It’s time to kick FirstGroup out our our railways
19th February 2023 | News
Did you know that FirstGroup plc is the main player hiding behind four of our failing train operating companies, which have been causing misery for millions of passengers: Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, South Western Railway and Great Western Railway?
Three or these contracts are up for renewal this year. We cannot allow the Department for Transport to reward First’s failure. Please join our Kick First Out! Avanti & TransPennine Passenger Rally at the DfT of Monday 20 March 2023, 10am
Kick First Out! Avanti & TransPennine Passenger Rally
Monday 20 March 2023, 10am
Department for Transport
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR
We will be submitting our petition to Bring our West Coast rail services back into public ownership to Transport Secretary Mark Harper MP, so please make sure you sign the petition in advance.
Please register on Eventbrite if you’re coming to the Passenger Rally so we can keep track of numbers: kickfirstout.eventbrite.com
Share our #KickFirstOut graphic on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The crisis on Avanti West Coast is escalating
6th September 2022 | News / Petition
The crisis on Avanti West Coast is escalating.
On 14 August 2022, Avanti – part-owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia (Italy’s state-owned rail operator!) – drastically reduced the timetable on our West Coast Main Line.
Avanti is now running less than half of the usual services between London and our big north western cities: Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Carlisle, Glasgow and more.
On 2 September, Avanti’s £273,000-per-year boss Phil Whittingham announced he was leaving to “pursue other executive leadership opportunities”.
The company is in total disarray.
Meanwhile, on 4 September it was reported that the Department for Transport (DfT) is still planning to renew Avanti’s contract (which expires on 16 October) for another 10-years.
This is not any old rail contract either – it’s the so-called ‘West Coast Partnership’, which could see useless profiteers Avanti handed the keys to run the first services on our new HS2 line that will have been built with close to £100 billion of public money.
This must be stopped. Today our lawyers written to the DfT to demand they take these concerns seriously and act urgently to bring our West Coast Main Line back into public ownership (like LNER, Northern and Southeastern already are).
Please help keep the pressure up by signing our petition and sharing details on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
There’s still time to make Great British Railways. . . great!
2nd August 2022 | News
Did you know that the UK Government is now consulting on the biggest legislative changes to our railways since the disastrous Railways Act 1993, which created privatisation? The deadline is this Thursday 4 August, 11:45pm.
They’ve done their best to keep this consultation hidden – rushing it through in just eight weeks over the summer. But this is a great opportunity to make the case for greater public ownership of rail – enabling direct awards to our publicly-owned operator, which currently runs LNER, Northern and Southeastern – to reduce fragmentation and ensure more of our railways are run in the public interest.
Please take time this week to respond to the consultation. Together with our friends at We Own It we’ve put together a handy guide.
New petition to make our West Coast Main Line public
21st February 2022 | News / Petition
Today we’re launching a new petition to Make West Coast Public. If our East Coast Main Line can be run in public ownership, then our West Coast should be too.
Please help us make a big impact over the next month, by sharing details with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Legal action to take Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern back into public hands
27th January 2022 | News
Today we’re launching legal action against the Department for Transport to stop them awarding the disgraced private company Govia a six-year contract to continue running rail services on Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern. Together these form Britain’s biggest rail franchise (known as TSGN), which has been dogged by problems since Govia first took over operations in 2015.
What’s more, the companies that own Govia – the Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) – are currently under investigation for alleged serious and long-standing fraud on their other neighbouring rail franchise, Southeastern.
The situation on Southeastern became so bad, that the Department for Transport took action to bring it back into public ownership in October 2021.
If Southeastern can be brought back into public ownership, then Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern should be too!
This would provide much better value for money, and be more transparent and accountable to the public. In the long-term, it would also enable us to deliver a re-unified and integrated commuter railway – improving connections with Transport for London and across the SouthEast.
If you’d like to help us #TakeBackTSGN, then please make a pledge on our CrowdJustice page.
We’re kickstarting this case with the funds left over from our successful legal action to make the East Coast mainline public in 2018.
We’re looking for further contributions from supporters to help us meet our £20,000 target before the deadline on 23 February 2022.
