Passengers Rise Up! National Day of Action
20th December 2019 | Demonstration / Media Coverage / News
On Thursday 2nd 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 2nd 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
We all want British Rail
18th January 2019 | Media Coverage / News
Coverage in the Daily Mirror of our Care2 petition hand-in with more than 120,000 signatures, at the Department for Transport on 18 January 2019. We’re demanding that the public ownership of our railways is properly considered in the Williams Rail Review.
Add your name here: care2.com/renationaliserailways
Rail Revolution: Day of Action
11th December 2018 | Demonstration / Media Coverage / News
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
Jeremy Vine on bringing back British Rail
20th September 2018 | Media Coverage / News
Following the Office of Rail and Road finding that ‘systemic failings’ have been the cause of the huge problems with new timetables on the Northern and Govia Thameslink Railway franchises, Ellie Harrison was invited to address the question ‘should we bring back British Rail?’ on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show.
‘Privatised rail just doesn’t work’ – Ellie Harrison
20th September 2018 | Media Coverage / News
Bring Back British Rail campaign founder Ellie Harrison was interviewed by Johanna Ross for Sputnik News, following Chris Grayling’s acknowledgement that ‘systemic failings’ are the cause of the many problems on our privatised rail network. Isn’t that what we’ve been saying for the last nine years?
BBC Radio Essex
15th June 2018 | Media Coverage
Following weeks of disruption in on South East England’s railways, Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison was invited to discuss re-nationalisation on Breakfast with Ben and Sonia on BBC Radio Essex.
Success! Or is it?
1st June 2018 | Fundraising / Media Coverage / News
On 16 May 2018, one month after we launched our Crowd Justice campaign to take Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to court over his handling of the Virgin Trains East Coast franchise fiasco, it was announced in the media that the route would be ‘re-nationalised’, as LNER (London North Eastern Railway) from 24 June 2018.
Success! Or is it? It later emerged that the new LNER franchise (unlike ‘East Coast’, which ran the line from 2009-15 and was wholly publicly-owned by the Department for Transport), would be run by a consortium of private companies: Arup, Ernst & Young and SNC-Lavalin.
Our legal action continues. Our lawyers have now written to Government for a forth time: to request further information about the new LNER arrangement, as well as the ongoing review of the suitability of Stagecoach and Virgin to retain their franchise ‘Passports’, given the dramatic failure of their Virgin Trains East Coast operation after just three years.
Thanks to all 907 people who have so far pledged support on Crowd Justice. Together we have already had a huge impact on events. Please continue to join this historic action.
Pledge and share our case page today: crowdjustice.com/case/eastcoast
Our Lawyers’ Letters
• 5 March 2018: Leigh Day to Department for Transport
• 16 April 2018: Leigh Day to Department for Transport (Pre-Action Protocol)
• 15 May 2018: Leigh Day to Government Legal Department
• 1 June 2018: Leigh Day to Government Legal Department
• 17 July 2018: Leigh Day to Government Legal Department
• 21 May 2019: Leigh Day to Government Legal Department
• 26 June 2019: Leigh Day to Government Legal Department
Our Case in the News
• 18 April 2018: The Canary (Interview with Ellie Harrison of Bring Back British Rail)
• 19 April 2018: BBC News
• 19 April 2018: ITV News
• 19 April 2018: City AM
• 16 May 2018: Financial Times
BBC Radio Scotland
21st November 2016 | Media Coverage / News
The day after Scotland’s Transport Minister Humza Yousef announces plans to set up a public sector operator for ScotRail, Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison debates rail re-nationalisation on The Kaye Adams Programme on BBC Radio Scotland.
The Today Programme debate
27th August 2016 | Media Coverage / News
Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison debates rail re-nationalisation with Pete Waterman on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Interview with Oliver Lewis
24th August 2016 | Media Coverage / News
Oliver Lewis from Bring Back British Rail discusses the state of Britain’s railways on ShareRadio.
