SWR nationalisation welcomed by transport unions
South Western Rail comes back under public control from today
Unions have welcomed the imminent renationalisation of a rail operator, but the Government was urged to bring services such as cleaning and security back in-house.
South Western Railway (SWR) will be returned to public ownership today, as part of the Government's transition to Great British Railways.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said the move was a "major step forward", but warned that services such as cleaning, security and gateline (control of access) will remain contracted out to private companies.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: "Public ownership of South Western Railway is a major step forward and is a clear rejection of the failed privatisation model.
"But the job is incomplete when our contracted-out members remain outsourced and not reaping the benefits of nationalisation.
"This lingering injustice for our members working for profit-hungry private contractors must end and RMT will campaign tooth and nail to make insourcing a reality.
"Many of our contracted-out members come from black and minority ethnic communities and are trapped in a two-tier workforce with no access to sick pay, poor pension provision and poverty pay.
"Labour has promised a wave of insourcing and we call on them to act now."
Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers union Aslef, said: "We're delighted that Britain's railways are being brought back where they belong - into the public sector.
"Everyone in the rail industry knows that privatisation - which even that arch-privateer Margaret Thatcher described as a privatisation too far - didn't, and doesn't, work.
"It's the right decision, at the right time, to take the brakes off the UK economy and rebuild Britain. John Major's decision to privatise British Rail in 1994 was foolish, ideologically-driven, and doomed to fail.
"The privateers creamed off hundreds of millions of pounds and successive Conservative governments have pursued a policy of managed decline which has sold taxpayers, passengers, and staff short.
"Now we are going to see the wheels and the steel put back together, an end to the failed fragmentation of our network, and a railway brought back into the public sector, where it belongs, to be run as a public service, not for private profit."
An opportunity not to be wasted
It's hoped the transition to Great British Rail will lead to reduced delays and improved accountability in a rail network the country and be proud of.
Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander said: “Today is a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers. Trains from Waterloo to Weymouth, Bournemouth and Exeter, will be run by the public, for the public.
“But I know that most users of the railway don’t spend much time thinking about who runs the trains – they just want them to work. That’s why operators will have to meet rigorous performance standards and earn the right to be called Great British Railways.
“We have a generational opportunity to restore national pride in our railways and I will not waste it.”