Our Lawyers’ Correspondence
• 1 February 2022: Devonshires to Department for Transport
• 11 February 2022: Devonshires to Department for Transport
• 16 February 2022: Department for Transport to Devonshires
• 2 March 2022: Department for Transport to Devonshires
• 22 March 2022: Devonshires to Department for Transport
• 25 March 2022: Devonshires to Serious Fraud Office
• 31 March 2022: Department for Transport to Devonshires
• 7 April 2022: Devonshires to Department for Transport
Freedom of Information Requests
• 25 January 2022: Department for Transport to Bring Back British Rail
• 4 February 2022: Department for Transport to Association of British Commuters
Media Coverage
• 27 January 2022, ‘New legal campaign to take Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern into public ownership’, Association of British Commuters
• 27 January 2022, ‘Commuters start legal case to re-nationalise Southern Rail’, Inside Croydon
• 3 February 2022, ‘Government faces legal threat over Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern Rail’, ITV News
• 10 February 2022, ‘Details of Go-Ahead rail scandal kept secret’, The Times
• 14 February 2022, ‘Department for Transport hides scandalous report on Go-Ahead fraud investigation’, Association of British Commuters
• 24 February 2022, ‘Dramatic increase to £80m in cost of Southeastern train accounting scandal’, The Guardian
• 24 February 2022, ‘£81.3m fine strengthens case against Southern’s new franchise’, Inside Croydon
• 28 February 2022, Fifteen years of fraud: allegations against The Go-Ahead Group have doubled in scale, Association of British Commuters
• 22 March 2022, Govia Ltd: the biggest rail corruption scandal since privatisation, Association of British Commuters
• 22 March 2022, Government is about to let #SouthernFail off the hook again, Inside Croydon
• 7 April 2022, The Rail Privatisation Scam, Tribune
Christmas 2021 Merch
5th December 2021 | Merchandise / News
Looking for some Christmas gift ideas? ??
All proceeds from Bring Back British Rail merch sales go towards funding campaign materials and activities. Order online by end Thursday 16 December 2021 to receive in time for Christmas ?
Great British Railways Debate
20th May 2021 | Media Coverage / News
On the day Transport Secretary Grant Shapps launched the long-awaited Williams Rail Review, Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison was invited on BBC 2’s Jeremy Vine programme to debate the pros and cons of the ‘Great British Railways‘ proposal with Pete Waterman.
ScotRail Re-nationalised!
17th March 2021 | News / Petition
Today Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson finally announced that the ScotRail franchise will be brought back into public ownership from 1 April 2022, when Abellio’s contract ends.
Thanks to everyone who signed our Make ScotRail Public petition, first launched the day after the Independence Referendum in September 2014. It has been a long fight, but we did it! Please share the good news on Facebook and Twitter.
Scrap the fare hikes – we need public ownership now
1st March 2021 | News
Today the UK Government hikes rail fares in England and Wales by 2.6% – the first above inflation increase for seven years.
Meanwhile, they are busy trying to negotiate new ‘National Rail Contracts’ with a host of failed private train operating companies, which could lock us into this broken privatised system for decades to come.
Bringing all rail franchises back into public ownership would be simple, with the publicly-owned ‘Operator of Last Resort’ – which already runs LNER and Northern – ready to go. This could immediately enable fare cuts of 5%, and would ensure that our railways can be run in the interests of passengers and the environment to help get our country moving again as we emerge from the pandemic.
Please take action today by writing to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
Scrap the fare hikes
End the contract chaos
We need public ownership now
Transport for Wales Rail re-nationalised!
7th February 2021 | News
Today we celebrate the Wales & Borders franchise being brought back into public ownership by the Welsh Government, following 25 years of failed privatisation. Announcing the move on 22 October 2020, the Welsh Minister for Transport Ken Skates MS said this would provide the “most stable financial base to manage rail services as we emerge from the pandemic”.
The Welsh Government must have been listening to our #TakeBackOurTrains campaign. We have been saying since the start of this crisis, that returning rail to public ownership is the only sensible response – to prioritise safety, save public money and help improve services in the long-term. As Ken Skates went on to say: “a new publicly owned model… will allow [Transport for Wales] to continue to put customers and communities at the heart of everything they do, with safety as their first priority”.
Now the Scottish Government and the UK’s Department for Transport must stop bailing out the failing private rail companies running Britain’s other rail franchises and follow Wales’ lead.
