Skip to main content

Bring Back British Rail

  • About
  • News
  • Support
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Bluesky
  • Vimeo
  • Instagram

Your Views

Mike Fitzgerald, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

2nd March 2014 | Your Views

The lunacy has to stop. When will the public realise that privatisation means finance/investment is being taken out of the system into shareholders’ pockets?

+ Share

Like Tweet

« Older
Newer »

Your Views

  • The toilets on Southern are often closed and the trains in the morning are always late. The full number of carriages are often short, leading to standing room only.

    Fergus Calder, Brighton

  • A train guard refused to let me board a train when I asked to see his ID, after he questioned me about my ticket, he then proceeded to throw a punch at me as it departed.

    Thomas Robinson, Shepperton

  • The British railway system is a joke these days. Train travel shouldn’t be a luxury for ordinary people, especially in this day and age that we have to combat the climate crisis.

    Vandad Hatami, London

  • Keep private hands off our rail network. I do not want private companies paying shareholders at the expense of services and increased rail fares.

    Jaki Spencer, Pontefract

  • Privatisation has taken its toll on the whole railway system in Britain, turning it into a complete mess, not to mention train fares going up year after year.

    Jamie Spilsbury, Merseyside

Latest from Facebook

— bringbackbritishrail

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Author Avatar
Bring Back British Rail and We Own It
3 days ago

๐Ÿ“ฃ Last chance to email your MP before our Tug of War: Passengers vs Profiteers event this Weds ๐Ÿ‘‡
 ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

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.
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments likes love 22 Shares: 6 Comments: 0

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

View more comments

Author Avatar
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
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

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.
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments likes love 55 Shares: 32 Comments: 4

4 CommentsComment on Facebook

View more comments

Author Avatar
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

This content isn't available at the moment

When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it, or it's been deleted.
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments likes love haha 186 Shares: 5 Comments: 14

14 CommentsComment on Facebook

View more comments

Author Avatar
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
bringbackbritishrail.org/2026/01/railways-bill-committee ... See MoreSee Less

This week the Railwa
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments likes love haha wow 445 Shares: 16 Comments: 64

64 CommentsComment on Facebook

View more comments

Author Avatar
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
All proceeds help support our volunteer-run campaign ๐Ÿ˜Š ... See MoreSee Less

Its that time of yea
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments likes love wow 18 Shares: 0 Comments: 0

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

View more comments

Load more

Latest from Twitter

— @bringbackBR

Join the conversation using:
#bringbackbritishrail #bbbr #bringbackBR #BringBackOurRailways #railfail #farefail #publicrail #railripoff #RailRevolution #failrail

Latest from Flickr

— bringbackbritishrail

    Petition

    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.

    Sign the petition now and join 54355 other supporters.

    Bring Back British Rail

    Read or Edit the Petition

    You can add formatting using markdown syntax - read more
     
    54,355 signatures

    Our Supporters

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

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

      Ellie Harrison, campaign founder

    • 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

    • 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

    • 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

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

      Josie Long, comedian

    • 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

    • 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

    Products

    • Bumper Sticker Bumper Sticker £3.00
    • Enamel Badge Enamel Badge £6.00
    • Rail Card Wallet Rail Card Wallet £4.00

    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.
    Accounts | Privacy Policy | Press & Media Enquiries: info@bringbackbritishrail.org

    Bring Back British Rail logo / identity designed by Fraser Muggeridge. Website by Neil Scott.