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.
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
• 26 June 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
Bring Back British Rail
3 weeks ago
What a brilliant win for Better Buses for Greater Manchester today! ✊ Let’s hope this is the beginning of the end for Britain’s profiteering private bus companies 🚍After years of work from campaigners across the region, Andy Burnham has just announced that buses in Greater Manchester are coming back into public control!
YOU WON!!!!!!! ✊✊✊🚌🚌🚌🚌✊✊✊
We're so happy! Well done to everyone involved!! ...
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
Please remember: you can still catch a bus or train if it is late. You would probably miss a train or bus if it was early. 🙂 (An arguement I use when car owners tell me that "the train/bus is always late")
How, exactly, will this bring better buses to Manchester?
Let's just wait and see what the fares are, there already a rip off.
At a cost of £135 million before any changes happen. Where is the money coming from? The bus operators certainly can't afford it.
I always find it interesting that when there's a post about something good or kind or decent and is of benefit there's always at least one twit who clicks the laughing smiley.
Wait for the bill to need paying!
A few people have asked "how will it be paid for?" Easy, you slash the wage bill, get rid of the unproductive people called 'shareholders of a private company'.
Co-ordinated services and ticketing instead of separate operators running around after the juicy bit and trying to outdo each other. Transport isn't sweet shops trying to outbid the one down the road but something that needs to be organised for the greater good of the metropolitan conurbation.
Grew up in Manchester. Selnec busses were orange, cheap, regular and reliable. Well done Manchester!
great! now lets get the NHS & THE RAILWAYS BACK!!
Well done Andy. West Midlands next please Andy Street (or possibly Liam Byrne after May).
Cheap, frequent buses hopefully. Taking a taxi shouldn’t be cheaper than a bus.
I’m sure Boris will pay one of his mates a billion pounds to put a stop to this nonsense whilst also smothering anything within 20 miles in the union flag 🤣🤣🤮 😡
Bout time
I think we need a bit more information before the euphoria begins!
See Burnham Dan.
Great work nice to see and now for the rest of the country
so are they going to buy all operators buses to do this
XX
Does this mean the classic orange buses are coming back?
The money earned if the railways are wholly nationalised would have to come from the profitable operating sectors like Inter City.
Now sort the lanes out, it is a nightmare driving around our city centre. They make so much money out of diabolical routes. Needs looking into to ensure it is not just a money making scam. Parking, bus lanes, dropping off and collecting from coach and train station. NIGHTMARE!!!
View more comments
Bring Back British Rail
1 month ago
Amazing news for Scotland today! 👏👏👏 Michael Matheson MSP has finally announced that the ScotRail franchise will be brought back into public ownership when Abellio's contract ends next year 🚆 Thanks to everyone who signed our #MakeScotRailPublic petition, first launched in 2014. It was a long fight, but we did it! ...
Public Ownership of Scotland’s Railway
you.38degrees.org.uk
Public transport is an essential public service. It facilitates the smooth running of our local and national economies, it helps cut the carbon emissions caused by car travel, and it enables everyone to participate in our society – to visit friends and family, to attend appointments, events or go ...Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
Well rather than stupidly taking it back 6 years ago and paying Abellio even more millions they waited till the franchises ended... which was the vaunted plan of Jeremy Corbyn... but aye.. you won.
I stand for the campaign to Bring back BR - but taking the credit for this "success" is a bit of a cheek - the only reason the Gov have brought it back to public ownership is the deficit caused by the pandemic. When the time comes, it'll be back in the private sector faster than it is taking the tories to give NHS staff a decent payrise.
I saw the Scottish Daily Mail ran on its front page today its oh so predictable faux outrage that this was "Back To The 70s". How I love to watch that hate rag squirm when things don't go their way....
More money than sense dept. Was BR a success?
Sam Hayward
Excellent news. Back to the future hurrah hurrah hurray!
British rail is the future
Fantastic news for Scotland, Railways operated as they should be for the passenger, not the shareholder. Just like they did for prescriptions. unlike England where people have to decide whether they can afford life saving prescription of nearly £10
Is this just the franchise, ie rolling stock and train crews? Scotland still won't own the track or rolling stock so the same exorbitant hire fees will get milked
At last B.R next I hope
Excellent news!
Scot rail is state owned just not the British state it is part of N.S or the Dutch State Railways.
Hooray. Let’s hope England follows suit
And once it gets there, leave it there. Change the name of OLR to summat simple like SR.
Thats 3 of 4 of the home nations now permanently back in public operation isn't it?
Even america has a state owned rail network
🏴👍
That’s great news.
Afraid I'm sceptical about this.
🏴
It might work like Regional Railways but how did it function?
Abellio got skinned
Just like the British Govt has been pushing for the UK through all his bodies.
NO if the wicked witch o' the north has onything tae dae wi' it. it will hand Scotrail ower tae the eu.
