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Bring Back British Rail

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Your Views

Tony Lansdowne, Bristol

4th November 2013 | Your Views

Can anyone name a single example of when privatisation has been of considerable benefit to the general public?

Your Views

Yes, we would sincerely like British Rail to be brought back to the British public.
Nigella Kennedy, London
The train service needs to be unified and run for the people not for private profit. I’m fed up with the varied levels of service between train companies.
Maxwell Lawrence, Redhill
More people would use the railways if they were reliable, accessible and cost less.
Ann Pears, Cambridge
Bring back British Rail, so that we can try to make rail travel what it once was.
Julia Vango, Shepperton
I’m a student and the prices of trains are extortionate, especially for cramped and delayed services. I often have to travel to London for fieldwork and it’s food or work.
Alesia Harris, Woking

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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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Our Supporters

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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Now is the moment to re-nationalise the railways and it has never been cheaper or more possible.
Andrew Gilligan, journalist
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
A good public transport system should be the foundation of a fair, just, happy, low-carbon world.
Ellie Harrison, campaign founder
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
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
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
Privatisation is only progress, if you mean progressing towards an apocalypse of injustice. Bring back British Rail!
Josie Long, comedian

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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.