GREAT BRITISH RAILWAYS ON TRACK

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january/february 2025 :: RMTnews 10 South Western Railway, currently run by First Group and MTR, will be the first franchise to return to public ownership under the new Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act passed last November as part of the establishment of Great British Railways.  Rail services in Essex operating under the name of c2c, currently run by the Italian company Trenitalia, are also set to be brought into public ownership by July, with Greater Anglia services being taken in-house in the autumn. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that it was a significant step forward for passengers, rail workers, and those who want to see an efficient rail system run for the public good, rather than private profit.  "After decades of wasteful privatisation, South Western Railway, c2c and Greater Anglia returning to public ownership is the first step towards building a reliable, affordable, and integrated railway system. “Bringing infrastructure and passenger services under one employer in public ownership, means proper investment in operations, harmonising conditions for staff, and prioritising the needs of passengers.  "RMT will support the roll out of Great British Railways and the tangible benefits a fully publicly owned rail system can bring,” he said.  The new law marks a fundamental break with the 31-year period of privatisation ushered in by the 1993 Railways Act, passed by John Major’s Tory government, which imposed a legal duty on the Secretary of State to deliver passenger rail services through franchise agreements and a ban on any public sector operator running these franchises. The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill was pushed through Parliament at speed to change that legal default and give the Secretary of State the power and the duty to appoint public sector operators as the default. As such, it represents the first step in the process of reversing decades of fragmentation and private sector profiteering.  The government has pledged to bring forward a second and more major piece of legislation at some point before July which will show the government’s thinking about the likely shape of its publicly owned, nationally integrated railway – ‘Great British Railways’. Ultimately, the passage into law of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill effectively serves notice on private sector operators that as the full terms expire on contracts, they can expect to have notice served on them. As this happens, the private operations will be absorbed, initially, into the Operator of Last Resort, which currently runs LNER, Northern, Southeastern and Transpennine Express. Incoming Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced in the House of Commons that: “Following Greater Anglia, the programme will continue with the transfer of one operator’s services roughly every three months. “We expect these to follow the order in which operators’ current contractual minimum terms expire unless GREAT BRITISH RAILWAYS ON TRACK RMT welcomes more rail services being taken into public ownership this year