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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Rail passengers must come before profits | Rail passengers must come before profits |
| (10 days later) | |
| Letters | |
| Wed 3 Jan 2018 18.05 GMT | |
| Last modified on Fri 5 Jan 2018 17.28 GMT | |
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| It’s outrageous that Chris Grayling plans to bail out Virgin Trains East Coast by up to £2bn – Labour is absolutely right to stand up for passengers (Tom Watson calls on Chris Grayling to quit over ‘grubby’ East Coast rail deal, 31 December). Rail passengers and taxpayers are sick of the rip-off of privatisation, and this bailout is the final straw – 76% of us think the railways should be in public ownership, and when East Coast was in public hands, it enjoyed a very high customer satisfaction rate. | It’s outrageous that Chris Grayling plans to bail out Virgin Trains East Coast by up to £2bn – Labour is absolutely right to stand up for passengers (Tom Watson calls on Chris Grayling to quit over ‘grubby’ East Coast rail deal, 31 December). Rail passengers and taxpayers are sick of the rip-off of privatisation, and this bailout is the final straw – 76% of us think the railways should be in public ownership, and when East Coast was in public hands, it enjoyed a very high customer satisfaction rate. |
| We call on Chris Grayling to bring our railways into public ownership, starting with the East Coast line. That means he’ll need to reinstate Directly Operated Railways as a publicly owned operator, ready to run rail franchises. In the meantime, we want the transport secretary to ensure that rail companies don’t get away with breaching the terms of their franchise contract, as Virgin Trains East Coast has done. This sets a dangerous precedent to other private operators. It’s time to put passengers and the public before shareholders.Cat Hobbs Director, We Own It, Mick Whelan General secretary, Aslef, Ellie Harrison Founder, Bring Back British Rail, Neal Lawson Chair, Compass, Mick Cash General secretary, RMT, Lynn Sloman Director, Transport for Quality of Life, Manuel Cortes General secretary, TSSA, Paul Nowak Deputy general secretary, TUC, Bobby Morton National officer, Unite | We call on Chris Grayling to bring our railways into public ownership, starting with the East Coast line. That means he’ll need to reinstate Directly Operated Railways as a publicly owned operator, ready to run rail franchises. In the meantime, we want the transport secretary to ensure that rail companies don’t get away with breaching the terms of their franchise contract, as Virgin Trains East Coast has done. This sets a dangerous precedent to other private operators. It’s time to put passengers and the public before shareholders.Cat Hobbs Director, We Own It, Mick Whelan General secretary, Aslef, Ellie Harrison Founder, Bring Back British Rail, Neal Lawson Chair, Compass, Mick Cash General secretary, RMT, Lynn Sloman Director, Transport for Quality of Life, Manuel Cortes General secretary, TSSA, Paul Nowak Deputy general secretary, TUC, Bobby Morton National officer, Unite |
| • The predictable response of the Rail Delivery Group to the large hike in rail fares (Report, 1 January) was to point to the major improvement projects that are coming to fruition, albeit belatedly and over budget (namely London Bridge, Crossrail and the Paddington main line). However, it was not mentioned that these and other infrastructure projects are carried out by Network Rail which was nationalised by the Blair government. | • The predictable response of the Rail Delivery Group to the large hike in rail fares (Report, 1 January) was to point to the major improvement projects that are coming to fruition, albeit belatedly and over budget (namely London Bridge, Crossrail and the Paddington main line). However, it was not mentioned that these and other infrastructure projects are carried out by Network Rail which was nationalised by the Blair government. |
| The record of the private train companies in investing in improvements is thin, especially on the long-distance services of First Group, Stagecoach and Arriva. These franchises are characterised by journey times often slower than under BR, short trains with resultant gross overcrowding, cramped seating, non-serviceable toilets and minimal or non-existent catering. Overall, the long-distance stock operated by the private companies is older than under British Rail. Indeed, much of it was initiated under BR auspices. It seems that as a franchising authority, the Department for Transport is concerned only with the bottom line.John AlderExeter, Devon | The record of the private train companies in investing in improvements is thin, especially on the long-distance services of First Group, Stagecoach and Arriva. These franchises are characterised by journey times often slower than under BR, short trains with resultant gross overcrowding, cramped seating, non-serviceable toilets and minimal or non-existent catering. Overall, the long-distance stock operated by the private companies is older than under British Rail. Indeed, much of it was initiated under BR auspices. It seems that as a franchising authority, the Department for Transport is concerned only with the bottom line.John AlderExeter, Devon |
| • Your timely report on rail fare rises quotes the claim of a Department for Transport spokesperson that 97p out of every £1 paid by passengers is going back into the railway. So is the remaining 3% of fare income still being spent on supplementary incomes for sundry private shareholders?Francis PrideauxLondon | • Your timely report on rail fare rises quotes the claim of a Department for Transport spokesperson that 97p out of every £1 paid by passengers is going back into the railway. So is the remaining 3% of fare income still being spent on supplementary incomes for sundry private shareholders?Francis PrideauxLondon |
| • Train fares go up again – petrol tax remains the same again. Is this why so many people travel to work by car? Or have I gone mad!David CritchlowPoole, Dorset | • Train fares go up again – petrol tax remains the same again. Is this why so many people travel to work by car? Or have I gone mad!David CritchlowPoole, Dorset |
| • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |
| • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters | • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |
| • The first letter above was amended on 5 January 2018. An earlier version said East Coast had a 91% rate of customer satisfaction, the highest across the whole network. A survey from spring 2015, which began when East Coast was under public ownership but included a period when it was privately owned, gave a passenger satisfaction rate of 94%. | • The first letter above was amended on 5 January 2018. An earlier version said East Coast had a 91% rate of customer satisfaction, the highest across the whole network. A survey from spring 2015, which began when East Coast was under public ownership but included a period when it was privately owned, gave a passenger satisfaction rate of 94%. |
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