Take Back Our Trains interview
25th June 2020 | Media Coverage / News
As a result of our #TakeBackOurTrains campaign, Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison was invited onto talkRADIO to discuss with Ian Collins how we can use the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to build back a better railway that is run in passengers’ interests.
Time to Take Back Our Trains
16th June 2020 | News
We have been campaigning for radical reform of our broken privatised railway system for more than a decade, amassing more than 150,000 supporters on our way. As passengers and employees it was clear that privatisation has left us with a more expensive, confusing and less reliable service, that costs taxpayers double to run (in real terms) than it ever did as publicly-owned British Rail.
The coronavirus crisis has thrown everything up in the air. With passengers being instructed to make essential journeys only. Suddenly the real absurdity of running our railway via multiple for-profit businesses was laid bare. On 23 March 2020, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had to step in with Emergency Measures Agreements – further bailouts to the private Train Operating Companies – just to keep essential services running for our keyworkers.
These EMAs are up for renewal this September. We cannot afford to throw more and more public money away into broken privatised rail. The crisis provides the opportunity we have been waiting for to #TakeBackOurTrains. This will enable us to prioritise safety without needing to put profit-making ahead of social distancing. This will save public money, with the cost of extending EMAs likely to be far more than running services in-house under the ‘Operator of Last Resort’, which currently runs LNER and Northern after those franchises failed. And it will enable us to improve services in the long-term.
With all our Train Operating Companies finally back in public ownership, we can begin the long-overdue project of re-unifying our railways under one public company. This will allow us to provide the affordable, coherent and reliable service that our country needs to recover from this coronavirus crisis: rebuilding our economy and society, addressing the climate emergency and ensuring carbon emissions and air pollution never return to the toxic pre-lockdown levels.
Make ScotRail Public
1st April 2020 | News / Petition
Five years ago today, Abellio – the company owned by the Dutch government – took over running Scotland’s Railway. After years of poor service, on 18 December 2019, the Scottish Minister for Transport Michael Matheson MSP, finally announced that he would break Abellio’s contract three years’ early (on 31 March 2022).
On 1 April 2020, we re-launched the Make ScotRail Public campaign in collaboration with our friends at Get Glasgow Moving, TSSA and We Own It, to demand that a public sector operator is ready to take over running ScotRail services by 2022.
‘Britain’s trains have effectively been nationalised’
23rd March 2020 | News
Today, as a result of the Coronavirus Outbreak, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps utilised Section 118 of the Railways Act 1993 to suspend all current franchise agreements with private Train Operating Companies and replace them with temporary Emergency Measures Agreements.
This led The Guardian newspaper to report that ‘Britain’s trains have effectively been nationalised‘, despite this actually looking more like a massive bailout for failing private companies whose share prices then surged as a result.
These Emergency Measures Agreements also only apply to franchises currently let by the Department for Transport and, of course, exclude LNER and Northern, which are already in public ownership – a fact we were celebrating at the start of the month:
So, the new Emergency Measures Agreements do not apply to:
• the ScotRail or the Caledonian Sleeper franchises let by the Scottish Government,
• the Transport for Wales Rail franchise let by the Welsh Government,
• the TfL Rail or London Overground contracts let by Transport for London, or
• the Merseyrail contract let by Merseytravel
Please explore the ‘Franchises‘ pages of our website (first launched in 2015 and now updated regularly) to find out who runs the railways in your area, and how you can help campaign for public ownership:
Keep Northern Public
24th February 2020 | Demonstration / News
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.
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
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
BBC Radio Scotland ScotRail debate
19th December 2019 | Media Coverage / News
Following Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson’s announcement that he would be ending Abellio’s contract to run the ScotRail franchise three years’ early (on 31 March 2022), Bring Back British Rail’s Ellie Harrison was invited onto BBC Radio Scotland’s Jackie Brambles show to discuss ScotRail’s future with rail journalist Philip Haigh and Rachel Jackson, actress and comedian.