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Bring Back British Rail
3 weeks ago
No More Rail Reviews: It’s time to declare a National Crisis in Public Transport! Read the Association of British Commuters' brilliant blog laying out passengers' demands for 2020:
🚌 Declare a National Crisis in Public Transport
🚂 Abandon the Williams Rail Review
📝 Hold a Referendum on Public Ownership of Rail and Bus Services ...
No More Rail Reviews: It's time to declare a National Crisis in Public Transport - Association of British Commuters
abcommuters.com
At a time when rail francising is quite clearly collapsing, today’s 2.7% fare rise is an outrage, and another clear sign that the government and industry will continue to treat us as no more than a captive market, continuing to pay more while we are constantly receiving less. Today, we’ll be joi...Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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I think BR could learn from the TfL model, make all operators wear British Rail blue / grey (Jaffa livery for Greater Anglia's Essex Express :D )... all the bus firms in London manage with a sensible fare system and one livery. Corbyn's plan of buy the lot and make a State Railway was as mad as his Broadband offer 🙄🤣
Wouldn't want British rail back was a rail and underground commuter from the age of 16 was bloody aweful probably the same in all of our big cities Use the rail services now for long journeys to visit family (using off peak) trains are clean staff helpful and friendly and mostly trains run on time And the sandwiches are edible All this is about commuters and until offices and shops stagger work ours in big cities ths is never going to change it was the same in my commuting days and has never changed we were packed like sardines standing most of the way trains were late or cancelled and if you work 9 to 5 it will forever be the same
No one wants to go back to a rail system as we had in the 80s any more than I want to ride in a 1980s car. But looking at the rest of Europe it’s clear that the state CAN run a better cheaper service than we have. If a UK government claims this isn’t possible in the UK then I want a more competent government.
I'm not supporting anything that asks for a referendum. Not just because of the current mess but also because if the government do some kind of associated dodginess and we lose we'll be in a worse position than now.
Too late. The morons have voted and we have a tory government again
The Tories don’t understand the concept of service - they only understand profit - money, money and more money for shareholders, top management and Tory politicians.
They ant to get every e. Public transport ! Then make it cheap and on time !
Used BR lots in the 80s and 90s, pretty good services and despite what daily mail car drivers and Les Dawson will have think, catering was quite ok and,restuarant meals really good. sod todays prices , pure rentier economics, lining the pockets of the international rich set.
I just understand how the government want us to give up our cars yet public transport is a joke never on time and prices right out of control in some cases it's cheaper to use the car.
I remember about 25 years ago that it used to be cheaper for 2 people to travel a long trip by car rather than get 2 returns by train. It's now cheaper for 1 person to take their car rather than take the train. I thought the idea of public transport was to get people off the roads.
The people who voted Tory obviously don't mind paying higher prices for a poorer service while bankrolling the franchises. Good on them
This fudgekin lot only listens to it's own share holders and the boards and the profit patrol not interested in the people only profit 🤬🤬🤬
98% of fare revenue goes back into the railway, staff cost, DfT, Network Rail charges ...
Way to do this would have been to vote in a party that would have done something. Not the same party that's been in power for 9 years.
It takes a degree in economics to get the best ticket.
To late profit before services Tory’s don’t care
Unfortunately we’ll have to forget about this for at least another four years.
but lets keep voting tory because we all know 10 years was not long enough to sort out the transport system
What you going to do about those working class Tories who voted to pay more.
Sadly there is too much money changing hands for change!
Why shud taxpayers pay to re-natitiolise it? First that, then the floodgates will open.
Profit over people. The Tory mantra!
So easy just to blame the Tories and sit back. Job done.
If you didn’t vote Labour shut up and suck it up!
I’d like to see a study done on how much per mile the 27 members of EU pay for rail travel. And compare it to ours. Gino just took a train to Florence and only paid about 7 euros on his tv show.
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Bring Back British Rail is at King's Cross St Pancras.
3 weeks ago
Passengers Rise Up! Day of Action at stations across the UK today, demanding an end to the farce of rail franchising and fair fares now! With Bring Back British Rail, the Association of British Commuters, Northern Resist and NOR4NOR ✊🚂 ...
