Emma Hardy has pledged to get local train services back on track by backing Labour’s plans to overhaul Britain’s broken railways.
This comes after Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh MP, announced Labour’s detailed plans to reform Britain’s railways.
Labour’s plans to get Britain moving are crucial to delivering our missions for Government by boosting productivity and driving growth. A growing economy and public services fit for the future need a modern transport system to support the flow of people and goods across the country. Under the Conservatives Britain’s broken rail network is simply not delivering: cancellations have soared to record high levels, fares have risen almost twice as fast as wages since 2010, and strikes are costing taxpayers £25m for every day they go ahead, whilst taxpayers fork out huge subsidies to pay for trains that are overcrowded, delayed or cancelled.
Labour will fold existing private passenger rail contracts into Great British Railways as they expire, without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs, as part of a publicly owned and passenger focused railway.
Labour’s plans mean an end to the misery Northern passengers across Yorkshire and the Humber face on a weekly basis.
Northern passengers have faced a huge 394% increase in cancelled services since 2016,[i] and only 50% of Northern trains were on time in October-December last year. [ii]
This compares to a shocking 61% increase in cancellations across Britain since 2016, with only 62% of services on time in October-December last year.
During its first term, a Labour Government would:
- Put the passenger first, by delivering a best-price ticket guarantee for passengers, and rolling out automatic delay repay and digital season tickets across the network
- Establish a powerful new passenger watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold Great British Railways to account for passengers
- Deliver significant savings to the taxpayer by eliminating fragmentation, waste, bureaucracy and by stopping profits leaking out to private operators
- Create a unified, publicly owned, accountable and arm’s length Great British Railways, which will be led by rail experts, not Whitehall
- Expect to complete the transition to public ownership within the first term of a Labour Government, by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into the new body as they expire, without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs
- Give devolved leaders, including Mayoral Combined Authorities, a statutory role in the rail network, allowing decisions about the railways to be taken closer to the communities they serve
- Support successful open access and freight operators to continue to deliver, and set clear objectives and targets for passenger services and freight growth
Labour’s plans mean delivering a unified, publicly owned rail within the first term of a Labour Government, as franchises are brought in house as contracts expire, meaning taxpayers won’t pay a penny in compensation costs.
Emma Hardy MP for Hull West and Hessle said:
“For too long my constituents have been let down by unreliable and inefficient train services, holding back our economy and stopping people accessing opportunities.
“That’s I am supporting Labour’s plans to create Great British Railways – a new, publicly owned and expert-led body to run our railways and put the passenger first.
“Labour’s plans will mean reliable, safe, efficient, accessible, affordable and quality train services, no matter where you live.”
Louise Haigh, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Transport said:
“Labour will deliver the biggest overhaul in our railways for a generation, ending the deepening crisis and chaos that passengers have been forced to endure in recent years.
“Underinvestment, fragmentation, inefficiency, waste and 14 years of tinkering by Conservative Ministers have left our railways unfit to meet the demands of modern Britain.
“Under Labour, a publicly owned and controlled railway will focus on what matters to passengers.”
For more information on ‘Getting Britain Moving: Labour’s Plan to Fix Britain’s Railways’ is available here: labour.org.uk/get-britain-moving
[i] Office of Rail and Road cancellation data (accessed April 2024): https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/2177/table-3123-trains-planned-and-cancellations-by-operator-and-cause.ods
[ii] Office of Rail and Road punctuality data (accessed April 2024): https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/passenger-rail-performance/
