The public overwhelmingly supports our railways being run under public ownership – Andy McDonald

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on the Government’s rail plans announced this morning, said:

“For someone who is in such a desperate rush to sever links with Europe at any cost, Chris Grayling seems to be determined to put the state-owned railway companies of Germany, France, Holland and Italy in control of both our national rail infrastructure as well as our trains.

“Train operating companies, some of which run abysmal services, should not be invited to take responsibility for the safety-critical infrastructure of Britain’s railways. We don’t want to see a return to the bad old days of Railtrack, where underinvestment and a poor safety record led to customers being put at risk and a number of fatalities.

“Track and train partnerships have been tried recently on the railway and have failed. The public overwhelmingly supports our railways being run under public ownership, in the public interest. Today’s announcement will take us further away from that.”