A new rail system should be enjoyed, not endured. It should be accessible to all - financially and physically. Prioritise passengers, not shareholders. Cut bonuses - not staff (and with them their wealth of experience and knowledge). It should be truly public - with staff and users participating in decision-making. Our fragmented system doesnt work. The separation of track and wheel is madness. A new rail system should be fully reunified - and half measures dont deliver. There are individual Labour MPs on the backbenches who back a public railway. But it seems the Leadership lacks the confidence to back them: Ed Miliband would only invite public operators to compete against private companies for lucrative rail contracts. The proposal is a fudge. Through it, millions would be wasted in bureaucratic bidding wars and our railways would remain, quite literally, in pieces. We need to fully, transparently, commit to unifying our railways in public hands. Come down off the fence, Mr Miliband, and show some vision: youll be welcomed. Back the public, and back the Bill to give us a reliable public railway to be proud of. *Roughly 60% of our railways are run by foreign state-owned companies Caroline Lucas is the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion Carolines Railways Bill is due its Second Reading this Friday Follow Caroline Lucas on Twitter: twitter/CarolineLucas
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 20:39:17 +0000
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