Monday essay: Welcome to the hybrid railway
Labour’s plans for the passenger railway have received plenty of attention over the past few days, although some of the general media coverage was ill-informed or potentially misleading. Some sources talked about ‘UK Rail’, when Northern Ireland is nothing to do with this, but few commentators seemed to notice the quiet change of the status of Great British Railways from ‘guiding mind’, to ‘directing mind’.
Labour’s detailed proposals for railway reform are ambitious. They take the plans set out in Keith Williams’ Rail Review and build on them, with the result that a new railway industry emerges. This will still be a hybrid industry, financially speaking, although it will hardly deserve the label ‘privatised’ any longer. In a nutshell, if Labour gains power, the infrastructure and core passenger services (those operated by the former franchises) will be state-owned, and administered by ‘Great British Railways’. During the first five-year term of a Labour Government the core periods of the existing (passenger) contracts will have expired, and they can then be ‘folded in’ to GBR.
The Labour Party has published its proposal for creating Great British Railways, which is called ‘Getting Britain moving’ and runs to 28 pages. Speaking in London this morning, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: ‘If I am secretary of state, I won’t be running the railways day-to-day, but I will act as ‘passenger-in-chief’ – setting the strategy and objectives for Great British Railways, and holding it to account. ‘But, unlike current Ministers, I will trust the experts. Experts who don’t just come from the rail sector – because we all know that it can sometimes be a little too inward-looking. But external experts in providing exceptional customer service.’ She revealed that if Labour is elected, instructions will be given immediately to the Department for Transport, Network Rail, the Rail Delivery Group and the Operator of Last Resort ‘to work together from day one to create a “shadow” Great British Railways’.
The Labour Party has unveiled the first details of its plans for Great British Railways, if it wins the General Election. The idea of a ‘guiding mind’ for the rail industry, as recommended by Keith Williams, would be confirmed by the passing of a new Railways Act. Labour is also announcing plans to ‘seize on the huge economic potential of rail freight’ and ‘deliver a new long-term strategy for train manufacturing’ as part of the party’s commitment to a comprehensive industrial strategy.
Eurostar is changing its three classes of travel from November, when they will become Eurostar Standard, Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier. Passengers in the first two classes will be able to exchange tickets until one hour before departure, and claim a refund until seven days before the journey. Premier Class passengers will be able to claim refunds until two days after the booked departure.
The drivers’ union ASLEF has called new strikes in England early next month. The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘Our pay deals at these companies ran out in 2019. Train drivers at these TOCs have not had an increase in salary for five years. That is completely wrong’. The Rail Delivery Group said industrial action was ‘unnecessary’ and that it will continue to seek ‘a fair agreement’
Trains are running again on the Cumbrian Coast Line between Lancaster and Barrow-in Furness, after a derailment at Grange-over-Sands blocked the track on 22 March. No-one was hurt, but a six coach Northern train had to be removed by crane. Network Rail is continuing to work with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch to discover the cause of a void in the ground which was discovered near the site of the derailment.