General Election 2019
22nd November 2019 | Merchandise / News
The Labour Party’s manifesto for the UK General Election on 12 December 2019 promises to deliver publicly-owned railways, mail, water and energy. Could this finally be our chance to Bring Back British Rail?
Make sure you register to vote before the deadline on Tuesday 26 November 2019, 11.59pm so that you can have your say!
And order your Bring Back British Rail merchandise in time for the election! Our #GE2019 Special Offer gets you a Rail Card Wallet, Enamel Badge and Embroidered Patch for just £10 including delivery in the UK.
Williams Rail Review
18th March 2019 | News
Today Bring Back British Rail and We Own It met Keith Williams, head of the Williams Rail Review, the biggest review of our railways since privatisation.
We agreed with Keith, rail franchising is broken and told him public ownership is the answer!
Please take time to #TellKeith your views before the deadline on 31 May 2019
📝 gov.uk/government/consultations/williams-rail-review
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.
Bring Back British Rail
2 weeks ago
Private rail companies stand to make £500 million from coronavirus bailouts 💰💸 Today we joined our friends at RMT, We Own It & the Association of British Commuters in writing to every MP in the country to demand they act to bring railways back into public ownership now. Read our #TakeBackOurTrains letter 📝👉 bit.ly/3eNgshqResearch reveals that private rail companies stand to make £500 Million from Coronavirus bailouts while passengers and rail unions call for nationalisation.
bit.ly/32HvGSN
Britain’s private rail companies stand to make almost £500 million in profits over the next 12 months according to new research by rail union RMT, amid widespread speculation that the government is about to extend its Emergency Measures Agreements.
Analysis of ministerial answers to questions in Parliament indicate that the government’s Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) will see the government hand over around £231 million in operating profits to the train operating companies over a 12 month period. The train operating companies are currently lobbying the government to extend the agreements for a further 18 months. These same agreements also entail the government ‘picking up the tab’ in full for the lease charges that would be paid by the train operating companies to the rolling stock companies, the ‘ROSCOs’. Analysis of the ROSCOs’ accounts shows that in the last year, they made profits of £241 million. If the government renews the EMAs and continues to bail out the train operating companies, we could see around £500 million in desperately needed public funds leaking out of the railways into private profit.
Groups representing passengers and rail workers have written to MPs from across the political spectrum calling on them to demand proper scrutiny of any government decision on the EMAs and urging them to support nationalisation of the network to stop the scandalous profiteering at public expense. The letter, sent on behalf of rail unions and passenger groups, says that Britain needs a safe, affordable and accessible railway to support public transport and decarbonisation and that every penny of public money should be used to invest in a recovery plan that will get badly needed rail services back on track rather than leaking out into private profit.
RMT Senior Assistant General Secretary Mick Lynch said;
“We desperately need a properly funded rail network to play its crucial role in fighting climate change and to keep the lifeblood of our economy flowing. Now more than ever we need every penny of public money invested in building a safe, affordable, accessible railway, not leeched out of the system by a small group of big businesses with a consistent record of failure.”
Ellen Lees, campaigns officer at We Own It said:
“If the government continues to pursue bailouts of the rail industry, they'll once again be ignoring the reality that's staring them straight in the face. No matter how many times they try to prop up a failing system, the private rail companies will always come crawling back cap in hand for more cash.
“It's time we ended this farce. Instead of funnelling millions into the pockets of private companies, we should bring our railways into public hands – so they can work for people and the planet, not for private profit."
Emily Yates, Co-Founder of the Association of British Commuters said;
“Passenger trust is more important than ever, but it has been severely damaged by years of crisis on the railways. Public ownership is now the only way to restore this trust, and start building the integrated, efficient and accountable system we deserve.”
Ellie Harrison, Founder, Bring Back British Rail said;
“Privatised rail has never worked. 'Natural monopolies' like our railways need to be centrally co-ordinated and run for the public good. Now the coronavirus crisis has laid bare this simple truth. Public transport is an essential public service to get our key workers to their jobs. We must stop the bailouts to failing private rail companies, and seize this opportunity to 'take back our trains' for good.” ...
