A Public Future for Scotland’s Railways
21st November 2017 | News
This summer Bring Back British Rail contributed ideas to this new Report by TSSA and Commonweal as part of our ongoing campaign for the Public Ownership of Scotland’s Railway launched in September 2014.
Please support the Report Launch on Tuesday 28 November 2017, 11am-1pm
Serenity Cafe Meeting Room
8 Jacksons Entry
Edinburgh
EH8 8PJ
Don’t Scrap the Electrification of our Railways!
12th October 2017 | News
This summer, the Department for Transport scrapped plans to electrify railways across South Wales and the north of England, meaning we’ll be stuck with filthy diesel trains for years to come.
Bring Back British Rail supports our friends at 10:10 Climate Action and Campaign for Better Transport in demanding investment in cleaner, greener public transport.
New Year Actions for the Public Ownership of our Railways
1st January 2017 | Demonstration / News
On 3-4 January 2017, commuters return to work as train fares continue to rise. We’re teaming up with We Own It and Action For Rail to organise two nationwide days of action (in England on 3rd, Scotland on 4th) to protest against higher fares, reduced staffing and demand the public ownership of our railways now!
Protests are taking place at more than one hundred stations up-and-down the country. Please see the Action for Rail website for details and come out and join us!
Main England Actions
Tuesday 3rd January 2017, 8am
• London King’s Cross Station
• Manchester Piccadilly Station
Main Scotland Action
Wednesday 5th January 2017, 5pm
• Glasgow Central Station
38 Degrees Petition: Don’t break-up & privatise Network Rail
10th December 2016 | News
Christmas 2016
22nd November 2016 | Merchandise / News
Looking for the perfect present for the pissed-off passenger in your life? T-Shirts and Hoodies – all sizes and colours – available to order online until 5 December 2016.
All proceeds go towards campaign materials and activities.
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.
Report Launch in Parliament
13th October 2016 | News
Launching A Better Railway for Britain: our first report in Parliament today – Bring Back British Rail’s Oliver Lewis (second left) with the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Andy McDonald MP (second right), Baroness Jenny Jones (right) and Ian Mearns MP (left). Have you got your copy? Order here! bringbackbritishrail.org/report
A Better Railway for Britain – Report Launch
10th September 2016 | News
On 13 October 2016, we’re very pleased to be launching Bring Back British Rail’s first report A Better Railway for Britain: Re-unifying our railways under public ownership at 9:30am in Committee Room 5 at the Houses of Parliament in London.
Entrance is free. Please ensure you print this invitation and contact Oliver Lewis for details: oliver@bringbackbritishrail.org
Print copies are available to order in advance for just £5 (including free delivery in the UK), with all proceeds supporting campaign materials and activities.
SouthernFail crowdfunding campaign
5th September 2016 | News
The irony of rail privatisation is that the Department for Transport now has more direct control over our railways than they ever did with the arms-length British Rail. And, yes, they are certainly making a mess of it!
Bring Back British Rail is supporting our friends at the Association of British Commuters who are crowdfunding to take the DfT to court over the fiasco with Southern Fail.
Please support them at: crowdjustice.co.uk/case/southernrail
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.
Bring Back British Rail shared a post.
4 days ago
We agree, rail franchising is broken and public ownership is the answer! Today Bring Back British Rail and We Own It met Keith Williams, head of the Williams Rail Review in London. Please take time to #TellKeith your views before the deadline on 31 May 2019
📝 gov.uk/government/consultations/williams-rail-review
We Own It
This morning we spoke to the man in charge of the biggest review of the railway since privatisation. ...
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Please take time to #TellKeith your views before the deadline on 31 May 2019 📝 gov.uk/government/consultations/williams-rail-review
All public services need to be returned to public ownership
Slightly concerning to hear Williams state two weeks ago that "the current rail model is no longer fit for purpose", when it's been obvious from the outset that it never was fit for purpose. I hope this latest review doesn't become another whitewash.
If you want public transport back in public ownership DO NOT VOTE TORY.
Yes bring back Public ownership
The big point with the current shambles is that it is expensive, bureaucratic, inefficient and dis-jointed. BR may not have been perfect, but was starved of investment, and became the second most efficient rail network in Europe.
The Railway infrastructure is already in public hands and the DFT pretty much dictates what the TOC's can and can't do. As fond as I was over BR I can't help wonder how keeping things in politicians hands are actually going to help.
British Rail wasn’t exactly a resounding success ....... a third of the network and hundreds of towns and villages deprived of their stations.
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5 days ago
All our public transport should be publicly-owned!
Please support our friends at Better Buses for Greater Manchester who are lobbying Mayor Andy Burnham to use his new powers to regulate the profiteering bus companies across the city. Sign up here: betterbusesgm.org.uk
We Own It
Thatcher gave our buses to the fatcats - join the fightback. ...
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London buses do not work as the services are millions in debt and services are being cut FAKE NEWS
BETTER BUSES FOR BRITAIN.
Not only transport but everything else the tories sold off that was once ours now we’re paying extortionate for.well vote Tory and that’s to be expected.
