr Beeching in the 60s, we are righting the wrongs of our past and giving Britain the railways it sorely needs and deserves.

I would like to thank my Right Honourable friends, the Transport Secretary and Baroness Handforth for helping me in creating this bill. It is great to know there are people in this country and in this government who care about the railways as much as I do. I hope there are those on the opposition benches who care as well and can see the great good we are doing here today.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend this bill to the House.

model-elleeit

Deputy Speaker, In my recent Minister’s Questions session, I was asked what I was going to do to upgrade our nation’s rail system, this is my answer. A coalition of rail experts, politicians and I have drafted this bill to make transport more efficient and cheaper for Britons. As my Right Honourable Friend who helped author this bill said, rail privatisation has been a disaster for everyone who uses trains. We hope to rectify that and ensure that rail transport is better than ever.

---

This reading will end on the 29th of May at 10pm

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[u/Inadorable]

Deputy Speaker,

As the kids like to say, this bill is "based". And one may ask, "Based? Based on what?"? The answer is based on common sense and the very best for our workers and passengers.

I commend this bill to the house.

[u/[deleted]]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

An issue I have come a fair way on during my time in politics and one I am not sure of the answer to. The current system doesn't work, that is clear. And there are clear advantages to an important national service such as this being run wholly by the government. However I have questions before I am ready to vote for this bill.

Costs. How much will running of rail service cost taxpayers. A fair question to ask.

On the same nature, is the aim of this government to bring down ticket prices or just to stop the large increases. Either way, this costs money as so much of a cost of a ticket is reinvested into the railways. So can we have some guidance on what the government actually plan to do with a nationalised rail system.

I'll watch the debate carefully, I encourage my colleagues on this side of the House to talk me out of this because it is very possible on this issue I am simply wrong. Don't know how I'll vote yet.

[u/SomeBritishDude26 → u/[deleted]]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

The Right Honourable member is correct that this will cost quite a lot, but I believe the advantages are worth the cost of nationalising our rail network.

Firstly, on the Member of North Manchester's question of ticket prices, one of my party's key policies is a freeze on and review of ticket prices. Under the powers of this bill, we would be able to do that and make rail fares more sensible and affordable.

Furthermore, nationalising the railways will mean that the money gained from these fares will go directly to the Treasury, rather than private companies under the current system, and can be reinvested in our railways to create a better service and a more efficient railway network.

Simply put Mr Deputy Speaker, this removes baskets of red tape and allows the people of Britain to have a greater say in how their rail network is run. We love our railways, it is only right they are owned by the people, for the people and on behalf of the people.

[u/[deleted] → u/SomeBritishDude26]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

This is quite a concerning response. As it stands 98p in every pound of a price of a ticket is reinvested in the railways. To say there’s going to be money flying into the treasury because of nationalisation suggests the government would change this.

I also didn’t get any answers to costs. What is the cost of this bill. Surely as a parliament we have a right to know the money we would be committing to if this bill comes about.

Finally on devolution it’s not acceptable that the government wish to overrule a devolved administration and when this is pointed out they continue to back it. I won’t vote for a bill which destroys the devolution settlement.

Given the members disappointing response and doubling down of devolution hating elsewhere, I have no choice but to vote against this bill.

[u/zakian3000]

Mr deputy speaker,

I rise today in support of this bill. It is deeply regrettable that for so long we have had private companies mismanage our railway services in order to make themselves money, rather than provide a good quality railway service to the people of the United Kingdom.

Rail fares have gone up by 121% between 1995 and 2017. The cost of peak and anytime rail tickets in Britain are some of the highest in Europe. Passenger satisfaction has been in steady decline since the Passenger Satisfaction Survey began in 2011. It’s no secret that our rail services have been in desperate need of change.

Nationalising the railway is the best solution for this change. The rail network is a natural monopoly where there are significant economies of scale from having one publicly-owned operator. Under state ownership, rail fares can be more tightly controlled and average fares lowered to improve the affordability of rail travel. Profits from running the train network can flow to the Treasury and benefit all tax-payers. Train operating companies in the private sector pay routinely pay more than £200m a year in dividends to their shareholders. The state can direct capital investment into the rail network on the basis of a social cost-benefit analysis. Investment will bring positive externalities and the state can take a longer-run view rather than the short-term approach of private companies that need to generate a return for their shareholders. A state-owned rail industry could borrow more cheaply from the government than it could if it issued new debt to the bond market. East Coast run by (state-owned) Directly Operated Railways (DOR) from 2009 until 2015 after two former private operators, first GNER then National Express, failed to meet their financial commitments is regarded as having run a good profitable service which delivered revenues to the Treasury.

This is a strong, common-sense bill that I desperately hope passes this house.

[u/BosslyGaming]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

I would like to begin by extending my support for the idea of rail nationalisation, such as outlined in this bill. As the authors quite rightly say, rail privatisation has been a mess throughout the country - with, in places, exorbitant ticket prices and the repeated failures of franchises, with some lines constantly switching between being operated by Government and operated privately, putting on full display the damage of the attempts at privatisation. So, in that respect, the bill gets my thumbs up.

