A new poll reveals the vast majority of the public think Chris Grayling messed up letting Virgin and Stagecoach off the hook.
Public support for rail re-nationalisation is growing – and it’s no surprise following a catalogue of failures by private train operators. A Survation poll for campaign group We Own It revealed today:
- The majority of the UK public (57% of those with a view) think the government should bring the East Coast line back into public ownership.
- Over half of respondents said they’d rather the line was re-nationalised than it becoming a ‘not-for-profit’ franchise run by the incumbents Stagecoach and Virgin.
- 84% think that Grayling’s initial decision to allow Stagecoach and Virgin to walk away from their contract without paying £2 billion in premiums was a bad idea.
- And in general, 76% think public ownership is a good idea for the railways.
This morning the campaign group, along with MPs and members of the public, delivered a petition to the Department for Transport, signed by nearly 30,000 people, calling on Chris Grayling to bring the East Coast line into public ownership.
But it’s not exactly surprising that the public back re-nationalising the line. Last time the route was run publicly it scored record customer satisfaction and returned profit to the Treasury.
Mick Cash general secretary of the RMT, who supported the petition, said today:
“The privatised East Coast Mainline has failed the travelling public and it has failed the workers who operate it. It has been a disaster from day one and has exposed once and for all the racket of rail privatisation in Britain.
“Today’s petition called for a simple and sensible solution. End the fixation with the spivs and speculators from the private sector, and bring the whole lot back in house, on a permanent basis, with immediate effect.”
Cat Hobbs, director of We Own It, said:
“We’re calling on Chris Grayling to make the right choice – end it with Stagecoach and Virgin and bring the East Coast franchise into public hands.
“We’ve seen again and again: the line keeps failing when it’s privatised but works brilliantly in public ownership.
“Private companies need to know we won’t bail them out or renegotiate when they get their sums wrong. Passengers and the public want East Coast to work for people not profit.”
The pressure on Chris Grayling to take action on the East Coast line is growing. He won’t be able to dodge the issue for much longer. You can sign We Own It’s petition here.
One Response to “Public support for re-nationalising rail is growing after the East Coast line debacle”
Chris Horne
But what is to stop the government then starving the new public company of cash so it fails and then declaring “there you are – nationalisation doesn’t work”.
P.S. was ‘spivs and speculators’ really necessary? Shouting and being rude never won anyone new friends.