South Western Railway first rail firm renationalised by Labour
South Western Railway first rail firm renationalised by Labour
Transport Secretary says she will "strain every sinew" so customers get value for money as SWR brought back into public hands.
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I like nationalisation as a concept. I don't like that currently it is still a concept as Labor has not made clear, concrete commitments for what it could mean.
I understand that ticket prices are unlikely to come down. It sucks but I hope they can at least commit to freezing prices for a while or something. I think nationalisation offers the opportunity to rework the ticketing system as a whole to have it be completely integrated. I hope this would mean you can just tap in and out of stations and have the lowest price automatically calculated like they are in some European countries (the Netherlands for example).
Unfortunately Labour hasn't said anything clear about their plans other than "we want to make it better". Hopefully we find out more in the Autumn.
Unfortunately Labour hasn't said anything clear about their plans other than "we want to make it better"
Blairites and vague platitudes in place of concrete policy, name a more iconic duo.
A lot of the TOCs were already under national control. But the problem is with the system in general; its just broken. You cite ticket pricing as one insanity, but I also hate how poorly connected buses, and trains are. I wish we had a unified ticketing system so I could get a monthly pass to cover both train, and bus.
For example, I'm lucky I can get a direct bus to work. But if I didn't, I'd have to get a bus to the train station, then to train to a town close to work, then another bus. Now I have to pay for a train season ticket (which costs an absolute fortune), and a monthly bus pass.
Or I could get a car. I'm very reluctant too but public transport is so broken in the UK that I often think it would be so much easier.
The interconnection between the modes of transport is another great point. At least starting with having train transfers be more coordinated (since they wouldn't be run by different companies) is a good start.
Unsure how coordinating all the different privat bus networks would go but definitely something the government should prioritise too. If the system can actually work then hopefully that means we can get people out of cars.
Unsure how coordinating all the different privat bus networks would go but definitely something the government should prioritise too.
Yeah having multiple private bus networks is an issue even without transferring from a train. I heard from a colleague from Manchester that before nationalisation, sometimes you'd have to buy two separate bus passes if your commute involved two separate bus companies. Now the system there is so much more simplified.
Can confirm your point on Manchester busses in the past. Woohoo much better now with the bee network