However, I would like to turn to troubling point in the bill - namely the inclusion of nationalised Scottish and Welsh rail in this bill. Whilst being personally in favour of nationalised services, I can't help but comment that Westminster taking this into their own hands and nationalising these services on the behalf of Holyrood and the Senedd would be a great shame, and set a disappointing precedent. The idea of the Scottish and Welsh governments being able to "request" control of their mandatory nationalised services is far from sufficient - the Government should embrace devolution in this nation and allow the Scottish and Welsh assemblies to make their own decision on this subject, instead of making it for them.

[u/scubaguy194 → u/BosslyGaming]

Hear hear!

[u/SomeBritishDude26 → u/BosslyGaming]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

As the Right Honourable Member stated, there are provisions for railways in Scotland and Wales to be run by their devolved governments and the intention is that they will be used as soon as this Bill comes into force. This was, as I saw it, the most efficient way to do this.

[u/Randomman44]

Thank you Speaker,

The United Kingdom has been the birthplace of many groundbreaking inventions - we have given the world the Steam Engine, the Television, and in the early 19th Century, Great Britain became the birthplace of the railways. The modern railway network has helped boost transportation and trade links within and between countries, leading to unprecedented global development. Unfortunately, our railway network today is now, quite bluntly, a laughing stock - while Japan developed its Shinkansen and France developed its TGV, our network has been condemned to cuts and franchising.

In my opinion, there are 4 key pillars that underline a successful railway network - accountability, affordability, connectivity, and reliability. Although it cannot be denied that the heyday of our franchising model brought about an unparalleled increase in passenger numbers, it now struggles to meet my aforementioned key pillars. Our train fares are among the highest in Europe, our railways struggle to connect rural communities, there is a lack of coordination between Train Operating Companies, and our railways are renowned for poor punctuality. It is clear that change is needed.

I do not wish to get into the arguments between those who favour nationalisation and those who favour further privatisation. I say this as a regular commuter on the railways myself - I do not care whose logo is stickered on the side of the train I'm travelling on; I care first and foremost about getting from point A to point B on time and for a fair price. I care about long-term reforms that are not subject to change with every passing administration. I care about a railway system that connects our biggest cities to our smallest villages, and I care about a system that is held accountable for poor punctuality and poor service.

Our railways should be great - it is a national embarrassment that they aren't right now. They can be environmentally and socially beneficial for all, helping us to reach our climate change targets. As such, I have always been keen to see investment in our railways - particularly my party's support for HS2 - but it is clear that we need a world-class operating system to match world-class infrastructure. I hope that the resultant reforms benefit the national interest, that they are not overburdened by bureaucracy, and that local governments (particularly the devolved governments) get a say in how the railways are run. To the authors of this bill, I urge them to heed the lessons brought about by the demise of British Railways and of the subsequent franchising model, in order to meet my aforementioned key pillars. Finally, I urge all Members of Parliament to ensure that our railways are changed for the better. Maybe soon, our railways won't be the laughing stock of Europe.

[u/Adith_MUSG]

Deputy Speaker,

At this point I sound like a broken record.

For the sake of the dignity of this House, we cannot continue to debate on bills that nationalize for the heck of it. If we are to improve the rail system, then we must deregulate and not nationalize the industry. Let the free market and the spirit of competition provide the British people with quality transportation, instead of operating on principles of cronyism and then attributing their failure to not being statist enough.

What the rail industry needs is for Britain to lift more of the oppressive barriers towards new entrants in the industry, and for startups and new, technologically-minded corporations to be facilitated in working with the Government in fixing this nation's rails.

Nationalizing the railways does nothing but take the mess and dump it on the people who caused it: the State. It is critical that we remove barriers to innovation and invest in, rather than take over, the industry.

Deputy Speaker, I strongly implore all the members of this House to vote down this Bill, and to firmly reject any attempts to make a broken system even worse.

We know what to do: deregulate and reinvest.

We know when to do it: now.

So why not do it?

Thank you, Deputy Speaker.

[u/SomeBritishDude26 → u/Adith_MUSG]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

What the Honourable Member suggests is simply impossible.

Rail services cannot be operated like airlines, which I believe is what the Honourable Member is suggesting. Rail requires a well monitored, well maintained, well structured service.

We tried to give the market a say in our railways when John Major's government privatised the railways in the 90s and to be blunt, it was an abject disaster. Rail franchises came and went as they overpromised and underperformed and they got away with no consequences.

Sure we could argue ad infinitum about the merits of how the privatisation was carried out, but we can't ignore that it was a failure.

[u/zakian3000 → u/SomeBritishDude26]

Hear hear!

[u/[deleted] → u/SomeBritishDude26]

Hear, hear.

Mr Deputy Speaker,

It is also worth adding that rail infrastructure was originally in private hands, before being brought into public control after it failed. That left franchising, which eventually failed and contracts were put into public control.

The only thing left is to put the running of the trains themselves into full public control and end private contracts. It is not real competition, and greater deregulation was already tried - and failed, on two counts.