This morning the Department for Transport announced they were awarding FirstGroup's failing company Avanti West Coast a 6-month contract extension🚆😤 We held our Kick First Out! Avanti & TransPennine Passenger Rally at the DfT and submitted our petition signed by nearly 14,000 people to Transport Secretary Mark Harper. No more new contracts. It's time to #KickFirstOut ✊ ... See MoreSee Less
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Obviously if you run a rubbish service you will get rewarded
What do you expect with a Tory government
The surprising thing is that the government subsidies train companies-shareholders are the only winners here.
These extensions will be so they can award the next franchise right before the general election and for significant terms to make it harder for them to be re-nationalised.
And please take Stagecoach with you when you go !
It is not just a First Group company though as it is part owned by the Italian State Railways/FS.
Failure pays?
How much more of our money will they get as well. Shareholders must be laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.😡😠🤬
PATHETIC!! SHAMEFUL, TYPICAL!!!
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Are you a long-suffering Avanti passenger?🚆 Don’t miss your chance to sign our #MakeWestCoastPublic petition! We will be handing it to Mark Harper this Monday 20 March, 10am as part of our Kick First Out! Avanti & TransPennine Passenger Rally at the DfT ✊ Please add your name & come join us! 👇
📝 you.38degrees.org.uk/p/westcoast ... See MoreSee Less
Bring our West Coast rail services back into public ownership
you.38degrees.org.uk
I've just signed the petition to bring West Coast rail services back into public ownership. Join me here: you.38degrees.org.uk/org/petitions/bring-our-west-coast-rail-services-back-into-public...Comment on Facebook
Actually no, I'm not! But sympathy to those who are. Indeed, in the spring I'm going to Ireland for a short break and, from here in Scotland, I'll be going down the ECML to York, then across country on Northern Trains (state-owned) to Chester, then by Trafnidiaeth Cymru to the ferry port.
They seem to spending lots of money in refurbishment of these things while others are introducing the 800 series unit replacements for the 220/221s.
Just look Avanti West Coast performance levels, cancellations, staff shortages is all the evidence required for rail network to be taken back public ownership. Considering there is already parts of the network already in but in name in public ownership Northern, LNER and Transport for Wales 🏴, Scotrail 🏴and the North next franchise to be brought in house so to speak is Caledonian Sleeper by the Scottish Government. This is on top of Network Rail being for at the failure of Railtrack which was in the private sector. If BR had cash ingestion that the franchise holders have had pumped into the since privatisation by John Major's Tory Government things would of maybe been different. Instead the road lobby had influenced Government policy to spend cash on road building programmes. They clearer didn't see climate change coming where rail would through correct Government policies get freight onto the railway. This needs improvements in the rail infrastructure to give more paths on the network for freight trains espically on the ECML AND WCML plus other routes such as Highland Main line.
What this government ought to do is grow a pair and renationalise the whole of the UK's railways, but they won't do that because some MP's are on boards of some of the TOC companies.
Explain how the main man on DFT been on the board for Avanti no impartiality their
Yes bring back British rail
Won't let me sign Oh well
Tory scum have given them another 6 month contract are they for real
I'm not even a train passenger any more for the simple reason that the fares are exorbitant and unaffordable. Add to that the fact that I am disabled and need to use a mobility scooter, though I can still drive, trains on the national network are inaccessible. Also there is the fact that the fares are daylight robbery and you have the facts in a nutshell. We need to take ALL public services back into public ownership and then run a PUBLIC SERVICE with them instead of as a cash cow for the tories greedy cronies. A typical example of the stupidity and inefficiency of privatisation is that of a friend who lives here in Watchet and has a brother who lives in Ilfracombe. If he visits by public transport (bus & train) he cannot get there and back in a day and has to stop over by sleeping on a sofa. That is also apart from the fact that the fare is outrageously expensive on the train and is unaffordable even taking into consideration that he has his 'old gits' free travel bus pass. I can do Ilfracombe in about 90 minutes in the car and at a fraction of the cost and this at a time when we hear all the double speak from this government about global warming, mostly hot air, of course, as they are not to be trusted to do anything about these porblems.
