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Your Views

Anna-Katharina Straumann, Zurich

9th July 2013 | Your Views

Since my birth in 1977, I have been in and out of the UK several times a year. Train journeys are far too expensive and the entire system over complicated.

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Your Views

  • Prices of train fares are ridiculous. I hate the 4 hours of standing on an extremely overcrowded train to see my family so much so that I rarely see them anymore.

    Julia Coryton, Southwark

  • This is an essential public service which should be returned as a nationalised industry. Past mistakes have been learned and the objective should be public service.

    Mike Walling, Exeter

  • The UK tax payer has subsidised rail companies by £102.68billion since 1985, together with rail fare increases of up to 300% since 2004. It’s a disgrace.

    Cyril Fitzgerald, Pontypool

  • Look at the success state ownership has had on the East Coast Main Line after the private company screwed up. We should repeat the exercise nationally.

    Brendan Conroy, Ruislip

  • The present system is much too complicated and wasteful, set up to make money for financial institutions etc., rather than to run an effective railway.

    John Eaton, High Peak

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Bring Back British Rail and We Own It
2 days ago

๐Ÿ“ฃ Last chance to email your MP before our Tug of War: Passengers vs Profiteers event this Weds ๐Ÿ‘‡
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TUG OF WAR: Ask your MP to make sure the Railways Bill delivers for passengers, not profit

weownit.org.uk

We are organising a tug of war on Parliament Square next Wednesday 15th April and weโ€™d love your MP to be there.
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Bring Back British Rail and We Own It โ€” attending an event.
4 days ago

Want a railway run for people not profit? ๐Ÿš† Join the Tug of War: Passengers vs Profiteers in Parliament Square this ๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—น, ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฑ โœŠ We're raising awareness for the key problems with the #RailwaysBill & promoting the amendments aimed at resolving them ๐Ÿ“œ ๐—ช๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐— ๐—ฃ ๐Ÿ‘‡ @top fans
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TUG OF WAR: Ask your MP to make sure the Railways Bill delivers for passengers, not profit

weownit.org.uk

We are organising a tug of war on Parliament Square next Wednesday 15th April and weโ€™d love your MP to be there.
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Bring Back British Rail
2 months ago

We welcome West Midlands Railway being brought back into public ownership today ๐Ÿฅณ But, if control over these lines is devolved to the Mayor of the West Midlands in the future, there is nothing in the current #RailwaysBill to prevent re-privatisation ๐Ÿšจ Heidi Alexander for Swindon South and Keir Mather MP must sort this! @top fans ... See MoreSee Less

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Bring Back British Rail
3 months ago

This week the Railways Bill, which will establish our new publicly-owned #GreatBritishRailways, enters Committee Stage at the UK Parliament ๐Ÿš† The fight is now on to ensure the Bill actually creates a fully-integrated railway that is run in the public interest โœŠ Read more ๐Ÿ‘‡ @top fans We Own It
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This week the Railwa
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Bring Back British Rail
4 months ago

It's that time of year again... Fancy some Bring Back British Rail campaign merch? ๐Ÿš‰ Order by the end of Tuesday 16 Dec 2025 to receive in time for Christmas๐ŸŽ„๐Ÿ‘‡
๐Ÿ›’ bringbackbritishrail.org/support
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    Our Supporters

    • In 1948 Labour nationalised rail to rebuild Britain after a world war. Today bankers and speculators use privatised trains for tax scams. Time to bring back British Rail.

      Alex Gordon, former RMT President

    • At its heart privatisation in Britain was never about selling public networks but about selling the rights to tax those who are obliged to use them.

      James Meek, writer

    • East Coast shows us that publicly owned rail works better for passengers and taxpayers. We need a railway fit for the future – it’s got to be in public hands.

      Cat Hobbs, We Own It

    • Transport is an essential public service and ought to be publicly owned and publicly controlled. We need an enormous expansion in the investment in our railways and that is the best way of achieving it.

      Tony Benn, politician

    • The UK public wants a publicly owned railway, and so do we. Lush calls for an end to the failed experiment of privatising essential services.

      Tamsin Omond, Lush Campaigns

    • The privatisation of the railways was a scandal that created an unworkable and expensive structure which should be replaced with a national unified network.

      Christian Wolmar, transport commentator

    • To be able to reduce C02 emissions, by persuading people to leave cars at home, we need a fast, efficient subsidised railway system that’s run for people not profit!

      Ellie Harrison, campaign founder

    • Privatisation is only progress, if you mean progressing towards an apocalypse of injustice. Bring back British Rail!

      Josie Long, comedian

    • Privatisation has delivered… a system in which train operators and energy firms compete not on service โ€“ but on how many tariffs they can bamboozle customers with.

      Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian

    • Research into privatisation… boils down to one key finding: the only way Branson and the vast majority of train barons make their profits is through handouts from the taxpayer.

      Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian

    • There is no good excuse left for rail privatisation beyond enriching wealthy elites. Public ownership delivers for social and environmental needs over private profit.

      Professor Andrew Cumbers, University of Glasgow

    • Something as important and necessary (and enjoyable) as train travel should be in the hands of the people, be affordable and safe, not making money for shareholders.

      Nina Power, writer

    • Privatisation of the railways has failed. Its time to make a virtue of public ownership, and the public service provided by state employees.

      Charles Secrett, The ACT! Alliance

    • Taking our railways back from private profiteers will mean better services, fairer rail fares and more than ยฃ1 billion a year in savings for the public purse.

      Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP

    • Now is the moment to re-nationalise the railways and it has never been cheaper or more possible.

      Andrew Gilligan, journalist

    • A good public transport system should be the foundation of a fair, just, happy, low-carbon world.

      Ellie Harrison, campaign founder

    • If the private companies that took over the national railways are cutting back and eroding services at a time when the climate crisis demands expanded low-carbon transportation alternatives to keep more of us out of planes, then these services too must be reclaimed.

      Naomi Klein, writer

    • Let’s make the case for democratic social ownership, fit for the 21st century, ensuring our railways are run in the interests of passengers, not profiteers.

      Owen Jones, writer

    • Only a publicly owned railway can deliver affordable fares, good services, high customer satisfaction, properly staffed stations and a profitable return to the public purse.

      Charles Secrett, The ACT! Alliance

    • Like most people in Britain, I think that a railway is a natural function of the state, and so ought to be run by the state – for the sake of coherence, transparency, continuity, accountability and national pride.

      Andrew Martin, writer

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    Bring Back British Rail is coordinated from Glasgow by Ellie Harrison, with the help of a small network of volunteers around the UK.
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