Maggie Thatcher was the worst thing to hit Britain since, well, Maggie Thatcher. A tedious schoolmistress fatally attracted to "crumbs from the rich man's table" economics. One of the great moments of my life was seeing her downfall. Mind you, all we got then was Maggie Minor.
I worked on the buses during the 1985 "deregulation" ..... With all it's faults the old style council/corporation bus service was the best ever.
Ellen Clare Sue Thompson Sue Hulme Wah Leather
Good for passengers bad for drivers, London Bus drivers pay rates are 50% below market value, with drivers having to wait to complete 5 years service to receive the top rate of pay- this is reflected in every bus company in London being many hundreds of drivers short of full capacity and many senior drivers losing their jobs through draconian company policies. Companies compete for the most profitable routes constantly with a continuous merry go round of contracts being awarded to those who claim to meet unrealistic service targets and by undercutting their rivals bids (a race to the bottom). It will look great for the local mayors who pedal that fares have been held down and services have been increased, but spare a thought for those who physically provide the service being forced to work more than WTD hours and often on 9 day shifts, starting earlier and finishing later on shift on mostly empty buses outside of peak hours. Just for political point scoring with the voting public. Just remember the next time you pay an below market fare for your journey- the human cost involved!
Gbemi Babalola
Stagecoach are one of the worst.
Wish this, like everything could be regulated nationwide. Its good with a lot of Burnham is trying to do with regards to transport, but things need to happen nationwide. I hope the Tories die out in my lifetime, but i wont count on it happening.
Why give the services to private bus companies? Re-nationalise them!
Too bloody right.
Doing well in Edinburgh
Bring back “GM BUSES” 🤞
Thatcher's successor John Major, privatised London's buses in '94 & this current tory shower are shuttering down routes where ordinary workers rely upon them...
Jordan Ashall
Burnham is a nice fellow but he's not the brightest tool. He's certainly not dynamic and hasn't got the balls to do something as radical as this.
fairs are set via local govt, same as times and routes back where i live in the north east we have 2 busses per hour to the closest city, simple fact is were are the town furthest away from the city, those towns closer have a better system, less people use them simply on account of time a car is cheaper and faster. you say about london, yes fairs are cheaper as more people use the busses
Bring back BRS
Who wants to ride on these things. People voted with their right foot.
unless money is put into public transport, like trains and buses, the roads will always be blocked up somewhere, but some areas the last bus is before 10pm, and even before that, and if the free bus pass for those who qualify is taken away, then there will be even fewer buses,
would it work though ???. i used to tink it would, but ive learnt so much over the last few years that suggests otherwise....to be honest, we're fucked either way
More than ever the potential is enormous
Labour were in power for 13 years yet not one thing nationalised
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3 weeks ago
‘If only the amount of money wasted currently had been available to British Rail. We would truly have a world class railway’ says Bring Back British Rail Supporter John Walton, Kirkby Stephen. Join us at: bringbackbritishrail.org ...
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My local station Norwood junction has a crap weekend service to London bridge. Yesterday there was only 2 trains an hour to Norwood junction from London Bridge
We had a world class railway thats exactly why it was privatised, things had finally fallen into place, new trains everywhere. The privatised railway has sweated all the assets BR had invested in and are still doing so. Lets put it into perspective HSTs are now upto 42 years old and still running all day Intercity service that would be like looking back to 1976 when they were introduced and still having Mallard and Duchess class steam engines in charge of intercity trains at the same time.
It's baffling to understand why there are people out there who still think the current shambles is good.
How can many companies, aimed at providing "competition", all with their own duplicated systems, staffing, profit demands etc, be as effective as a single properly-financed and well-managed company?
The truth is though when the Torys are in power IT IS THEIR MONEY to be wasted on what ever they want. There are only financial restrictions when Labour are in power or when it is being spent on benefits for the unemployed or vulnerable
XX
Only rich people can use the railways, I know I can't!
I thought we had!!! Took this photo on Wednesday 27th February 2019
Re-nationalisation may be seen as OK as long as Government of any colour does not starve it of cash. Cannot be fully in the public hands until the sources of their expenditure are nationalised too. Where would the Nationlised Railway get its fuel, electricity, banking services, water and new motive power and rolling stock, ballast, rails and more from? - THE PRIVATE SECTOR. The government has a convenient whipping boy when things go wrong at the moment - THE FRANCHISE HOLDERS. .Not under nationalisation! Then Government would be held to account for any failings and the demand for expediture on new stations would go through the roof. There are at present calls for 3 new ones to be built within a 15 mile radius of where I live while the nationalised part of the railway (Network Rail) will not provide finance for lifts at my local station much to the dismay of my very good local (Labour) MP.
instead of a 3rd world railway
Chris Greyling is a pure class idiot. Always has been. Baffles me why he gets government jobs.
Bring back BRS
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4 weeks ago
‘The Conservative government of John Major in 1992 did not have a mandate to privatise the railway. Tories are undemocratic’ says Bring Back British Rail Supporter David Macklin, Colchester. Join us at: bringbackbritishrail.org ...
