Fewer strikes under nationalised railways, Aslef leader says

ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan predicted fewer train driver strikes as he joined MPs outside Parliament ahead of the second reading of Labour’s railway nationalisation Bill today.

The head of the train drivers’ union hoped that fewer “snouts in the trough” — profiteering rail franchise bosses — will see ticket fares go down alongside better investment outside of London.

Private firms that lease out trains for Britain’s railways have seen their profits treble in a year, with more than £400 million paid in dividends, official figures showed in February.

Mr Whelan spoke as two-dozen MPs gathered to back the Bill outside the Palace of Westminster. He thanked the Morning Star for being “with us every step of the way in the last two years” in its industrial dispute with eight train operating companies.

“I’m incredibly proud that our national railways will be back in public ownership, now all we need is utilities and Royal Mail,” he said.

“We will have an opportunity to renationalise the railway where people on it have the same rules and jobs.

“Normally it’s a postcode lottery [coming down to whether] you are lucky enough to be in one of the big cities.

“Every time someone new comes in… new problems come in and with them new industrial relations. 

“We are hoping that the ability to deal with these will be quicker and will lessen the strikes.”

He added that strategic investment in rail will be needed for Labour to achieve its 1.5 million new homes plan and move from Britain’s “very, very London-centric railway.”

Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East and chair of the north-east all-party parliamentary group (APPG), said: “We have seen prices go up and rail companies still take huge profits whilst not delivering for the people of the country, so there needs to be a change in priorities… transport really fails people in the north-east.”

And Peter Lamb, new Labour MP for Crawley, said the Govia Thameslink Railway’s public contract means the company’s public subsidy is unaffected by ticket sales, which go to government, so its income is guaranteed however it performs.

“The solution for this is fairly simple, which is getting back to accountability — we cannot have natural monopolies,” he said.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said a spending audit has revealed “£1 billion of unfunded transport projects” committed to next year.

She added that Transport Secretary Louise Haigh will cancel the Restoring Our Railway Programme, an £85 million cut, next year.