Ministers have suggested that we cannot afford to take the railways back into public ownership. The reality is that we cannot afford not to. Continuing with the status quo means continuing with low growth, poor performance, compromised safety – and spiralling cost escalation. The Exchequer will not bear this increasing burden indefinitely – sooner or later there will be pressure to shift the costs of privatisation to passengers, through fare rises and cuts in services. Either way, the public loses.
And there is a little more to it than TU nostalgia:
Drawing on research by Professor Jean Shaoul of Manchester University, it shows that this could produce immediate savings of at least £500m a year on the government’s annual rail bill of £4.5 billion, as well as leading to further savings and service improvements over the medium term as the industry was reintegrated.
It kind of echoes concerns I myself have expressed publicly before now.
ASLEF - Re-nationalising rail could save:
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