Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn has pledged the party would bring railways back into public control if he takes power.
The North Islington MP who has ignited the campaign to find the next Labour leader said he would create a rail network ‘run by the people for the people’ by providing greater democratic say for passengers, rail workers and politicians over strategic development.
Mr Corbyn said privatisation had ‘fragmented’ the rail network and branded the rail franchising process ‘incredibly expensive and wasteful’ to both bidding companies and the Government.
A new Railways Act 2020 would bring the railways back into public control through a co-operative model, run in the public interest to meet social, economic and environmental goals.
He said the creation of a more integrated network would eliminate the need for passengers to negotiate different websites, ‘complicated’ ticket structures and varying peak time periods.
The public ownership plans would also see railways cutting out rolling stock companies altogether and procuring stock directly. Mr Corbyn said the current system was ‘incredibly expensive’ and had left trains ‘outdated on many lines’.
He voiced his support for investing more in new high-speed rail lines to stimulate the economy, create jobs and connect towns and cities, while pledging to make stations and trains more accessible for disabled passengers.
‘The privatisation of the railways fragmented our rail network meaning the most expensive and confusing ticketing structures in Europe,’ Mr Corbyn said.
‘Our rail network suffers from massive under-investment, recently cut again by this government, while larcenous levels of profiteering continue. We need to rebuild an integrated publicly owned railway network that is run by the people for the people.
‘It is important for our economy, society and the environment that our railways are run in the public interest not for private profit. Under my leadership Labour will commit to public ownership, run by passengers, workers and government.’
Fellow leadership contender Andy Burnham has also pledged to renationalise the railways 'line by line' and plans to establish a new 'national rail' government body, answerable to the transport secretary, to ensure better deals for passengers.
A YouGov poll from 2014 found 60% of the public were in favour of renationalising the railways, compared with 20% who were against.
The idea has found favour following the success of East Coast Mainline, which was run by the publicly owned Directly Operated Railways (DOR) from 2009 to this year and returned more than £1bn to the Treasury.
