Labour's rail renationalisation plans sound appealing, but leave questions

It is more than 28 years since the first privatised passenger train rolled out of Twickenham station en route for Waterloo (actually to be technically accurate the first “rail” service of the new era was a replacement bus in the early hours, but that is another story). 

We wait to see what the Labour manifesto says about the railways this week but it seems likely that a pledge to restore public ownership within five years will be among the party’s commitments if voters hand Keir Starmer the keys to No 10.

The break up and sale of British Rail was a complex, messy business and far from the most popular of the Tory privatisations. However, it has delivered a huge increase in passenger use of the railways and more frequent — and now sometimes competing — services on some routes. Labour wants to bring services back into state ownership as contracts expire.

They will be run by a new government body called Great British Railways, which Labour claims will allow huge efficiency savings compared with multiple private companies operating separate networks. That sounds appealing but questions remain about where investment for new rolling stock and other enhancements will come from at a time of tightly constrained public finances.

In our pages this week the boss of private train operator FirstGroup suggests an alternative hybrid model based on how Transport for London and some other metropolitan authorities run many of their services. Graham Sutherland argues that a central state owned body could grant concessions to private operators under a system that enhances public oversight but maintains an element of competition. It is the model adopted by TfL for the Elizabeth line and the DLR.

We shall wait to see the details of what Labour propose. But a plan that leads to further upheaval followed by underinvestment will be the worst of all worlds.