GOVERNMENT MUST NOT FLOG OFF PUBLIC SUCCESS STORY
On the announcement the Government is to sell off the successful East Coast Mainline franchise to Virgin and Stagecoach - pending completion of a standstill period of at least 10 days - Caroline said today:
“We have 10 days to tell the Government re-privatising the East Coast Mainline is a terrible deal for passengers and for taxpayers.
“After private sector failure, the East Coast franchise was successfully taken in-house. In the 5 years it has been run by the public sector, East Coast returned nearly £1bn to the taxpayer, as well as increasing passenger numbers, introducing a new timetable, improving punctuality, investing in ageing rolling stock and establishing industry leading approaches to waste recycling and reducing carbon emissions.
“It therefore beggars belief that the Government has announced it intends to flog the franchise back to a private operator again, despite the success of the public sector rescue. This is privatisation for privatisation’s sake.
“Clearly Cameron is flogging this successful public service off quick, before the election. But as well as criticising him for refusing to allow the public sector to bid or challenge to run its own services, we should be keeping East Coast in-house full-stop. It is not enough just to call for ‘a level playing field’ with the private sector, so we can join in the game of bidding, we need to phase out franchising and bring our railways back into public hands.
“Instead of tinkering round the edges of a system that is unfit for purpose, the Greens are calling for the East Coast Mainline to remain in public hands as part of a policy to bring all private franchises back into public ownership as they either fail or expire. This could save over £1 billion a year of taxpayers’ money, some of which the Government could spend on reducing fares.”
Caroline, who has a Railways Private Members Bill before Parliament, wrote today to the Secretary of State for Transport, urging him to halt the process and keep the East Coast Mainline in public hands.
“If the government really wants to make savings and improve our transport network for everyone, it should recognise that privatisation has failed and gradually return the railways to public ownership. My Railways Bill before Parliament is a way to do just that and keeping the successful Eastcoast Mainline public should be just the start of this process.”
ENDS
2) Rebuilding Rail, Transport for Quality of Life
3) Train operating companies are dependent upon public subsidies to run services: The Great Train Robbery, TUC
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