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Making a profit out of illness and death is just plain sick and uncaring greed. As usual, Profit before People, money matters, people don't. Tory mantra.
Parasites. 🤬
They are on their way to be renationalised. But keep the pressure on.
Is this Ellie Harrison the TV :Presenter?. Ask her how much better the Rail Service is from her local station in the Cotswolds to London since de-nationalisation.
RMT are too busy worrying about black lives matter and whining about tories to worry about the railway
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Bring Back British Rail
3 weeks ago
If FirstGroup go under, they'll take Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express Trains, Great Western Railway and South Western Railway with them. Then Grant Shapps will have no choice but to #TakeBackOurTrains! Take action 👉 weownit.org.uk/take-back-our-trains ...
FirstGroup derailed by collapse in passenger numbers, 8 Jul 2020 09:49 | Shares Magazine
www.sharesmagazine.co.uk
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Who remembers John Major and John MacGregor with those promises by telling us that rail privatisation will deliver vast improvements and fares will be lower? In fact, I remember it well and it never delivered anything.
I had the misfortune to work for the company in a senior leadership role a decade ago. It was hell on earth, everything was about the bottom line, Aberdeen micromanaging the day job and being obsessed with protecting the brand. Profit before people for sure.
Of all the bus groups which emerged from de-regulation in 1986, First Group have always seemed to be bottom of the pile, a situation which has been entirely of their own making. I saw their share price last week, they were trading at 35 pence!
Have to say seeing the back of First would be a source of great rejoicing. Unfortunately the consequences for bus/rail passengers will probably not be good.
Anyone who had the misfortune to live in North Manchester and be 'served' by First knows only.too well.how appalling their services were
Oh god I SOOO hope first go bust, they are the Britain's WORST EVER company. They recently lost the contract to provide most of the buses in Cornwall, I guess because they were totally incapable of being able to run the buses ontime and that's when they could be bothered to actually send one in the first place. Much less run an integrated transport system where by a train pulls up at a station and there is a bus waiting at the bus stop right outside. Often first would timetable the trains and buses so there was a 30-45 minute gap. Sheer incompetence would be a massive understatement when describing first group.
First Group has always been more focussed on its money-making ability than its commitment to its customers. The mess that it's in is of its own making and I have no sympathy for it whatsoever.
Avanti is the Italian state railway company, isn’t it?
they also run the buses in Leeds
Hull Trains are also backed by this lot and get nothing from the Government
When you see the state of the Armed Forces, NHS and anything else the government runs be very, very careful what you wish for.
And why will that be a good thing .
Worstgroup.
Ride acock horse to Banbury Cross..... Home again Home again Jigatyjig....
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Bring Back British Rail
4 weeks ago
Over the last month, 20,000 passengers have written to Grant Shapps & Rishi Sunak to demand they end the bailouts to failing private rail companies and take steps to bring all franchises back into public ownership. Please help us keep the pressure up to #TakeBackOurTrains! Take action 👉 ...
Time to take back our trains
weownit.org.uk
Grant Shapps and Rishi Sunak have a decision to makeShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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What a pair to be making such an important decision. Schapps will botch it and Patel will insist it is only for white people!
L
No thanks I can’t afford it
As the reason the government wanted to privatise the railways was because they had to subsidise them, there really is no reason to leave them in private hands when they are still subsidising them. It’s a nonsense.
We help put money into foreign transport so they can get better cheaper travel. They are laughing at us. We need to take OUR COUNTRY BACK.
Privatised rail had failed by the 1930s and private companies were secretly begging governments to buy them off them - whilst demanding compensation for nationalisation of course. That's how railways came to be publicly owned in the first place !! And they got compensation for decades!!
Ironic isn't it- our railway companies part owned by the Dutch, French and German state railways.
It's all very well, to say this but aren't some franchises owned by state operators. Part of the irony, they're foreign ones. I should now, I live in the Abileo Greater Anglia area
And the buses! South Western Railway have failed to deliver on every promise they made when they got the franchise and are still rolling more than half their fleet in SWT livery! Their priority seems to lie in ticket collectors not counter staff and Friday afternoon's out of Basingrad are always a nightmare!