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I was told that as well , but I’m still in the railway 45 years this year, I don’t like privatised railways but even if Labour got in it would have taken years to renationalise the railways as too many TOCS with different conditions and wages so it would have been a nightmare to sort it out, and it would never go back to what it was in BR days the damage has been done for too long
Note that South Western Railways could be nationalised as it been losing £137m
The country had its chance to sort all this out at the election, you cant vote for capitalism and expect socialism!!!!!! These protests will fall on deaf ears as they have done since privatisation began, try telling a director or shareholder the won't get his 6 million pound bonus this year because passengers dont like it!!
where is the so called investment in services? I live in tunbridge wells, service is satisfactory. no major problems in the 25 years of commuting to london, except the cost!! BUT, it has been the same rolling stock in use since late 90's, slam door carriages were still in use in 2001. the timetable is the same as BR in 1994, 3-6 minutes quicker into london, only by cutting out station stops after sevenoaks. they paint the stations,change uniforms with new franchises. ALL cosmetic, mediocre changes at great cost to users.
Part of our railways are State owned, the other privatised & owned by a multitude of companies from other countries. Have no problem with this. My bugbear is the difference in service/philosophy between the railways being a public service for good (to help mitigate climate change & that of making a profit for shareholders of private companies who don’t care about their social impact.
Yep agree. Turkeys voted for xmas. Really is no point. Admirable tho the demos are.
Too late for renationalisation now. After it was initially privatised and the BR ‘red tape’ removed it should have THEN been re-nationalised. It’s now gone too far down the path for renationalisation to be effective now. Too many fingers in too many pies for it to work. Someone mentioned electric vehicles. Incredibly unlikely to happen. Not enough infrastructure for it, technology not ready to give adequate range for all except urban areas. The reasons go on.
Yeha your train services being somewhat shambolic isn’t a national crisis Ours are worse in Aus and well we are in a national crisis
All the folk going on about voting for Corbyn and his fairytale campaign.. Get a grip, the government whether Tory or Labour love the roads as the revenue generated by fuel duty is huge! The cost of running a car and buying a train ticket for the same journey are canny similar!
It's a bit late now. BBBR should have publicly supported the labour party.
To many foreign companies running the networks hence we pay the highest fare prices in Europr
Looking at most of the people in the photos, not many of them will remember BR...also, the country voted in December and chose to keep the conservatives, so now you know..why don't you stop wasting your time with this futile campaign and put your efforts in to something more useful, such as encouraging the motoring masses to move over to EV'S?
The sheep dont understand they voted for lamb leg steaks... fools
Well if people voted in labour would be a different story !
The chance of real change was missed on 12th December.
Do realize ticket revenue goes to the government, right?
You could have changed things, but no now you must all pay up.
not a lot of support
Well done!
You had your chance in General election to change a failed system so get on with it
If the rail network did somehow get back into BR, would it really improve anything?
You voted for it
It's a cash cow, what kind of bonuses are the fat cats on?
I assume that most folks subjected to perpetual train misery voted Tory?
Public choice was that they liked the Tory policy of private ownership of rail. They enjoy the price increases and companies taking public money to give to their shareholders. Overcrowded filthy trains are wonderful. They had a chance to decide to Re-Nationalise rail services and decisively voted against it. The great British public have decided.
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Bring Back British Rail
3 weeks ago
This Thursday 2nd January 2020! ✊ Please join passengers from Bring Back British Rail, the Association of British Commuters, Northern Resist, NOR4NOR and more who will protesting at stations across the country for our Passengers Rise Up! Day of Action demanding an end to the farce of rail franchising and fair fares now! 🚂 Event Schedule 👉
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
11:30-12:30 London Liverpool Street Station
16:00-17:30 Burton-on-Trent Station
16:30-19:30 Bolton Station ...
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Reopen obvious gaps like Matlock- Buxton, Uckfield- Lewes, and the whole Waverley route. Reconnect large towns like Wisbeach.
