Labour's plans to renationalise the railways would make 'not fit for purpose' ... trends now
Labour would waste 'billions' of taxpayers' cash renationalising the railways to appease their striking 'union paymasters', the Transport Secretary warned last night.
Mark Harper said a Labour Government would make the already 'not fit for purpose' railways worse with its 'ideological' crusade to bring them back into public ownership.
He made the comments in a speech setting out his plans for an overhaul of the industry to improve reliability and simplify ticketing, with an enhanced role for the private sector.
It comes amid unprecedented levels of disruption hitting passengers.
There have been more than 15 national walkouts by the unions since last summer, causing losses to the industry of around £500 million.
Mark Harper (pictured) said a Labour Government would make the already 'not fit for purpose' railways worse with its 'ideological' crusade to bring them back into public ownership
And widespread cancellations even on non-strike days have hit services in the North on operators Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express, making some routes run by the latter even less reliable than services in war-hit Ukraine.
Speaking at an industry event tonight, Mr Harper said: 'These pragmatic reforms stand in stark contrast to Labour's ideological policy of nationalising the railways, cheered on by the rail unions.
'Nationalisation was tried and ultimately thrown out - being largely responsible for the steady decline of passengers and services.
'Nationalisation was about as dynamic and forward-looking as the British Rail sandwich - soggy, wrapped in a cling film of backward thinking and unfit for consumption in the 21st century.
'Now it simply serves as a trite soundbite for Labour politicians without a clear plan to improve our railways but with union paymasters to appease.
'Labour proposes to spend billions of taxpayers' money buying out the private sector which would only serve to entrench the systemic problems of the railway and do nothing to improve performance for passengers.'
He said privatisation had helped passenger numbers double and meant £7 billion had been invested in rolling stock over the last decade.
Labour pledged to press ahead with renationalising the railways at its party conference last year.
It is a policy being pushed by striking trade unions, which have donated £15.28 million to the Labour party, constituency groups and its MPs since spring 2020, when Sir Keir Starmer became leader.
Mr Harper conceded, however, that under the Conservatives the railways were in need of 'fundamental reform'.
He committed to creating Great British Railways (GBR), a new public body that will bring the operation of track and trains under the same place for the first time to create a single 'guiding mind' running the railways.
It will take on responsibility for timetabling and ticketing, currently controlled by the Department for Transport.
