Just repair the trains! Ministers boast about new paint job for Great British Railways regardless of chaos on community
Ministers today boasted about a new paint job for Britain’s trains as part of their nationalisation plans – while commuters faced fresh misery on the rail network.
State-owned company Great British Railways on Tuesday unveiled its red, white and blue branding, before it is rolled out to trains, websites and stations from next spring.
The Department of Transport hailed the ‘striking and memorable design mirroring the Union Flag’ that will soon be appearing on trains across the country.
Passengers were also given a ‘sneak peak’ at how a new Great British Railways ticketing app will allow them to buy tickets without booking fees.
But some commuters were more concerned about how they could actually get to work on Tuesday morning, amid new disruption across the railways.
One disgruntled train user posted on social media on Tuesday: ‘I could respray my old car and make it look new, but it would still be the same old unreliable wreck.’
Another asked: ‘Why don’t you actually look to fix the core problem of overcrowding and reliability than wasting money on logos?’
Problems were reported by a numer of operators, including Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, CrossCountry, and Chiltern Railways.
State-owned company Great British Railways on Tuesday unveiled its red, white and blue branding, before it is rolled out to trains, websites and stations from next spring
But some commuters were more concerned about how they could actually get to work on Tuesday morning, amid fresh disruption across the railways
There was also ‘major’ disruption to and from Liverpool Lime Street station affecting Avanti West Coast, East Midland Railway, and Northern trains.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander acknowledged the ‘most important thing’ in Labour’s shake-up of the railways was to ‘get the cancellations and delays down’.
Ms Alexander told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘Of course I understand that people want us to be laser-focused on issues of reliability – making sure we get the cancellations and delays down, that’s the most important thing.
‘But it is exciting as well to look at some of this new branding and think about the new app.’
The Transport Secretary insisted Labour’s nationalisation of the railways would not return the country to the days of beleaguered British Rail, which operated the network between the 1948 and 1997.
She added: ‘We’re not going back to the days of soggy BR sandwiches. What we’re going to create is a modern, agile, innovative railway that is fit for the 21st century.
‘We’re bringing together 17 disparate organisations into Great British Railways, which is going to be a publicly-owned organisation.
‘We’re not only unveiling the new branding that people are going to see on the trains and at some stations next year.
‘But we’re also giving people a sneak preview today of a new app Great British Railways will have, which will bring together information about fares, ticketing, timetables, whether lifts are working at stations etc. all into one place.’
Labour’s Railways Bill, which will create Great British Railways, is being debated in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Great British Railways will bring together 17 different organisations and ministers claim it will ‘cut through the frustrating bureaucracy and lack of accountability that continues to plague the railways’.
Seven major train operators are already in public hands, covering a third of all passenger journeys in Great Britain.
The Government last month announced that rail fares in England would be frozen next year for the first time in 30 years.
The freeze until March 2027 will apply to regulated fares, which includes season tickets and off-peak returns.
