{"id":31176,"date":"2024-04-26T03:36:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T17:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=31176"},"modified":"2024-04-26T03:36:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T17:36:43","slug":"comment-rail-partners-andy-bagnall-responds-to-labours-rail-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=31176","title":{"rendered":"COMMENT: Rail Partners\u2019 Andy Bagnall responds to Labour\u2019s rail policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rail Partners<\/a> chief executive, Andy Bagnall, said:<\/strong>\u202f\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Train companies agree that change is needed for the railways, but nationalisation is a political rather than a practical solution which will increase costs over time.<\/p>\n

\u2018Creating a thriving railway for customers and taxpayers does not have to be an ideological choice between a monopoly railway in public hands and one that delivers private investment and innovation through franchising.<\/p>\n

\u2018There is an alternative plan which gives the best of both worlds and is already being used by Labour Mayors and increasingly across Europe.\u2019<\/p>\n

Andy continued:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018To change the railway for the better, we must correctly understand the causes of the current situation to get the right solutions. Since the pandemic, train companies have been effectively renationalised and subject to a level of micromanagement by government not even seen under British Rail. Exclusively blaming train companies for all the challenges facing the railway doesn\u2019t stand up to scrutiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Over time, the increased costs to the taxpayer of nationalisation due to the loss of commercial focus from private train companies will lead to either reduced train services or increased subsidy. That means rail competing for funding with other public services like the NHS. Historically, British Rail often lost this battle.<\/p>\n

\u2018Private train companies have a track record of regrowing the railway in the two decades prior to the pandemic having doubled passenger numbers, increased the number of train services by a third, and turning a large cost to the taxpayer into an operational surplus for the Treasury.\u202fThey want to partner with whoever is in government after the election to achieve these successes again.<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s already an alternative plan that has been proven to work, exploiting the investment, innovation and commercial expertise of train companies but under the public control of a new governing body to join-up the railways and act on behalf of passengers.\u202fRail users in London\u00a0already benefit from this approach used by the capital\u2019s Mayor to run buses, trains and trams. Manchester\u2019s Mayor takes the same approach for the Bee bus network.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Labour\u2019s proposals are also moving in the exact opposite direction to what we\u2019re seeing across Europe where other governments are seeking to copy the previous successes of the British model using competition amongst train companies \u2013 both for contracts and on the tracks \u2013 to reduce subsidies for taxpayers and provide a better service for passengers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018We welcome the recognition in Labour\u2019s plans that private sector freight and open access operators have a lot to offer. But ejecting private train companies from the railway will create a prolonged and messy transition at a time when we need all parts of the railway to pull together to deliver for passengers and freight customers.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

More Like This<\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT: Virgin Trains Ticketing Director, Mark Plowright, reacts to Labour\u2019s policy announcement<\/a><\/h3>\n

Labour Party confirms their policy for UK rail<\/a><\/h3>\n

RIA members showcase strength of Welsh rail suppliers<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rail Partners chief executive, Andy Bagnall, said:\u202f\u00a0 \u2018Train companies agree that change is needed for the railways, but nationalisation is a political rather than a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":31177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,47,488],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-opinion","category-rail-news","category-railway-stations"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t