Rail fares will continue to rise under Labour’s public ownership plan, transport secretary indicates
Heidi Alexander warned against entering into a ‘death spiral’ of low fares and poor-quality rail networks
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Rail fares will continue to rise under Labour despite plans to bring the railways under public ownership, the new transport secretary has indicated.
Heidi Alexander, who was appointed to the position after Louise Haigh was forced to resign last week, said the “commercial realities for the railways are very challenging at the moment”.
She said there needs to be enough money to provide good services for fare payers, warning against entering into a “death spiral” of low fares and poor-quality rail networks.
It comes after the government announced that South Western Railway’s services will be the first to transfer into public ownership next year.
The government said the move paved the way for a “major shake-up” of Britain’s railways, improving reliability and supporting a boost to economic growth by encouraging more people to use the railway.
It will also clamp down on unacceptable levels of delays, cancellations, and waste seen under decades of failing franchise contracts, it was claimed.
But asked if rail fares will be cheaper under public ownership, Ms Alexander told Sky News: “In the budget this year the chancellor set out that next year rail fares will increase by 4.6 per cent, that’s the lowest absolute increase for three years.
“The commercial realities for the railways are very challenging at the moment. Even under public ownership, we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got enough money to provide the services that people want, otherwise you can enter into a little bit of a death spiral.
“If you start cutting services, and people cant get to where they want to get to when they want to get there.
“They’ll look for other options, so we’ve actually got to find a way to provide an appropriate service level.
“But we’re going to have to become more efficient and were going to have to increase productivity, because that’s the way you deliver value for money.”
The Tories dismissed Labour’s plans to nationalise the railways as an “ideological undertaking that does not put passengers first”.
Shadow transport secretary Gareth Bacon said the party will “closely monitor the impact of these plans”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments