Labour has pledged to renationalise most passenger rail services if it is elected, in what it called the "biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation".
Bringing the network under government control within five years can be done "without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs", said shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, who unveiled the plans today.
Renationalisation would not necessarily mean cheaper prices, Haigh said, but the system would be "more transparent and clearer". A new watchdog – the Passenger Standards Authority – would also "mercilessly" hold Great British Railways to account.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Transport Secretary Huw Merriman described the plan as "pointless". "Without a plan to pay for this it means one thing: taxes will rise on hard-working people."
Polls have consistently shown a majority of Britons in favour of renationalising the rail network in recent years. It's no wonder, said The New Statesman last year, when the state of passenger train service has become "a synonym for British decline".
"Want to understand how broken Britain is? Try catching a train," the magazine said. The "deep problem is widely thought to be privatisation", but a lack of competition is really to blame for mounting fares and subpar performance. Putting the monopoly on routes into state hands rather than private ones will only result in "the same de facto semi-nationalised system everyone is so unhappy with right now".
Trade union Aslef's support for the Labour plan could get renationalisation off to a "flying start", but it isn't a magic bullet for the major challenges of "falling commuter revenues and toxic industrial relations".
-
Aimee Betro: the Wisconsin woman who came to Birmingham to killIn the Spotlight US hitwoman wore a niqab in online lover's revenge plot
-
Facial recognition vans and policingThe government is rolling out more live facial recognition technology across England
-
Dive in! The best children's books to spark a love of readingThe Week Recommends These gripping stories will keep kids hooked until the last page
-
Is it finally all change for train Wi-Fi?In The Spotlight South Western Railway's 5G Wi-Fi service has changed the way passengers connect – but will the new system catch on?
-
Southwest joins rival airlines on paid baggageSpeed Read The company is ending its longtime free-luggage policy
-
US jet fuel tanker, cargo ship collide off UK coastSpeed Read A cargo vessel carrying a toxic chemical collides with a US-military chartered oil tanker in the North Sea
-
New York rolls out vehicle toll in ManhattanSpeed Read In an effort to reduce traffic gridlock, vehicles will automatically be charged a toll to drive below 60th Street
-
Brief Canada rail lockout ends with arbitrationSpeed Read A prolonged shutdown could have threatened the country's supply chain
-
Tech outage ensnarls Delta, prompts hearingsSpeed Read The airline is under federal investigation for its handling of flight cancellations that stranded hundreds of passengers
-
Senate passes FAA bill with new consumer protectionsSpeed Read The legislation will require airlines to refund customers for flight delays
-
US to require automatic braking on new carsSpeed Read 'We're living through a crisis in roadway deaths'
