Passengers vs Profiteers – ask your MP whose side they’re on

12th April 2026 | Demonstration / News

Passengers vs Profiteers

The Railways Bill – which will create our new Great British Railways (GBR) – will be debated in the House of Commons again soon at its Report Stage.

We’re working with our friends at We Own It to raise awareness for the key problems with the Bill – and to promote the amendments aimed at resolving them.

Write to your MP

Please take two minutes to write to your MP to ask them to back these crucial amendments – and come to the ‘Tug of War’ event in Parliament Square on Wednesday:

Tug of War: Passengers vs Profiteers
Wednesday 15 April 2026, 12:45-14:15
Parliament Square, London
(in front of the Nelson Mandela statue)

Keep Northern Public

24th February 2020 | Demonstration / News

Keep Northern Public

This March, after years of failure under the control of private companies, Northern rail will be officially re-nationalised!

To mark this momentous moment, we’re working with our friends at RMT, We Own It, the Association of British Commuters and Northern Resist, to organise a Day of Action across the North of England demanding that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps keeps Northern in public ownership from now on.

Please join us at one of the stations listed below.

Sign the petition

Monday 2 March 2020:
06:30-08:45 Carlisle Station
07:00-09:00 Manchester Victoria Station
07:00-09:00 Wigan Station
07:00-09:00 York Station
07:00-10:00 Leeds Station
07:30-09:00 Newcastle Central Station (Main Entrances on Neville Street)
07:30-09:00 Wakefield Westgate Station
16:00-18:00 Sheffield Station

Passengers Rise Up! National Day of Action

20th December 2019 | Demonstration / Media Coverage / News

Passengers Rise Up! Day of Action

On Thursday 2 January 2020, rail fares go up again by another 2.8%.

The rail franchising system is broken and it’s passengers that are paying the price.

We’re joining forces with our friends at the Association of British Commuters and other passenger groups across the country to organise a National Day of Passenger Action demanding an end to the farce of franchising and fair fares now!

They’ll be a central demonstration at London King’s Cross Station at 8am. Details of other actions will be listed on the Facebook event page and below.

Thursday 2 January 2020:
07:00-09:00 King’s Lynn Station
08:00-09:30 London King’s Cross Station
09:30-10:30 Chelmsford Station
10:00-12:00 Norwich Station (organised by NOR4NOR)
11:30-12:30 London Liverpool Street Station
16:00-17:30 Burton-on-Trent Station
16:30-19:30 Bolton Station (organised by Northern Resist)

Please get in touch if you’d like to organise an action at your local station and we can help promote it: info@bringbackbritishrail.org

Media Coverage from 2 January 2020

 

• Transport Secretary Grant Shapps vows to strip Northern Rail of its franchise as furious commuters say they are ‘being priced off the railway’ after fares rise 2.7 per cent across UK, Daily Mail
• Train fare increase 2020: protesters gather at London’s Kings Cross warning of ‘decade of misery’ for rail commuters, I News
• Rail fares rise by 2.7%, hitting millions of commuters, BBC News
• Commuters in mass protests as 2.7% rail fare hike hits, Inside Croydon
• Railway stations to be hit by more strikes against fee hikes, Morning Star
• Northern to be stripped of rail franchise – Shapps, Wimbledon Times
• Commuters gather at Bolton station in protest over increased rail fares, The Guardian
• ‘Enough is enough!’ Furious commuter rages at railway ‘carnage’ amid fresh fare hikes, Daily Express

Rail Revolution: Day of Action

11th December 2018 | Demonstration / Media Coverage / News

Rail Revolution: National Day of Action

Sick of rising rail fares and chaotic commuting?

Tired of the endless tinkering with our broken privatised railway system?

It’s time for a #RailRevolution.

On Wednesday 2 January 2019, as our rail fares rise again by 3.1%, we’re joining forces with our friends at We Own It, the Association of British Commuters and NOR4NOR to organise a national day of action calling for radical reform.

Coinciding with the public consultation for the government’s new ‘root and branch’ review of rail: the Williams Rail Review, we’re calling on passengers all over the country to respond in favour of a re-unified national rail network run for people not profit.

