Corbyn confirms Labour rail nationalisation plans
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed his plans to renationalise the railways. He made the pledge at the annual conference of the RMT, and the union has welcomed his statement. The railways are only partly privately run at the moment, because Network Rail has been a government body in the public sector since September 2014. Labour’s target appears to be the franchised passenger operators, and it has been speculated that there are two ways of ending their participation, One is to allow the existing franchises to terminate naturally, and the second is to take advantage of ‘break points’, where these exist.
Southern has warned that its train services will be reduced from 29 June until further notice, as ASLEF prepares to start an indefinite overtime ban. Talks between the unions and Govia Thameslink Railway over driver-controlled operation appear to be stalled once again, following a 14-day truce earlier this month between GTR and ASLEF which was intended to allow negotiations to restart. The RMT has also announced new strike dates on Southern, Merseyrail and Northern, while a report commissioned by the DfT has concluded that various reforms are overdue.
The shortlisted bidders for two high-profile rail franchises have been announced by the Department for Transport. They are the West Coast Partnership and Southeastern, and in both cases the existing operators are attempting to stay in control. There are also several foreign contenders involved, including companies from China, Sweden, the USA, France and Italy. The West Coast Partnership franchise starts in April 2019, and will also include operating the first section of HS2 between London and Birmingham from 2026. The South Eastern franchise will change hands in December 2018.
The new Government says it intends to continue with work on HS2, including Phase 2a towards Manchester, which it describes as the ‘next leg’. The commitment is set out today in the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament. Timetables for passing laws have been disrupted by the unexpected General Election, and this year’s speech will last for two years.
The fleet of trains to be built by Bombardier for the new South Western franchise is being unveiled in Derby. The order for 750 Aventra vehicles is worth £895 million, and Bombardier said it is the largest single order yet for its new Aventra type. The latest order has an element of controversy, because the original proposal had been to use new Siemens-built Desiro City Class 707s for South Western, alongside its existing fleets of Desiros. The 707s are said to be more expensive than the Aventras, and FirstGroup and MTR’s decision to change the fleet policy has meant that 150 Class 707 vehicles will have no obvious operator after 2019.
Train services in the East of England are being reduced in a bid to cope with soaring temperatures. With the shade temperature expected to hit at least 30 degrees C in East Anglia today, rail temperatures could exceed 50. Network Rail has reacted by imposing speed restrictions on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk from midday.
Passengers on trams outside London are more likely to be happy with their journeys than people using trains or buses. The findings are published today by watchdog Transport Focus in its latest Tram Passenger Survey, which says trams scored an overall satisfaction rating of 93 per cent. Some individual systems did better still, with Edinburgh Trams reaching 99 per cent. However, Transport Focus sees some possible sources of dissatisfaction, particularly as the result of disruption caused by building tramway extensions.