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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2017 :: RMTnews
16
Following the end of the Second
World War the Labour
government nationalised key
industries, such as railways,
steel and electricity. It argued
that the government would be
able to run these industries in
the best interests of society.
This is a strong argument in
favor of nationalisation as it
abolishes economic power from
the few monopolists. It also
enables the government to take
steps for the welfare of the
public. As we can see from
current rail disputes the rail
companies care little for the
welfare of passengers, especially
if they can reduce staff numbers
who are in charge of welfare in
order to increase their profits.
Currently new trains are also
being paid for, in most cases,
not by the TOCs but by ROSCOs
who then lease them to the
TOCs at expensive rates from
around the world. Ultimately the
price of this investment is being
paid for by the taxpayer. If
rolling stock was procured by
one public-owned company it
would be able to place bigger
orders that would provide
savings by buying in bulk and
avoid the extortionate leasing
charges that ROSCOS place
upon TOCs.
In the public sector any
profit could be used to re-invest
back into the system. But under
the current set up the profit is
extracted by the ROSCOS that
are owned by banks, the private
train companies and
shareholders. This is a very poor
deal for the British taxpayer
that faces ever increasing fare
rises and no return on their
investment by way of taxes
paid.
When rail was in the public
sector all the regions of the
country developed equally
creating a more balanced
approach to transport spending.
However, most major rail
projects at the current time
seem to be focused on London
and its economy such as HS2,
Cross Rail and Cross Rail Two.
In the North there has been
some spending such as the
building of the Ordsall Chord
that will link Manchester
RENATIONALISE!
Neil Sharples of Wigan branch argues for
Britain’s railways and other services to be
brought back into the public sector