People have selective memories. Yes, BR was successful in many ways, especially InterCity, but local services were often sparse and many have been improved, for example Reading - Basingstoke which I used to commute for decades. In the 80's there was only one stopper an hour and only about 6 cross country expresses a day. Now it's a stopper every 30 mins AND a cross country Express once or twice an hour. But I agree the profits should not go to other places. And InterCity was running subsidy free at privatisation in 1992.
Short memories me thinks. BR services were very poor. As for re- nationalisation LNER is no great example of that.
For pure pedantry (!), do note that 'Passengers rise up!' (as above) is a statement: they do rise up. What you intended, I think, is an instruction or invitation: 'Passengers, rise up!'
It's gone to far now. The Real Railwayman have gone only few left. Railway used to run on tea and rumours. Now it's greed. And most is foreign run with more tBritish taxpayers money than B.R ever received. Which under investment was the main handicap.
Protesting at stations that ha e new fleets and massive investment ate very visable . What's the significance of Burton. Seems to make little sense that one
Abellio are doing such a wonderful job in Scotland that they are losing the contract in 2022 at the mid point. Seems they asked for extra cash....
The train service from Scarborough to anywhere is shocking which is why no-one in their right mind from Scarborough uses the trains hence the constantly clogged up roads
We want our country back with profits going to improve our railways and reduce fares
Network Rail is state owned and the TOCs are more heavily regulated by yhe DfT than BR ever was.
Who voted for Boris then, think a few of you up north gave him a helping hand, you're reaping what you have sewn!
Passengers will grumble. Then they'll go back to voting Tory
Too late, shoulda voted Labour people. You'll get 5 years glib promises and patronising, and plenty of standing time to repent. If lucky.
I wish Labour had Won.. BR would be back and fares would be 1/3 off.
You all voted for this remember
What's your solution. A protest vote wins nothing as proved
Never going to happen no matter what colour team is in charge, to many Fat Cats creaming profit.
Burton on Trent should say Burton upon Trent..the station has the wrong name for the town!
Bring back British Rail.
Should have voted labour then br would be back
Anything in sheffield?
Just stop 🛑 paying as counts can’t deal with 1000000 cash on top don’t pay travel for free or as I’d put it money your should have had back !!!!!!!
Why are they all south?????
nothing in manchester?
Bring Back British Rail why were you so quiet during the election?
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Bring Back British Rail
1 month ago
A big win for the campaign! Today, after four years' of pressure, The Scottish Government finally announced they would break their contract with Abellio - the rail company owned by the Dutch state - three years early. Scotland could now have a publicly-owned railway by 2022! 👉 you.38degrees.org.uk/p/publicrailwayscotland ...
Abellio ScotRail contract to end three years early
www.bbc.co.uk
Transport secretary Michael Matheson told MSPs the agreement will be terminated in March 2022.Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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Recently moved to Scotland (family here) so finding our way on the trains etc but after seeing the chaos frequently on Abellio and Virgin in the North of England, am now of the opinion the railways should be nationalised. However, having seen first hand the problems the SNP are experiencing with two major hospitals, Scotrail and now the Calmac Ferries I have to ask the question are the SNP fit to run these operations?
Scotland has a publicly owned railway - owned by the people of the Netherlands. Looks like the only country the UK government have a problem with owning railways is the UK...
I think we know already that the ScotRail franchise won’t be state owned once Abellio hand back the keys, they will let the franchise out to another company, and nothing will change.
Last time we tried to get a public railway in Scotland the present Scottish Government voted it down. We need a change of government for this to happen.
Fixed overnight by the SNP !!! So who pays for it now or do they just stop investing to pay for independence
#bringbackbritishrail
give it back to First, then I can have my Scottish holiday on my staff pass!
Go Scotland!
Brilliant
why wait 2 years?
Whoo-hoo!
Ste Moran ???
Denise Graham.
Glyn Jones is presumably dancing on the platforms in delight?
