Easington MP calls for inquiry over foreign state-owned firms taking over UK rail services
Easington MP Grahame Morris has called on Parliament to launch an inquiry into foreign state-owned companies owning UK rail firms.
Mr Morris said British commuters, who suffer the highest rail prices in Europe, are subsidising foreign passengers.
MPs from Parliament’s rail group have called for an urgent inquiry.
It follows a decision to award the Scotrail franchise to Dutch state-owned firm Abellio, and also research showed 20 of the UK’s 27 private rail services are owned by foreign state-owned or backed railways.
Mr Morris said British commuters have experienced substandard services for decades adding:
“Often the very same operators that are using British commuters as cash cows are foreign state-owned companies that then hold down fares and improve services back in their own countries.
“That British commuters are expected to both suffer the failure of rail privatisation as well as subsidise commuters in Holland, Germany and France adds insult to injury.”
Source – Hartlepool Mail, 18 Oct 2014
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We’re waiting to see what Abellio come up with here in Scotland. Their promises sound good with fare price cuts, decent tourist services on the new Borders Railway etc. I don’t like the idea of foreign, state-owned companies running our trains, which OUR state should never have privatised, but that’s a done deal for now and none could be worse than First Rail which have just lost the franchise.
Graeme Morris is absolutely right. UK bleets it cannot run state-owned frachises as it is against EU Law yet France, Germany and Holland run effectively state-owned rail companies. The recent decision to prevent the Directly Operated Rial (DOR) state-run company from bidding to continue running the ECMLis perverse in the extreme. It has been widely accepted that the DOR has out-performed private company predecessors in service provision and alsd paid significant sums into the national coffers. On the other hand, if you want to hide from the public the poor services and pathetic treasury receipts from other franchisees it is clear that the government cannot cope with a public-sector comparitor that just demonstrates that better services and returns can and do come from DORs.
Graeme alwlays has his finger on the pulse of genuine public service. Pity there aren’t more like him