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Are you an angry Avanti West Coast or TransPennine Express Trains passenger? 🚆😡 Join our Kick First Out! Avanti & TransPennine Passenger Rally at the DfT to tell Transport Secretary Mark Harper MP enough is enough.
📅 Monday 20 March 2023, 10am
📍 Department for Transport, London, SW1P 4DR
👉 kickfirstout.eventbrite.com ... See MoreSee Less
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We will be submitting our #MakeWestCoastPublic petition - now signed by more than 12,000 people - to Transport Secretary Mark Harper, so please make sure you sign the petition before 20 March 👇 you.38degrees.org.uk/p/westcoast
Bring Back all the passenger operations into Public ownership. It's the only way Forward.
I avoid all train journeys if possible these days - there is no evidence of organisational abilities anywhere.
Let’s kick out Failing FirstGroup.
It seems to be the same with their bus service. Busses don’t turn up without any notification.
As usual its rich friends over providing efficient public services - why?? We dont want Avanti running our trains on the West coast!!😡😟
We use the First buses everyday and find that they provide a good service. Unlike some other towns we have a good regular bus service in Portsmouth.
Trans pennine are so bad I won't book tickets using them at all. In my experience they almost never run on the Manchester to Hull axis. Better Leeds to Manchester but at 15 min frequency lots of alternatives
LNER are no better and they're public owned.
Enough is enough
How about disgruntled Southeastern customers?
Let's pretend Labour is socialist party.
First group are along with all the other companies are failing with buses as well.
About time First got the boot, worst transport company ever
I saw the big FIRST logo and all the corporate pink and was about to rip into the f88kers, then realised it was you, so; Keep Up The Good Work!
Bring back British Rail and not bus companies to run our railways
Usual rubbish then. I've not had any problems with Avanti West Coast lately nor have a lot of my colleagues.
The railways shoul NEVER have been privatised in the first place nor should the buses as they have ALL been an absolute disaster ever since. Along with re-nationalisation, we also need to re-instate as much as possible of the network that Marples and his crony Beeching closed down in the 1960s. There are no longer any execuses for NOT doing so as the climate emergency demands a reliable, affordable and available PUBLIC transport system whereby we can remove lots of cars from our roads. That means that privatisation is a DEAD DUCK as it is UNAFFORDABLE both in the short term and the long term. Kick the privateers out - they wouldn't stand for this rubbish anywhere else in Europe !
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Great news from Scotland today! 🥳 Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth MSP has announced that the Caledonian Sleeper service will be brought back into #PublicOwnership from 25 June 2023 🚆 That will make 6 of Britain's 20 rail franchises back in public hands 👇 bringbackbritishrail.org/franchises ... See MoreSee Less
Ministers nationalise 'world class' cross-border train service - but why?
www.heraldscotland.com
MINISTERS have confirmed they are to nationalise the key Caledonian Sleeper service which operates overnight rail passenger services between…Comment on Facebook
Still paying out money to the private owned leasing companies & to GBRf for the locomotives & crew. Until that is dealt with it will never be fully back in public hand.
It was run by Serco says it all really
I am all for public ownership, I am also old enough to remember the experience of using British Rail
As someone that uses the Sleeper on a regular basis, we will see what changes if any. To be fair the Mk3s where looking shabby, I do miss the Mk2 brake vans, as it was good to get large luggage out of the cabin. I have used the Mk5s the ride was fine both in the standard two berth cabin and the double bed version. I think the Mk5s traditional berth is slightly smaller that the Mk3. The Sleeper service is brilliant, no need to worry about the cost of luggage in the hold of a plane. I have been told just to have a small holdal on a plane costs £8 each way. The class 73s has not worked as well as planned as every time I am travelling from Inverness the train is double headed with a class 66 & the class 73.
The damage has been done
Good news hope return bargain berths senceable ticket prices
That's one how long before the rest go the same way .
Hurray, bring them all back
Might be because the Scottish MP’s use it to travel to and from Westminster.
Too little to late sadly
And only temporarily.
Cross border ffs
Fantastic!
Remember, the same lunatics will be running the asylum!
Great news .
Brilliant
It's good to see some people actually waking up from this mad privatisation
Still won't stop the new stock riding awfully lol
Hope it’s cheaper
About time !! Now for the rest !!