Read the breaking news: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56432919
View more comments
Bring Back British Rail
2 months ago
On the day rail fares rise by a whopping 2.6%, we've launched a new online action with our friends at We Own It. Please take 2 minutes to write to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to demand he seizes this moment to end rail privatisation altogether.
📝👉 weownit.org.uk/demand-public-ownership-our-railway ...
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
I thought it was the rail companies who imposed fare increases, not the gov.
By the time HS2 is finished no one will be able to afford to use it.
Even if you don't use the trains you are still paying for them out of your and my taxes. So if you want a rail service that is worth its money get it back into public ownership and gas, electric, water, and oil. Britain was great at one time.
Coverage of our action in The Canary: www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2021/03/01/campaigners-criticise-broken-privatised-system-as-rail-fares-...
Coverage in Left Foot Forward: leftfootforward.org/2021/03/rail-fares-rise-by-2-6-as-government-set-to-freeze-fuel-duty-for-10th...
So true werst thing they ever did just like they did when they closed a lot of the lines
Well us British Rail workers told everyone not to privatise the railway and everyone laughed at us, well now you’re paying !
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-56361129
it was the same under BR price rises and the same shit service ,except its worse under franchising
View more comments
Bring Back British Rail
2 months ago
On the day rail fares rise by 2.6%, please take 2 minutes to write to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to tell him:
💷 Scrap the fare hikes.
📉 End the contract chaos.
🚆 We need public ownership now! ...
Demand public ownership of our railway
weownit.org.uk
Passengers are being hit with a huge fare hikeShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
YES!!!!
Coverage of our action in The Canary: www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2021/03/01/campaigners-criticise-broken-privatised-system-as-rail-fares-...
Coverage in Left Foot Forward: leftfootforward.org/2021/03/rail-fares-rise-by-2-6-as-government-set-to-freeze-fuel-duty-for-10th...
What a disgrace the railways have become, after scaring off 95% of regular users during the pandemic, they are now about to increase fares by 2.6%. They have risen by 40% in the last ten years, meanwhile, fuel duty on cars has been frozen for 12 years, is it any wonder we have clogged up roads.
More profit for the bosses and shareholders, who dont give a damn about us. We are the mugs who just keep paying and they know it
Signed
I joined BR (Southern Region) in 1970, Fare rises were an annual unwelcome event then, and the main reason was not to invest but to suppress demand so that investment became unnecessary, The Mandarins of Masham Street ruled fiercely then!
In public transport terms the tories have always been a disaster as the pander to the greed of their cronies. Buses and trains are a disaster across most of the country. Marples was bane enough but this shower are the worst of the lot.
How would a publicly owned (Government), railway prevent price hikes like this that are set by the Dft (Government)?
Sent off a letter, no doubt it will be ignored...
Don't just stop with trains gas electric buses nationalise the lot
Signed
Bring back the British Rail we use to have before privatisation such as Virgin Trains etc.
What the point it’s private profit for shareholders customers don’t care
I'd love to sign but your computer won't accept my EU postcode. Pity cos I'm a UK citizen and have a continuing interest in UK affairs.
Sadly, would the Government pay heed to the way privatisation has caused overheads to spiral out of control?
Good luck, we're approx 100,000 billion miles off from having anything like a socialist left wing agenda anywhere near Number 10 with Kier Starmer being an absolute wet wipe. Great stuff. Can't wait to get back to commuting and spending 3/4 of my wages on rent and travel. FUN FUN FUN.
Nationalise the lot. Privatisation of Rail has failed dismally.
The current situation is totally unacceptable, it's time it was scrapped.
Signed and sent
View more comments
Bring Back British Rail
2 months ago
Privatisation costs more! 🚍💷💸 For passengers and for tax-payers, so it’s no wonder it exacerbates poverty. Hear former UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston talking about his research into the human rights impacts of the UK’s deregulated bus system at Get Glasgow Moving’s public meeting tonight at 7pm 👇👇 ...
Public Transport: Privatisation & Poverty w/ special guest Philip Alston
www.eventbrite.co.uk
Register here for Get Glasgow Moving's Public Meeting & Annual General Meeting, w/ special guest Philip AlstonShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
What's the problem with saying Special Reporter? We are not in France 😏
The whole railway should be brought back into public ownership under British rail. Railways are supposed to be for the average people not the rich
www.facebook.com/199676720083396/posts/3951806331537064/ Cut costs with jobs so the greedy profiteers can make more money!!! I knew the tory scum wouldn't get rid of privatisation, too much money in their pals pockets at stake!!!
Yeah and they still plan to continue to freeze fuel duty for the private motorist in the next budget.
All this government efforts in trying to make rail privatisation work have proved to be unsuccessful yet they always seem to try again.
Privatisation was an EU directive so that they could buy into our industries. Now we are out we should be able to sort out what we have left.
View more comments