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Which railway in Europe was the most efficient before Major flogged it? That's correct. BR. It's not ours anymore is it!! Thank you John Major and conservative voters. The blame sits squarely on your doorsteps.
and Brexit is more proof, if any were needed
I can’t renember if it was in their manifesto, if it was I suppose they had a mandate. Didn’t agree with it, virtually no other country has a privatised passenger railway.
Does anyone really think that the conservative government and its supporters give a damn about anyone but therselves and how much money they can line there pockets with .If you do you are living in cloud Cuckoo land.
Also it was stated privatisation would lead to better reliabillity, more investment, and lower fares!
Worst decision ever.
Bring back persal soap powder vouchers for a cheap away day
The Tories have always been driven by greed and dogma. Selling off once State owned industries also means they can shift responsibilty and blame elsewhere. They have never felt the need for a mandate to do anything - dogma ensures they will reverse anything introduced by an opposition party, even if it is politicaly sensitive, dangerous, pointless or destructive to do so. Rail privatisation is one of the most obvious examples of this, but then all of their sell-offs have been preceeded by one word - "Public". As in Service, Utitility, Transport etc.
business
Blair’s new labour, even though in opposition, could have sabotaged John Major’s privatisation of British Rail during the nineties, but carefully avoided anything that would jeopardise Rail privatisation.
I watched a programme about it years ago, they didn't even bother reading most of the report
And now we are in a situation where most if not all our infrastructure is in the hands of foreign companies we could easily be at war with after brexit
The our rail system is state owned, but not by our state!
The Tories also undervalued Railtrack , Stations were not included in their valuation,the stations in London alone worth a fortune.
It was privatised to help pay for tax cuts that they'd promised voters in the 1992 general election. The fact that taxes went up 32 times instead of going down makes it all the more galling that it was all one big scam for which we're still paying the price of to this very day.
At the moment ALL MPs are going against the Countries Democratic vote. 600 against 17.000.000.00
I've noticed that nobody has mentioned EU Directive 91/440 which was the main reason the railways were privatised
Absolutely spot on. Tories are thieves
Lets put off possible supporters of the cause with wild exaggeration shall we (ardent democrat and conservative voter)
a lot of Tory's may have wanted shares, so it was in MP's favour to OK privatisation
Of course the Tories are undemocratic. Shit, you been under a rock all these years?
Maggie Minor went ahead and doubled the subsidy after privatisation. A lose-lose for Britain.
BRS for me
Shared and translated in french ;)
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2 months ago
‘British Rail was finally getting its act together when the ill-conceived 1993 Railways Act was foisted upon them’ says Bring Back British Rail Supporter John Maris, Norwich. Join us at: bringbackbritishrail.org ...
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Just before privatisation this country probably had the best railway it had ever had in terms of the essential balance which always has to be struck between the quality of the service and the cost to the taxpayer and fare payer. Ex BR chairman Peter Parker had a good joke about it. "There is good news and bad news about railway privatisation. The good news is that there are now only 25 people in the country who think privatisation is a good idea. The bad news is, it's the Cabinet."
It was fully working well when Dr Beeching was tasked with it's destruction and paid £30,000 for the pleasure
British Rail was a calf fattened up for slaughter. The whole process was based on lies and ignorance. We were sold down the river on through-ticketing as there are now companies that only accept their own fares, thereby demanding complex purchases over long journeys. And I'll not forget the stupid old woman who, on a journey delayed by vandalism, announced loudly that such things wouldn't happen after privatisation.
Once we leave the EU we can nationalise the Railways call it British Rail. And a Casey Jones burger bar at Liverpool Street Station
Ripped the guts from the industry thanks John Major
British Rail was very cute at spending its money wisely. Since privatisation billions has been wasted in bad management. An example is train control; following the Hidden Report into the Clapham (preprivatisation) the Thatcher government said it would pay for all recommendations contained in the report. One such recommendation, which wouldn’t have prevented the accident, was the development and fitment of a train control system to prevent trains passing signals at danger. BR trialled 2 systems, the one fitted on the GW main line was better. BR went back to the government who refused to pay for it! Not for turning eh! Roll forward to after Ladbroke Grove, Southall and other post privatisation disasters caused by the loss of safety culture on privatisation, train safety once more hit the headlines. Raitrack, in a knee jerk reaction to press pressure, opted for the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS). In order to get funding RT massaged the figures to get the cost under the £1.3million per fatality save threshold. The project, which does not provide a failsafe solution, went 13 times over budget (ORR figures). With the money wasted on TPWS the GW ATP system could have been fitted on all main lines.
think how good it could have been with the money that's given to the private, mainly foreign, companies.
British Rail was deliberately run down by the Tories in the 80s to facilitate privatisation. Let's not pretend BR was great then, it wasn't. It was deliberately sabotaged.
As a company British rail had credibility and were doing the best they could. I work in the current rail industry and it's an embarrassment
Beeching was in the BR era. If we bring it back we need to ensure no repetition occurs
Didn't matter what BR did, they were getting flogged off quick before Labour got in
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