Bet Krankie gives it to Stagecoach.
Abelio are terrible....The Greater Anglia franchise is a bus more than a train...and now they have taken over in the East Midlands that’s going downhill very quickly.
Why?
XX
Andrew Moore
Tony Irle
Wales need to do the same.
Be careful what you wish for! remember the standards of service, quality of rolling stock, and capacity of the system, and reliance on Government funding!
Once again, more lazy journalism and sensationalism from the UK media. They not ending the franchise three years early. There is an option to extend the franchise for three years, from 7 years to 10 years. They have announced that they're not going to take up that option. That is all.
This needs doing to Northern Rail
Abellio are now wrecking the old East Midland Train's routes. Constantly late or cancelled
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Bring Back British Rail
1 month ago
This evening the Virgin Trains brand finally disappears from our railways as its contract running our West Coast Main Line ends... Good riddance! But with a PR campaign like this, we doubt Avanti West Coast will be much better. It's time to end the farce of rail franchising and Bring Back British Rail! Join our campaign: bringbackbritishrail.org ...
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Firstly, I'm a big supporter of nationalising the railways again. However, as a regular West Coast mainline user with Virgin over the last 22 years I have to admit a twinge of sadness at them losing the franchise. I've rarely had anything other than very good or excellent service from the brand. The trains were modern and clean. Food was acceptably priced and a decent offering and the staff were almost always super friendly. The quote in the BBC coverage by a rail expert captures it perfectly when it says that Virgin brought a "sense of panache" to the railway. In fact, such was the reputation of Virgin that people were often quite excited at a prospect of a journey with them by comparison to any of the other operators.
They’re not ‘creating a railway’ as the video might suggest. There’s a different name on the train crew payslips and that’s about it. Will they employ an Italian solution to getting the trains to run on time? 🧐
An article in the present issue of Railway Magazine would make me suggest that Branson was much too optimistic.
Goodbye Virgin who have served me well as a regular long distance commuter for five years between 2010 and 2015, and subsequently. Avanti have a hard act to follow in my humble opinion. Were we to re-nationalise train operations (and none would be happier for this to happen than myself) then I hope we reap from the lessons learned from the Virgin operation. The customer service from on train staff was good to excellent. Punctuality in my experience was better than most having commuted from Birmingham to London with them for a five year period on a daily basis. And pricing was good but relied on the ability to plan in advance to get a good price. Not always possible but Virgin were not unique in this respect.
Part owned by the Italian state railway. That's nice!
Does that include the north Wales coast to Holyhead
OK, so you want Boris Johnson running the railways?
Hopefully the talking toilets will be destroyed
Made me feel a bit sick.
the BBC seems to think that Virgin bought all the new rolling stock instead of just leasing it. :-p
Pity Virgin felt they could bypass pension agreements and refused to pay into the pot for all staff. This props up the pensions for staff on the less lucrative lines, the cornerstone of the BR pension scheme. Good riddance to bad rubbish. BBBR
I remember standing on the platform at Coventry station in March 1997 and hearing the announcement that the train that will be taking me was a Virgin train, I thought I'd misheard until the train rolled in with the Greedy tax dodgers name plastered all over it. It is very comforting to know today nearly 23 years later he no longer has his greedy mitts on another asset that he can bleed dry. I'll be raising a glass this evening.
Meanwhile elsewhere the two-car trains packed to the gun'ls, totter and groan their way along whilst 35 MILES of sidings are full of off-lease trains. Well why lease more when you can jam all your 'customers' in a couple old two-cars? Recent trip Yeovil to Bristol was the usual bundle of laughs... NOT!
Getting rid of anything associated with Branson is a huge positive.
Never travelled on West coast but was a regular on East coast and it's a damn site better since virgin lost it .
How many commentators here actually travel regularly by train ? 🤔
Same shit different colour.
What a load of PR guff
#£uqdabranson
Problem with the rancid toilet and chemical smell was because the dumb arse who designed the trains thought positioning the exhaust pipe next to the latrine tank was a good idea.
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