LIBERAL Democrat activists failed in a bid to end the current rail franchise system, and return them to a revamped Network Rail.

They proposed last-minute changes to their party’s transport policies when they were debated at the annual conference in Bournemouth.

Senior party figures warned that their amendment, if passed, would derail three years’ work in drawing up a comprehensive public transport strategy, which also included buses and aviation.

It would have changed the plan to establish rolling franchises for train operators, with regular performance and passenger satisfaction targets to encourage investment in the rail network and improve standards.

Instead it proposed: “Ending current operating franchises at the end of their current term, with a reformed Network Rail taking over the franchises as they fall vacant.”

Leeds Lib Dem delegate Mick Taylor, who moved the amendment, said the argument for private train operators was that they would attract private money to improve the railways, and so need less public money.

That had not happened, with public subsidies actually much higher now than under British Rail, but the money was “going into the wallets of private railway bosses and shareholders”.

Meanwhile, he said: “Most passengers travel in crowded, substandard trains at some of the highest prices in the EU”, with a ticketing system “that requires a degree in higher mathematics to understand”.

Mr Taylor urged: “We should commit ourselves to end this farce – end the franchise system over a period of time. We want to provide an efficient, safety-first, modern railway run for the benefit of customers.”

He said Network Rail would have to be reformed and that, if the party agreed to the principle now, the details could then be worked out later.

Delegate Ruth Coleman, who also backed the idea, said claims that ending the franchise system would be against EU rules were wrong: “Other EU countries have continued a nationally-owned rail service, delivering the services people want.”

But transport spokesman Norman Baker said the reason some train operating companies had not delivered was because they had very short franchises. However, Chiltern, with a 20 year franchise, was an example of what could be achieved.

“Long franchises will come with continual five-year policy checks. And the franchise can be removed, so we are not abandoning the railways to the private sector.”

He said the proposed plan would run into problems with EU regulations, and added that Network Rail did not want to do it anyway.

Lord Bradshaw, Lib Dem spokesman in the House of Lords and a former senior British Rail executive, said: “The Tories raped the railway, and Labour have spent 12 years throttling it.”

He said suggesting handing more of the network to Network Rail ignored the fact that it was ineffective, arrogant – given the bonuses paid to senior staff, despite the company’s failures – and monopolistic.

Denys Robinson, chairman of London Liberal Democrats, said announcing now that the Government would take back each franchise as it expires would guarantee that train operators would give up on spending money on services.

“If you think they are dirty and overcrowded now, you would not want to see what they would be like when the franchises expire.”

Delegates voted against the proposal, but agreed policies that include starting work now on a high speed rail network to be rolled out over 15 years, and full electrification by 2050.

The transport plan, called Fast Track Britain: Building a Transport System for the 21st Century, also includes introducing a rolling programme of rail expansion schemes in local areas, including opening new lines.

And there are proposals to encourage more sustainable methods of moving freight, including ensuring good rail paths on key strategic freight corridors.

Transport spokesman Nor-man Baker said afterwards: “The Lib Dems are the only party with the foresight and determination to produce a coherent, courageous and costed plan for transport that is fit for the 21st century.

“While this Labour Government has rested on its laurels and presided over worsening road congestion and an increasingly overcrowded and expensive railway, the Lib Dems have made a commitment to a fair and modern transport system that helps the traveller and the environment,” he said.

Transport funding: Top of the Lib Dem list
The new transport policies include funding a series of major projects. These include:

Electrification
Great Western   
Midland Main Line to Kettering (Corby) as Stage 1. To Leicester as Stage 2.   
East Coast Main Line diversionary routes.   
Trans-Pennine routes including Manchester, Liverpool (via Chat Moss) and Blackpool via Preston.   
Edinburgh–Aberdeen.   
Edinburgh–Glasgow via Falkirk.

New lines
New spur line linking Arun Valley Line and West Coastal to provide an alternative route between London, Brighton, Hove and Worthing.
Construction of Airtrack at Heathrow.   
York Holgate Junction.   
Southport, Wigan–Ormskirk–Preston Link.   
   
Line re-opening
Oxford–Milton Keynes–Bedford–Cambridge and Aylesbury to Milton Keynes.   
Lewes–Uckfield.   
Burscough Curves (providing Southport – Preston services)   
Glasgow Crossrail.   
Olive Mount line (Liverpool).   
Waverley Route.   

Signalling/infrastructure
Signalling improvements on route from Peterborough via Lincoln to Doncaster on the East Coast Main Line (Diversionary Route).   
Flyover at Slade Junction in West Coast Main Line.
Construct single flyover at Croydon (Windmill Hill) to separate London Bridge and Victoria Services.