What should be in the government’s Railways Bill?

Having waged a 30 year campaign against the break up and privatisation of the railways...

Having waged a 30 year campaign against the break up and privatisation of the railways, I find it hugely enjoyable to see the transport secretary Heidi Alexander speak out so strongly in favour of renationalisation. Setting out the plans, she said ‘We’re going to wave goodbye to 30 years’ worth of inefficiency, waste, passenger frustration, and we’re going to step really confidently towards a new future for the railways.’ Even Lord Peter Hendy, who was a Crossbencher until becoming a minister last July, has begun to sound like an old Leftie. Lauding the improvement in TransPennine Express’s performance after it was taken in house, he said ‘These impressive results demonstrate what happens when we put passengers and communities first rather than private profit’

Ministers have been ready to point out that the policy of renationalisation is popular, as it was backed by 3 out of 4 people in a survey. But without wishing to sound patronising, few people will have a detailed understanding of what precisely the creation of Great British Railways entails and what it means for the future of the railways. Certainly the idea of getting rid of the private companies who have often not done themselves any favours in the way they have treated passengers will be welcome but the new organisation will have to do more than simply not be National Express or Stagecoach. There must be a series of positive improvements in the railway to which Labour will be able to point at both forthcoming local elections and ultimately the general one of 2029. While transport in general and railways in particular do not generally lead to many people changing their votes, the rail takeover has been a key part of Labour’s policy offering and one which is bound to come up in the hustings.

The pressure group for public ownership, ‘We Own It’ which has highlighted the failings of privatisation and rallied a lot of support to stop the sale of Channel 4 has produced a useful report on what it would like to see in the Railways Bill that is expected, after various delays, to be published in October. I contributed to the introduction of the report with a few thoughts on what British Rail did well and needs to be replicated.

I suggested that the root of BR’s success was its ability to reconcile both its commercial and social responsibilities. There will always be part of the railways that requires subsidy, and other lines that are profitable, and keeping a focus on both is essential to the new publicly owned body. BR was responsible overall strategic decisions over rail investment and timetabling while being expected to stick to a budget set by government. That was a successful arrangement provided BR had enough freedom to make decisions without referring to ministers or the Department for Trasport which, ironically, is not the case at the moment since privatised train operators have very little scope to make decisions off their own bat. I highlighted two other successful aspects of British Rail (as set out in my book, British Rail, a new history): its management training scheme which created a generation of excellent managers who, ironically, later led many of the private train operators; and its advertising campaigns with slogans that still resonate today like ‘Let the train take the strain’ and ‘we’re getting there’.

I was not involved in the writing of the rest of the report which rightly focusses on several areas that have not really been sufficiently discussed. In the introduction, We Own It sets out three overarching ambitions which ministers would do well to pick up on: Be ambitious for our railway; deliver the benefits of public ownership; and listen to passengers.

These are laudable ambitions and the biggest issue is probably fares. The report has a well-informed contribution from Jonathan Bray, the former head of the Urban Transport Group, who puts the case for a national rail card. That makes sense given that there is only a small group of people aged 26-60 who pay full fares and a national rail card offering discount of a third on all journeys would attract many of them into the rail market.

Other contributions focus on the removal of competition from the railways. Having a single ticket supplier, for example, would save a lot in commission to trainline and the like, but that will probably involve a wider reform and, in particular, simplification. My idea has long been to make off peak returns the standard price and then have cheaper trains offering say 30 per cent off at quiet periods and then add 30 per cent on peak services. These faWe Open res would be permanent and it would be easy for people to ascertain what they were going to pay on a particular train. But other models need to be examined. The fundamental point is that at the moment these third party ticket companies thrive because very few people understand how the system works. In a world of simple fares, they will have no role.

Other suggestions include reining back on open access, something that ministers are clearly already doing. Abolishing the few existing services would seem to be unlikely though one suggestion, from Roger Ford of Modern Railways is that the new GBR should have a remit to seek out ways to improve access to places with a poor or no railway services. I also like the idea of giving a voice to passengers by creating a supervisory board which would have a role in ensuring GBR takes into account travellers when making decisions.

We Own it has done ministers a favour by putting forward a series of ideas. There has been a lack of discussion about how the system will work under GBR and it is vital that ministers get it right as the new system is likely to last a generation or more.

Bike business

I rarely take my bike on long distance rail services, but I should be able to. It is just such a hassle. I accept that taking bikes on trains can be difficult for the railways, given they are big and inflexible, taking up a large amount of space for now reward for the railway company as they are transported free.

But the rail companies could do more to help. Bikes and trains are a good combination for many holidays and the railway should all to encourage them as they can be an important part of local tourist economies. On a recent trip to Wales, my wife and I booked spaces on Great Western from Paddington to Newport for our bikes , and then on a local on local service through to Abergavenny. That all passed off smoothly, though nothing could induce my wife who is just 5ft tall to attempt lift the front wheel of her bike to attach it to the hook in the small compartment which bikes have been allocated. Hanging bikes in this way is not a good idea at the best of times, as it may well lead to a warped wheel.

However, the return journey from Machynlleth was far more fraught. First it was difficult to book the bikes on the train, which only operates every two hours, even when we went to the ticket office in Abergavenny to do it. So we fetched up at Machynlleth to be told that the 14 07 did not have any spare bike spaces but the 16 08 did. ‘However’, the booking clerk told me after handing me the reservation tickets, ‘we can’t guarantee that you will be able to get your bikes on. There can be unexpected events.’ She would not elaborate on what these might be and in the event we did get on the train. But given that there is only a two hourly service, it was rather disconcerting to be told that the booking was only effectively provisional.

Thanks for your support

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What was lacking was a can-do attitude. In fact, although there is only officially space for two bikes (or four in a four car train) there is plenty of space for bikes both in the compartment – where we easily squeezed in a third bike – and in the wheelchair space which is mostly unused. I wanted to hear someone say : ‘we will do everything we can to get you on’ rather than ‘hmmm, you might not be able to get on’. Let’s hope this is something that an integrated public service like Great British Railways will routinely deliver.