Legislation to gradually re-nationalize rail in the United Kingdom, where most train companies are private, a long-standing promise of the Labor Party, has been approved by the British Parliament.
This law received the green light late Wednesday from the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, after a vote rejecting by a narrow majority an amendment from the conservative opposition. It must still be promulgated by the king.
The reform will bring private operators into public ownership when their contracts expire – or sooner in the case of mismanagement – and bring them together into a body called Great British Railways.
This will, according to the government, avoid paying compensation to current operators, whose various contracts will expire by 2027.
Popular support for re-nationalization
Labor pointed out, shortly after the election of Keir Starmer on July 4 after fourteen years of Conservative governments, “years of poor and unacceptable performance” in the railway sector.
Two thirds of Britons support the re-nationalisation project. According to a Yougov poll at the beginning of September, 77% consider the tickets too expensive and 51% complain about delays – but 50% appreciate the quality of the trains and 64% are satisfied with the range of destinations.
The privatization of rail operators took place in the mid-1990s under Conservative Prime Minister John Major. But the rail network has since returned to public ownership, managed by the company Network Rail.
“A historic moment”, according to the TSSA railway union
Four out of fourteen operators in England had already returned to public control in recent years due to their poor performance. But the idea until now was to manage them temporarily before returning to the private sector. The main operators in Scotland and Wales have also recently become public again.
Rail union TSSA hailed “a historic moment that paves the way for our railways to return to public ownership, where they belong, as a vital service”.
British rail has seen a wave of strikes in recent years under pressure from the purchasing power crisis caused by inflation.
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