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.
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 which has its own Emergency Measures Agreements in place,
• 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
😡 Avanti's contract extended despite terrible track record. Passengers deserve affordable, reliable trains. Privatisation is getting us nowhere. ... See MoreSee Less
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Tory Party values.
It's a management contract which means it doesn't matter how bad they are they will still get paid their fee and they will be protected from any loses due to industrial action or even another pandemic ( don't forget the current government likes to remind us all that every household paid £1400 to prop up those naughty striking rail workers)
Typical Tory reaction rewarding abysmal failure! I expect the CEO to get a knighthood.
Built by the people for the people not the share holders
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Friday 1 September is the final day to help #SaveTicketOffices! 🚉
Fill in the consultation now 👇
www.transportfocus.org.uk/train-station-ticket-office-consultationToday is your last chance to tell the rail companies what you feel about ticket office closures.
Don't let them bring down the shutters, putting profit before people. www.transportfocus.org.uk/train-station-ticket-office-consultation/
#SaveTicketOffices ... See MoreSee Less
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I was in the ticket office at Newcastle today at what I would have expected to be a quiet time. There was a queue in front of me and it quickly lengthened behind me.
Form completed. Not that they'll take the slightest bit of notice. The government has already made up their 'minds'.
www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/pm-says-closing-railway-ticket-offices-is-right-thing-for-british-p...
France will launch a €49 rail pass after the success of the 'Deutschlandticket' UK also tried to copy Germany, but was reduced to capping bus fares at £2. This is due to privatisation of Britain's state-owned British Rail. www.euronews.com/travel/2023/09/08/france-will-launch-a-49-rail-pass-after-the-success-of-the-deu...
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Last chance to save our ticket offices! 🚉🎫 If you're in London, please join the Protest: Cut their profits, not our ticket offices outside the Department for Transport next Tuesday 29 August, 10am! See details here 👇 ... See MoreSee Less
Protest: Cut their profits, not our ticket offices
www.eventbrite.co.uk
Join us at 10 am on Tuesday 29th August to protest the government's plans to close a thousand of our train station ticket offices.Comment on Facebook
Keep on about Ticket Offices closing, fact is the 8 x Ticket Offices on our line CLOSED way back in a September 1989! By good old British Rail. In this respect of Ticket Offices it all seems a bit rose tinted spectacles to us.
It seems so strange that in the news, the closure of the ticket offices would affect the elderly and disabled people. Yet they have already spent millions or even billions of pounds in introducing mobility-compliant trains or modifying existing trains.
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📣 Last chance to respond to the consultation & #SaveTicketOffices before the deadline this Weds 26 July! 📧 Send an email here 👇
transportfocus.org.uk/train-station-ticket-office-consultation🚨 You only have 3 days to fight for accessible railways. Take action: www.transportfocus.org.uk/train-station-ticket-office-consultation/ ... See MoreSee Less
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RMT launch National Day of Action against ticket office closures #SaveTicketOffices
Rail union, RMT will step up its campaign to save ticket offices, with dozens of protests outside stations across the country on Thursday.
In London, the union will hold a mass rally outside Kings Cross station at 6pm while local stations will be leafleted.
The union is encouraging everyone to take part in the consultation, so rail companies and the government understand how much rail passengers value their ticket offices and staff.
RMT is taking strike action on 20,22 and 29 July over pay, conditions and ticket office closures.
General Secretary Mick Lynch said: "Our union is taking our campaign to save ticket offices out into every town, city and village in this country.
"The recent announcements of ticket office closures is a fig-leaf for the wholescale de-staffing of stations, including safety critical train dispatch, safety critical train despatch staff, passenger assistance and other non-ticket office customer service workers.
"Ticket office closures under Schedule 17 means there will be no regulations on staffing levels at stations whatsoever.
"Train operators will then be free to staff or de-staff any station to whatever level they choose.
"Our union and the travelling public do not want a de-humanised railway that will be a rife with crime and anti-social behaviour, inaccessible to the most vulnerable.
"We will fight these plans all the way and need the public's support in joining our campaign and taking part in the consultation." ... See MoreSee Less
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Mick is a hero. With you all the way RMT (Ex- S&T).
Please can you sign n share. Bring Back British Rail, is it possible to pin this to the top of the group, please? petition.parliament.uk/petitions/636542?fbclid=IwAR2xVXCa0eeyM4FGDrZG0HcCJ4uHRgIVw2LI2InMhgEzfiWv...
Proof, if it was ever needed, that running the railways is about one thing and one thing only, profits for shareholders. There's no concept of public service from the government or the privatised railway companies.
Hope there are similar meetings outside of London. 🤔
Privatisation has never delivered. They choosed to get the trains supplied from abroad that most are still plagued by teething and quality control issues.
Mick Lynch is on £80k+ a year. Do you really think he gives a shit about you lot or anyone else?'
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