If the money that has been spent on all these private train operators , even by govenment subsidys .had been spent on the old british rail , we would of had the best system in the world . thank god Branson is no longer so called opperating any trains , or he would of gone to the government , cap in hand demanding a bailout
CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME UK Government......Wake up n smell the roses The British need their railways n profits need to stay in the UK
What excuse can this SHAMBOLIC Government come up with now to not Take Back our Trains after all we are now out of Europe which they wanted , now Little Britain the Trains belong to us
Except HS2 thank you. We taxpayers do not want the responsibility for the catastrophic inevitable losses - neither the exorbitant cost of building this disaster NOR for subsidising and keeping it running because it will never, ever pay for itself. The latest report from the Infrastructure Authority has just downgraded HS2 from Amber-Red to Red. Go figure.
The TOC's own absolutely nothing, the whole shooting match is still 100% owned by the UK government. The whole 'privatisation' excercise was an excercise in smoke and mirrors to stay on the right side of eu competition rules.
As much as I would like to see it having worked for Network South East I think your find it will go to managed contract's.Then they will be squeezed every year to make cost savings & unfortunately the staff will be the largest cost. 😢
Make this simpler to support to much faff
Take back our trains, you mean the ones built by Germany?
All railways are owned by the government at the moment
Clearly most of the people on here don't remember how awful our nationalised rail service was. Since privatisation the number of services has trebled and the average age of the rolling stock has plummeted. Closed lines and stations have been reopened. People complain about high fares with one breath, and overcrowding with the next. Lower fares and increase the overcrowding
"Take back out trains" perfectly summarised by a platform with no trains.
Get rid off SWR. That railway operator is beyond a joke.
What back to the good old days stikes late arrival dirty carriages dried up sandwiches unhelpful guards
It is time to take back OUR BRITAIN. Seize the assets spuriously acquired by the crown, government and the elite fat cat society. Return the assets to the NATION for the benefit (right) of the GENERAL PUBLIC.
Good luck dealing with a bunch of toffs who hate the word public
Start with SWR ('owned' by GWR and MTR) as MTR is the Hong Kong Rapid Transit company. That'll excite the Chinese...
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Bring Back British Rail
1 month ago
Could South Western Railway and TransPennine Express Trains be about to be re-nationalised? 🚆 Read the latest exposé from our friends at the Association of British Commuters and take action to #TakeBackOurTrains 📝👉 weownit.org.uk/take-back-our-trains ...
CLUELESS: Chaos at the DfT as Shapps evades scrutiny on government plans for rail - Association of British Commuters
abcommuters.com
As predicted in our last blog, it is now clear that the government has no idea what to do when the ‘Emergency Measures Agreements’ run out in September. After news hit the press that train companies are seeking a 12-18 month extension to their bailout, Grant Shapps was able to bury the story at ...Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
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Even though I have now Retired, I would LOVE to see it return to British Rail rather than how it now is. Yes I do have a few shares as such, but WHAT profit we do get a year, IS AN INSULT to say the least. Seriously, we get less than £25.00 per year.
Oh, pleeeeeeeeeeeease!! XX
As a railway employee the last 3/4 months the punctuality has been fantastic less trains means a railway that can run smoothly hopefully we don’t go back to the old model of a saturated railway
Under privatisation there's no such thing as a business model in recovering costs even with the highest fares in Europe. It's simply totally subsidised by the taxpayer.
You put a spiv with no industry experience in charge of transport, and this is what you get
They have no plans they are just a bunch of rabbits caught in the headlights.
they're just thinking how to skim more out of the next budget, Never a thought about giving it back to the country.
More public money for failed privatisation. It's a win win situation for Tory donors.
The Tory Govt is sure to pick the worst option for the travelling public & the best option for skimming money into private pockets.
We get 159's past our house and today one was really crowded. There were three people on it.
