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.
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?
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
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
Help us take Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to court!
17th April 2018 | Fundraising / News
Enough is enough! Our East Coast mainline was a brilliant success in public-ownership and should never have been re-privatised in 2015. Now it has failed for the third time at the hands of private operators: GNER in 2007, National Express in 2009 and now Virgin Trains East Coast in 2018.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has admitted that Virgin Trains East Coast “got its numbers wrong” and breached “a key financial covenant” in their franchise agreement. Yet, he is allowing its owners – Stagecoach and Virgin – to walk away and continue running and bidding for other rail franchises. We can’t let them get away with this.
We’re now working with public law experts Leigh Day to bring Chris Grayling to court to account for these decisions. We expect this to be a landmark Judicial Review case; exposing the farce of rail franchising for the shameful waste of public money that it is, and paving the way to a re-unified national rail network run in the public’s interest once again.
Please pledge and share today: crowdjustice.com/case/eastcoast
Please help us reach more people by sharing on Facebook or Twitter!
Commemorating 70 years since Nationalisation
29th March 2018 | Merchandise / News
New Embroidered Patches available for 2018!
2018 year is bittersweet. We’re commemorating 70 years since our railways were unified and nationalised as ‘British Railways‘, as well commiserating 25 years since the disastrous 1993 Railways Act, which paved the way to the fragmented mess of privatisation that we have now.
These contrasting anniversaries show that times can, and do, change. In the last nine years since our campaign was founded in July 2009, we have been central in transforming the national debate, taking the re-nationalisation of our railways from a taboo topic to mainstream policy. Now we’re sure it’s only a matter of time until we realise our dream.
Make East Coast Public!
1st February 2018 | News / Petition
The Virgin Trains East Coast rail franchise is close to collapse, making it the third private sector operator, after GNER in 2007 and National Express in 2009, to fail.
We’re working with our friends at We Own It and many other partners to campaign for our East Coast mainline to be brought back into public ownership, permanently.
Please sign the petition here: weownit.org.uk/east-coast
Stop Privatisation Merchandise
28th November 2017 | Merchandise / News
This Christmas we’re working with Teemill on some new Bring Back British Rail merchandise, available as jumpers, hoodies, t-shirts, tote bags and tea towels! All ethically sourced organic cotton with proceeds going to support our volunteer-run campaign for rail re-nationalisation founded in 2009.
Order at: bringbackbritishrail.teemill.com
With free delivery if you order by midnight on Sunday 3 December 2017
Bring Back British Rail
5 days ago
Our friends at Guardians of the Arches are fighting against the privatisation of our railway arches which are currently publicly-owned by Network Rail. This would have a devastating impact on all the local businesses, clubs and organisations who use them if new private landlords chose to hike up rents. Say no to privatisation by supporting their Crowdfunder campaign at crowdfunder.co.uk/guardiansRailway property tenants are joining forces to build a powerful democratic organisation to hold landlords and the government to account! ...
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How the hell you can sell parts of a viaduct is beyond me.
British rail was crap, I remember it well, oh when they actually run and weren’t on strike !!
Shame takes a revenue stream away from Network Rail, guess higher taxes will sort the shortfall
This is all a bit late ne sale was completed February this year
Grayling is an absolute catastrophe of a man
I thought they had already been sold.
What's next? Privatising the air above the rails?
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Bring Back British Rail
6 days ago
Yet more evidence rail franchising is broken. Virgin Trains lost the East Coast franchise in 2018 and are about to lose the West Coast for "repeatedly ignoring established rules", yet they're now trying to get their hands on another route! Join our campaign for a re-unified national railway run for people not profit: bringbackbritishrail.org ...
Hmm... Virgin Trains Has Come Up With A Clever Way Of Keeping Its Franchise
londonist.com
London to Liverpool service may continue after 2020.Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google PlusShare on Linked InShare by Email
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Applying for 'open access '. After the attitude they showed towards 'Wrexham and Shropshire '. Hypocrisy comes to mind.
i live in cumbria and go to see partick thistle every other week. great service on prompt and virtually empty trains - £13 return. brilliant
To be fair virgin trains are the best brilliant service above the others
The tender for the franchise submitted by Stagecoach who are the majority shareholder has been disqualified as a consequence of it being non-compliant re pensions arrangements. This is not necessarily a comment on Virgin’s performance which I have found to be consistently good to excellent. But what do I know ? After all I only commuted daily from Birmingham to London with them for four years 😂
When will they understand
Be interesting to see what happens if the Open Access gets denied by the DfT....beardy takes the DfT to the high Court???
If the WCML is so crammed at the moment that we can’t add additional capacity, then how the hell are they going to manage a whole new franchise on it? Or, are the capacity problems at them moment a load of bollocks, like I suspect.
Though to be fair they offer the best service by far
I very much doubt this open access will be granted. If it was possible Renaissance Trains would of put a bid for open access on that route before now.
What next? They failed to keep the Cross Country and East Coast franchise .
Can we not just have a non bureaucratic and joined up railway, where fares are affordable (Regardless Of when booked), trains have adequate capacity, luggage space and comfortable seats.
Virgin trains leave other train lines in the dust as far as comfort, cleanliness and food are concerned.
