This week began with protests at Northern Rail stations, including Seaham, campaigning against the introduction of higher fares, threats to rail services, and job cuts on the rail network. Northern Rail has been pressed by the Department for Transport to raise extra revenues as sixty nine percent of their costs are covered by subsidies they receive […]
Posts under ‘Transport’
The ‘Black’ Route: a black day for Wales
Sep 3rd, 2014 by Nick Davies.In July 2014, the Welsh Government, which claims that sustainability is the central organising principle of everything it does, decided to build a motorway relief-road across a wetland containing four Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Anyone who cares about sustainability, who regards it as more than a pious aspiration or just something one says – […]
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Out of thin air – the (alleged) economic case for a third Heathrow runway
Sep 3rd, 2014 by Jeremy Smith.When I last twice travelled directly to Guangzhou, by China Southern Airline out of Heathrow, the flight was nearly full. But not – by visual impression at least – full of thrusting British entrepreneurs keen to visit the most vibrant economic region of China, thanks to this direct link from Britain’s hub airport. More like […]
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Privatised railways: a right royal British rip-off
Aug 9th, 2014 by Mick Whelan.The inflation figure used to calculate increases in regulated rail fares, such as off-peak and anytime day tickets, will be announced on Tuesday 19 August. The new fares will come in at the start of January and we know that, even if they are capped at the level of inflation, they will still be running […]
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Publicly owned railways, not just right but popular
Jul 8th, 2014 by Diane Abbott.As the National Policy Forum in Milton Keynes draws nearer, all eyes are on Labour’s policy formation process. Left Futures has discussed bringing back rail into public ownership before. But it is worth returning to the subject because it illustrates everything that is wrong about the way that our party currently makes policy. We know […]
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Why won’t Ed Balls nationalise the railways?
Jul 7th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.If you were to glance at this headline, you might think Labour is tearing itself apart over rail renationalisation. It isn’t, but that the bulk of members and supporters think the rail should be taken back into public ownership reflects its popularity in the wider population. Pretty consistently, over half of the electorate would like to see this […]
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Why is Labour now fighting shy of nationalisation?
Jul 6th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.It is bizarre that the Labour Party, or at least Ed Balls, is now tying himself up in such contortions to avoid renationalisation of the railways at any cost when the polls constantly show 70-80% of the electorate, which must include a very large number of Tories, is demanding just that. Is the Labour Party, […]
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Support the French rail strikers
Jun 17th, 2014 by Tom Gill.The French rail strike – now in its sixth day — is a pain. Nobody likes seeing their train cancelled. High school exams are being disrupted too. But why are the railway workers on strike? They are protesting against the railway reforms of the Government of President Francois Hollande and PM Manuel Valls. The Government claims […]
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State ownership of rail is only the start
May 6th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.As the 31 Labour parliamentary candidates are demanding in their letter to Miliband, the case for returning rail to the public sector after the botched privatisation of 1996 is overwhelming. Private ownership has produced for the UK the highest fares in Europe, extensive overcrowding on commuter lines because of giving priority to dividends for shareholders over […]
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Public ownership: the solution to rail misery
May 4th, 2014 by Newsdesk.The following letter appeared in the Observer today calling for public ownership of the railways. It has been signed by 31 Labour candidates in target seats who represent a broad spectrum of political views across the party. We reproduce it in full here. Rail fares in Britain are contributing to the cost-of-living crisis, with season […]