On Wednesday 2 January 2019, protests will take place at stations across the country (see full list here), with a central one at London King’s Cross from 7:30-9:00am (photo call at 8:00am). See the Facebook event page for details, print a Bring Back British Rail placard and come join us!

Sign the Petition

Then on Friday 18 January 2019, to mark the deadline of the Williams Rail Review public consultation, we’ll be delivering our Care2 Petition to Re-nationalise our Railways signed by 118,039 people to the Department for Transport to demonstrate the sheer weight of public support for public ownership.

Make sure you add your name before then: bringbackbritishrail.org/care2

Media Coverage from 2 January 2019

 

• Furious passengers protest price hikes, Daily Mail
• Anger at ‘disgraceful’ rail fare rises as stations hit by protests, Sky News
• Chris Grayling blames unions for rail fare hike, BBC News
• Rail passengers stage ‘national day of action’ in protest at fare increases, Evening Standard
• Rail users to mount ‘national day of action’ over 3.1% fare rise, The Guardian
• Rail season tickets to jump by £100 for many commuters, Metro
• Train price hike: Jeremy Corbyn calls for public ownership of railways, Independent
• Rail fares rise 3.2% TODAY despite trains chaos, Mirror
• Protest in Birmingham over rising rail fares, Birmingham Live
• Protests at Sheffield railway station as rail fares rise by an average of 3.1 per cent, The Star
• York protest over national rail fare hike, The Press

New Year Actions for the Public Ownership of our Railways

1st January 2017 | Demonstration / News

End the #RailRipOff

On 3-4 January 2017, commuters return to work as train fares continue to rise. We’re teaming up with We Own It and Action For Rail to organise two nationwide days of action (in England on 3rd, Scotland on 4th) to protest against higher fares, reduced staffing and demand the public ownership of our railways now!

Protests are taking place at more than one hundred stations up-and-down the country. Please see the Action for Rail website for details and come out and join us!

Main England Actions
Tuesday 3rd January 2017, 8am
• London King’s Cross Station
• Manchester Piccadilly Station

Main Scotland Action
Wednesday 5th January 2017, 5pm
• Glasgow Central Station

Join the action for a publicly owned railway!

12th August 2016 | Demonstration / News

On Tuesday 16th August, we’re teaming up with our friends at We Own It and Action For Rail to organise protests at stations all over the UK – from Brighton to Glasgow – to End the #RailRipOff. See the Facebook event for full details of times / locations and read on for some of the special events.

#SouthernFail Protest
On Tuesday 16th August, we continue the #SouthernFail campaign, demanding that the failing franchise be returned to public ownership. Join the protest at London Bridge station from 7:30-9am, (Exit 1).

Support the campaign against Abellio Greater Anglia
Through our Franchises initiative, we’re supporting the Norfolk 4 Nationalisation of Rail campaign. On Tuesday 16th August they are holding rallies at Norwich and London Liverpool Street stations from 11am-1pm. Go along to hear guest speakers from 12noon.

Stop the Privatisation of Network Rail!
For over a year, we’ve been campaigning to stop Network Rail – the only bit of our railway still in public ownership – from being broken-up and privatised. On Tuesday 16th August our friends at We Own It will be descending on Network Rail offices at 9:30am to hand in our petitions. Please make sure you sign and share them before:
https://weownit.org.uk/act-now/stop-bankers-selling-our-stations
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/networkrail

Protest against Southern Railways

8th July 2016 | Demonstration / News

#SouthernFail

We’re supporting passenger action against profiteering train company Southern Railway, as part of our ‘franchises‘ initiative. Public ownership is the commonsense solution to ‪#‎SouthernFail‬.

Protest:
London Victoria Station
Monday 11 July, 17:30

See Facebook Event for details >

Print your Bring Back British Rail banners and get down there!
• Privatisation is Not Progress >
• Passengers Before Profit >

NOR4NOR: Norfolk for Nationalisation of Rail

10th June 2016 | Demonstration / News

As the Department for Transport gears up to announce which profiteering company will takeover our Greater Anglia rail franchise this month, activists in Norfolk are fighting back by demanding public ownership instead. We’re very proud to be supporting NOR4NOR: Norfolk for Nationalisation of Rail through our ‘franchises‘ initiative.

NOR4NOR

This leaflet will be distributed at stations and events across East Anglia in the coming months. Please support them!