As much as I would like to see the return of a nationalised systems, it will never happen. Not even under a labour government, government and stakeholders make far too much money out of the industry including you and I got it to return back to the days of British Rail......
Virgin Trains should be keeping the West Coast Mainline. No company comes to them for being on time, hardly any delays and comfort on the trains. When I’ve used them, I’ve never had an issue.
Its not a franchise its open access the same as grand central, it applies to NR and ORR with what it want to do with a safety case and if theres track space and it can run that service. Anyone can apply for.open access if it has the resources and all the paperwork. If it wasn't for franchising open access wouldn't exist, open access was put there to bring in competition !!
Hope Virgin gets treated the same way it treated open access operators like Wrexham and Shropshire.
Stagecoach was the problem in both cases, not virgin....
Bring back the class 87
John Lynch
Non of its Virgin's fail the main problem was with Stagecoach
Be interesting to know were they will get their rolling stock from. There be plenty of Mk3s soon from Greater Anglia
For once I agree.
Yes bring back BRS
Virgin are definitely the fastest service. But as I'm often Ill I cannot per book a seat in advance and trying to find an available non reserved seat is often difficult or impossible!
Wot they gonna do, fucking sell it!😁
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Bring Back British Rail
3 weeks ago
LAST CHANCE to sign and share our petition calling for Keith Williams to recommend public ownership in his UK government Rail Review
📝DEADLINE: Friday 31 May 2019 ...
Bring our railway into public ownership - tell Keith now
weownit.org.uk
Stop rail industry plans for *even more* privatisation!Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google PlusShare on Linked InShare by Email
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Bring Back British Rail
3 weeks ago
Don't miss your chance to #TellKeith Williams to he must recommend public ownership in his Rail Review. We passengers know only a re-unified national rail network run for people not profit, will sort out the mess we're in 🚆 ...
Keith Williams - listen to passengers, not profit
weownit.org.uk
72 hours 28 May 2019 That's how much time we've got left to make sure rail review chief, Keith Williams, listens to passengers instead of private profits. This is crunch time. Keith has a really important decision to make - will he side with private companies who want to protect their profits by con...Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google PlusShare on Linked InShare by Email
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I totally agree. Why do we need to cross the busy road to get a ticket from a different company. Risking your life to travel
Bring back British Rail ?so why show 2 foreign railways
I wouldn't hold your breathe on the "Williams" review, he's on record pointing out that he's an independent chairman of a government review, not a chairman of an independent review, whatever is decided will be agreed with Grayling prior to any publication.
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Bring Back British Rail shared a photo.
3 weeks ago
Has your local council declared a #ClimateEmergency yet? Write to your Councillors and MP to tell them we need full public ownership and control over all our public transport to deliver a world-class, fully-integrated network that can serve everyone in Britain 🚶♀️🚴♀️🚌🚎🚃 writetothem.comDon’t miss your chance to tell Glasgow City Council that we need affordable, efficient integrated public transport, run for people not profit, to address the #ClimateEmergency 🚶♀️🚴♀️🚌🚎🚃 SURVEY DEADLINE: Friday 31 May 2019 📝 smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ClimateChange2019 ...
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Need more early Sunday morning train bec most start at 9am in my local Herefordshire the first train to Birmingham is 10-20am it is not good if I go to toy fair at NEC which my dad taking to Great Malvern to catch first train on Sunday morning is 09.06 am while on holiday in Swiss the train timetables are 7 day with all same trains times !
As a Glaswegian who has been to a fair few "Consultation" events on the upgrades to the City Centre and Local Area Main Streets .... The "Active Travel" group have systematically ruined the bus network. They're idea that you should walk further between stops means that Disabled People can't use local buses into town. They've also upgraded the Subway, but the majority of stations still aren't accessible to Disabled People. Dalmarnock station serves 2 sports venues... and closes early on a Sunday so you can't get a train home from Emirates Arena events. SPT "couldn't run a menage" and have ruined what used to be the best integrated transport system outside of London. You now have to go into the centre of town and go back out again to get from my house to 3 areas only 10mins drive away, that used to be direct routes. Due to the creation of cycle lanes, I now have to crawl into Black Cabs, because there's no kerb, the pavement is flat with the road (& cyclists aren't happy with that either). And they've closed down local smaller hospital A&Es in out lying areas, but there still isnt a direct bus from those areas to the new hospital. It's a total mess. Now if they would back having the same network as 10 years ago, maybe there would be something to celebrate?!
Need more early Sunday morning train bec most start at 9am in my local Herefordshire the first train to Birmingham is 10-20am it is not good if I go to toy fair at NEC which my dad taking to Great Malvern to catch first train on Sunday morning is 09.06 am while on holiday in Swiss the train timetables are 7 day with all same trains times !
You do of course like a joke. here in my village , rural mid wales, we have a bus stop, on saturday there was a man standing waiting for a bus , when i asked he told me that on line the timetable showed that 2 busses a day come into the village. well he was a little disapointed at the thought of another 5 mile walk into town. The bus has not come up to the village for more than 7 years. everyone has no choice but the drive a car.
Bus ridership is down 15 - 20% due to internet shopping and uber.. Glasgow has the best commuter rail outside of London...
Free Buckfast on all Buses - problem solved.
Sam Hayward
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