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Michael Woodward, Nottingham

4th November 2013 | Your Views

If the East Coast mainline can be run at a profit by the public sector, so can the rest of the network.

Your Views

When it was publicly owned there was a better service to smaller stations and the staff were happier.
Bainbridge Christine, Durham
They should never have been privatised. It is costing the taxpayer far too much and fares are unacceptably high. We are at the mercy of privateers.
Simon Harris, Mansfield
There are some services the market can’t effectively provide and a rail network is one. It’s a costly experiment gone wrong and it’s time to wake up to common sense.
Jonathan Martin, Lancaster
Sixty years ago I travelled by train in my city. We had no cars. Bristol was more beautiful pleasant city – no clogging traffic. Give us back rail networks and fair fares.
Jean Scott, Bristol
Re-nationalise the railways and the utilities. Prosecute the spivs!
Bill Pearson, London

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Bring Back British Rail

It was great to support We Own It's Tug of War: Passengers vs Profiteers event outside Parliament this week 👏 We're raising awareness for the issues with the #RailwaysBill 🚆💸 Please email your MP to ask whose side they're on 👇 @top fans
📨 weownit.org.uk/passengers-not-profit ... See MoreSee Less

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Bring Back British Rail and We Own It

📣 Last chance to email your MP before our Tug of War: Passengers vs Profiteers event this Weds 👇
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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 we’d love your MP to be there.

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Bring Back British Rail and We Own It — attending an event.

Want a railway run for people not profit? 🚆 Join the Tug of War: Passengers vs Profiteers in Parliament Square this 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝟭𝟱 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹, 𝟭𝟮:𝟰𝟱 ✊ We're raising awareness for the key problems with the #RailwaysBill & promoting the amendments aimed at resolving them 📜 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗣 👇 @top fans
... See MoreSee Less

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 we’d love your MP to be there.

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Bring Back British Rail

We welcome West Midlands Railway being brought back into public ownership today 🥳 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 🚨 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

This week the Railways Bill, which will establish our new publicly-owned #GreatBritishRailways, enters Committee Stage at the UK Parliament 🚆 The fight is now on to ensure the Bill actually creates a fully-integrated railway that is run in the public interest ✊ Read more 👇 @top fans We Own It
bringbackbritishrail.org/2026/01/railways-bill-committee ... See MoreSee Less

This week the Railwa

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We are the collective voice of disgruntled rail passengers and disheartened train employees, demanding a re-unified national rail network run for people not profit.

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54,359 signatures

Our Supporters

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
A good public transport system should be the foundation of a fair, just, happy, low-carbon world.
Ellie Harrison, campaign founder
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
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
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
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
Privatisation is only progress, if you mean progressing towards an apocalypse of injustice. Bring back British Rail!
Josie Long, comedian
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
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
Privatisation has delivered… a system in which train operators and energy firms compete not on service – but on how many tariffs they can bamboozle customers with.
Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian
Taking our railways back from private profiteers will mean better services, fairer rail fares and more than £1 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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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

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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.
The campaign operates as a ‘non-charitable campaigning body’ and so is free to carry out political activity and act as a pressure group.
It aims to be a completely autonomous and transparent passenger-led organisation, which has no direct affiliation with any political parties.
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Bring Back British Rail logo / identity designed by Fraser Muggeridge. Website by Neil Scott.