Serco as usual being greedy and trying to extract more taxpayers to swell their greedy coffers. No wonder the scottish tories are winging winning and belly aching about the move to make it publicly owned again.
I'd draw the line at calling it world beating. The seats on the VSOE don't make yr bum mumb.
Still a terrible ride
6 down, 20 to go.
Typical rubbish then. Scotrail is falling to pieces thanks to the SNP Government, now the overnight sleeper to Scotland will go to pot. Bring back the big 4.
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Did you know that FirstGroup Plc runs four of our failing train companies: Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express Trains, South Western Railway and GWR? 🚆💰💸 Three of these contracts are up for renewal this year. We cannot allow the Department for Transport to renew them! It’s time to #KickFirstOut ✊ ... See MoreSee Less
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Please sign our petition to #MakeWestCoastPublic 👇 you.38degrees.org.uk/p/westcoast
Whoever thought a bus company that struggled to run buses properly would make a good train operator needs their head examined
Their buses are rubbish too. They've just pulled out of Southampton today, and their remaining service in the area, Portsmouth/Fareham/Gosport, is skeletal and evaporating. When I lived in Plymouth they tried to further break into the city from a couple of country routes they had, and that ended in ignominious failure. I hate them.
Tory-Mates though... Hard to provide decent service levels and pay yourselves huge dividends at the same time. Public ownership is not the Conservative way. They prefer selling assets for a one time financial gain and then squandering them.
Avanti and TPE are clearly rubbish, but SWR and GWR aren't exactly failing surely?
Anyone else remember First's original strapline? "Transforming travel". Well they've certainly done that alright. Shysters, scammers and downright crooks in cahoots with a government of the very same mindset, this is how and why they survive and prosper.
I suspect First view trains as buses on rails, hence their enthusiasm to strip the trains of buffets, shops, first class and anything else that diffentiates the train from a bus! Avanti's franchise also expires in less than 6 weeks time and no announcement yet by the DfT, sadly I think it's almost a certainty now they're getting an extension. Could have been an ideal opportunity for the Government to fire a warning shot across the bows of First Group by taking Avanti off them, but more chance of Lord Lucan heading up the franchise than that happening!
Is there any franchises that actually work? Although not related to First, Northern rail is pretty appalling.
Why did the idiotic goverbment sell our railways to european countries, so they make profirs to runtheir own railways cheaper than ours????
I would like BR back - the franchise system makes no sense, having all the bad parts of a commercial operation and none of the good bits - but to be fair, I use GWR regularly and I haven't had a problem with them.
No one who actually remembers BR could want it back surely? Filthy trains, vile food, staff in old clothes, ghastly stations, services withdrawn if popular………..
Sadly the Tories won't let them fail because that would mean placing them in the hands of OLR on a COST NEUTRAL BASIS. Actually saving the tax payers money.
They got kicked out of London for the crap bus services they provided so it’s no wonder they screwed up the trains.
If OLR is brought in for those companies there will be so few in private operation that it makes no sense anymore to continue the pretence that private operation is good. May as well go the whol hog. LNER, Northern, Southeastern. If joined by TPE, Avanti and SWR then really the rest should join them.
Yep take off these money grabbing Companies who care more about their shareholders than passengers
As far as I know, the only issues with SWR are their current lack of trains. The delays with the 701s aren't their fault, although their decisions to reform the 458s and scrap the 442s is questionable. And of course the landslide at Hook, and the ongoing resignalling thats going on.
Unfortunately there would probably be no change to the services provided by these TOCs by jettisoning First Group; the problems are largely not of their making.
Take care the dying government doesn’t put a long franchise in place just to spite the incoming government.
I thought avanti nw was trenitalia, Italian state run railway?. Either way, they should never of been sold off to anyone, they are a public asset.
GWR is fairly good , the others are a joke however SER and GTR also a total joke run by go ahead cowboys
Yet First own Hull Trains which is one of the best, albeit an open access operator rather than a franchise.
First Bus has also sliced our local services here in worcester. Pretty much no buses after 1800.
I expect they have already re won them franchise by now.
Can't believe you missed out on the slogan "First to go"
The shareholders reap the benefits, and the taxpayer gets lumbered with the debt.
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