Shapps is more slippery than a greased weasel ... in a game of 'Whack-a-Mole' I would concentrate on him ...
No they maybe renegotiated but will never be run by the state. Problem will be what incentive will there be in future to continue to invest in new stock . Improved facilities and timetables. Very little i suspect
Nit called the Dept for Tomfuckery for nothing. ..
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Bring Back British Rail
1 month ago
‘Britain's railways will be 'renationalised' using emergency coronavirus measures - ending the current franchise system’ 🚆 Grant Shapps’ proposal is to replace rail franchises with contracts managed by publicly-owned Network Rail, instead of the Department for Transport. It could be an improvement on the current shambles, but do we really need private rail companies involved at all? Let's #TakeBackOurTrains! Take action at 📝👉 weownit.org.uk/take-back-our-trains
Britain's railways will be 'renationalised' using coronavirus measures
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has claimed the pandemic has provided the government the chance to build a 'different type of railway'. ...
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Rail travel, along with all public transport should be a standard cost per mile (or Km) and should be compatible with travelling in a car alone. Say 12 p per mile. It should not be a profit making business but a public service. There should not be huge differences according to when you travel and NO class system.
We need a single, integrated publicly owned and accountable entity. No need for or point in any privateer involvement.
The government can't manage private companies with the NHS, so don't hold out hope for the railways.
Oh I see where they're doing. During the Coronavirus crisis, social distancing means that the privatised rail franchisees can't make their huge profits, so the state jumps in to take that loss. Once they're profitable, they'll be given back. Don't we just love neoliberal capitalism?
Let’s keep it permanent and run it for our benefit, not just for shareholders and top execs
Another privatisation failure, it’s hilarious that the conservatives are having to do it, they have used public funds to support these companies.
We don`t need nationalised company`s, fat cat wages more managers than workers seen it all before
They are only taking them back so that the taxpayer can pay to fix up the shambles that the private sector made of them and then give away taxpayer business value for a song to other rich Tories to make a private sector fat profit and shambles of again.
Fares and timetables in the hands of ministers??? Of what fun lies ahead
Yet when Labour suggested this it was crazy
As if bike use is going to continue in the same way after the virus has passed! Once winter comes it will be locked in the shed.
doing his best there to resemble a bygone image of trainspotters
Renationalise yes franchise of any name NO
Would be nice! But i honestly think this is fake news
tories have to have their pals involved so they can blame public when its crap private when its good
Well as this report is in the Daily Fail, and concerns a "report" about a "Grant Shapps' proposal", I wouldn't believe a single word of it, because I am in a quandary as to who tell more lies, the supposed "journalists" who write articles in the Daily Fail, or tory government Ministers !!!!
Network Rail's charter doesn't allow for it to be a train operator, so I don't see how that is feasible...
In Germany DB is state owned and runs 80% of the German Network, the same as NL 🇳🇱. 80% of the bus network is the same too. The local council runs buses and only contractors are bought in to make up any shortfall.
Get it done
bring back br !!
34 of the top 50 highest paid people in the public sector work on the railway. So that will now be relegation for the other 16.
I see no nationalisation anywhere in these proposals. Very little change from the current system. I know what he's at. He'll say to the public, 'There. We nationalised the railways just as you wanted.' While nothing real has happened at all. Another Con-trick.
A managed franchise is probably the worst outcome. If they are given a certain amount of money to run it then the only cost savings are the staff 😢
Do we need private firms at all? OF COURSE WE DO unless the Railways set up their own oil refineries, with supertankers to bring in Crude oil their own electricity generation and grid. Own Workshops to manufacture Carriages and Trains plus frigeht wagons. Also manufacture all their computers and associated machinery for staff and Booking offices. Own Bank and investment experts for placing surplus funds. Gas manufacturing for Office Central Heating. Could go on but have a meal waiting for me. Own breweries and drinks and sandwich manufacturing with farms to supply milk, vegetables and meat, some of which will need to be processed
Their idea of renationalisation and our idea of renationalisation could be two very different things!
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