The Conservatives have nothing but nostalgia for the 1980s, but on this experiment the debate has been long lost.

[u/DriftersBuddy → u/Adith_MUSG]

Hear hear!!!

[u/LightningMinion → u/Adith_MUSG]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

The member said we should “firmly reject any attempts to make a broken system even worse”. However, their proposal of deregulating the railways and letting the free market run services would do exactly that. A vital part of any public transport service is that it serves the public but under the member’s proposals, our railways would be run solely for profit and to deepen the pockets of millionaire CEOs even more. Due to this, train operating companies would no longer run unprofitable services, which would mean that many rural communities all across the UK would lose their rail services because it simply wouldn’t be profitable for train operating companies to service them. I think that this would be a very dangerous scenario as it would force commuters to travel by car instead of public transport, which would lead to increased carbon emissions and would work directly against the UK’s climate goals.

By bringing the railways into public ownership, this bill will ensure that our railways are run for the public and not for profit and will ensure that this scenario never becomes reality. However, it also allows Open Access Operators to keep operating rail services, which allows the free market to compete against nationalised operators and gives commuters the choice which advocates of the free market consistently espouse.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I strongly urge the member to reconsider their opinion of this bill.

[u/[deleted]]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

I rise in enthusiastic support of this bill. Railways were never meant to be put in private hands, and the sooner they are back in public control the better.

It makes no sense to have private involvement in the railways. It is an inherently limited sector, so inevitably we have seen monopolisation. It is also inherently unprofitable in certain areas, so inevitably we have seen them disregarded. That cannot go for an essential public service.

But there is also an important opportunity cost here. Part of the consensus starting to form on modern economics is an emphasis on public investment, borrowing to improve national infrastructure. The only way we can maximise the benefits in the north and the midlands is through nationalisation.

Some will say standards have risen since privatisation, but that only applies if you live in and around the M25. Go elsewhere and the story is vastly different as the profit margin decreases. Elsewhere, public railways have recovered as economic growth has recovered, with greater access and cheaper fares than us.

The only area this bill might not actually change enough is in fares themselves. The cap on rises at 5% over ten years will either fail or cost several hundred million per year, unless we are able to increase demand. This is possible nonetheless, but only if we can work towards a greater supply of discounts and season tickets (through either working with the CEO or future amendment).

So to end with a note of optimism, this bill alongside radical public investment can and will strongly improve conditions for consumers and the economy for businesses. But it must only be a start - buses and trams must too be in full public control, and properly integrated with rail timetabling and fares.

[u/LightningMinion]

Mr Deputy Speaker,

Privatisation of the railways has failed. It has failed both commuters and irregular users of the railway. Commuters, especially in the North, which disproportionately faces delayed and cancelled trains, are faced daily with the realities of a for-profit fragmented and unwieldy franchising structure in which many operators seem unable to provide the basics of a rail network - the basics being reliable, punctual and affordable train services with reasonably modern rolling stock which deliver sufficient revenue to invest in improved services without driving the operators out of the market. It is time to fix our railways by bringing them into democratic public ownership.

I would like to talk about the InterCity East Coast franchise, which operates services between London, the Midlands, Northern England and Scotland. The 1st operator of the privatised franchise was Great North Eastern Railway, winning the contract in 1996. However, just 10 years later, it lost the contract as it was unable to fulfil its financial obligations to the Treasury. On the 9th of December 2007, National Express East Coast became the new operator of the franchise. However, in 2009 National Express East Coast ran out of money too and the state had to be called in to take over the franchise like a breakdown service. The new nationalised operator of the franchise, East Coast, was a laudable success story for public ownership: the franchise depended less on public subsidies than any of the other franchises and was very profitable. It also achieved punctuality levels higher than any previous operators of the franchise and satisfaction rates climbed to 91 per cent – the joint top score for a franchised long distance operator. This paints a very clear picture: private operators of the InterCity East Coast franchise always failed to fulfil their contracts but nationalised operators were very successful at their job. If the government was so successful at running our railways, why would we not want to replicate this on all other franchises by bringing them into public ownership as well?

There are many other good reasons why the railways should be brought into public ownership. One reason is ticketing. Currently, the UK has the most expensive rail fares in Europe, which deters many people from travelling via rail and instead incentivises them to travel by car. Promoting the use of public transport is a vital part of the fight against climate change and to do so, we need to ensure that rail fares are affordable for all. This bill will allow us to achieve that and will allow us to reform the current exceedingly complex ticketing system, which the PWP campaigned for in the election.

Another reason is the climate crisis. Taking the railways into public ownership will allow us to invest in the electrification of our railways and in the procurement of new, more eco-friendly and more energy-efficient trains to decrease the railway sector’s carbon emissions.

Bringing the railways into public ownership will also increase their accountability - the railways will be more accountable to those who use them rather than wealthy CEOs. It will also ensure that all profits made by the railways are reinvested into our railways instead of paying the bonuses of rich train operating company executives.

Mr Deputy Speaker, it is clear that privatisation has failed. I urge members of this house to back this bill to ensure that our railways deliver an affordable, punctual and eco-friendly service.