Protests against rail fare increases are futile. We need renationalisation

Last Updated: January 3, 2017By

A protester holds a placard outside King’s Cross station in London [Image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty].

This is now a regular event – the annual protest against unreasonable increases in rail fares.

Does anybody remember when rail privatisation was introduced, back in the 1990s? We were told fares would be cheaper and services would be more efficient.

Instead, we have been forced to pay, and pay – not only with increased fares but with an ever-increasing subsidy to the rail companies, whose shareholders must be making off like bandits.

Enough is enough. We need a strong movement for re-nationalisation, to go pounding on the Tories’ doors until they give in – or until we get a Labour government.

Under Corbyn, that party understands democracy.

Campaigners have braved freezing temperatures to protest against the new year’s hike in rail fares at dozens of stations in England and Scotland.

Action For Rail staged the demonstrations after fares rose on Monday by an average of 2.3%, almost four times the rate of inflation.

Source: Rail campaigners hold station protests against fare increases | UK news | The Guardian

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6 Comments

  1. NMac January 3, 2017 at 2:26 pm - Reply

    Bring Back British Rail.

  2. Thomas January 3, 2017 at 2:35 pm - Reply

    Protests do nothing against non-elected company bosses. Not using the trains in large numbers would work, but many, perhaps most train users, either can’t drive, can’t afford a car, or have nowhere to legally park it.

  3. Michael Broadhurst January 3, 2017 at 8:30 pm - Reply

    its about time people realised that privatisation means that you pay more and more and more and more to satisfy shareholders.
    bosses of the rail companies are making a big play about you now being able to claim compensation if the trains are late,they ought to compensate you if you dont get a seat most of the time as well.its ridiculous.

  4. Dez January 3, 2017 at 9:07 pm - Reply

    For all its warts ‘n all British Rail was at least joined up and singing from one hymn sheet. This cobbled together privatisation mess all working in their own
    silos with little to show for the punters advantage proves it does not work and the tax payer is still getting little to show for their investment and subsidies. Overpaid Chairs and Directors add totally nothing to making things work other than for adding to their own advantage, wealth and ill earned pensions. Unfortunately the Cons do not know the word failure so will just carry on as if everything is working fine.

  5. pipsterish January 4, 2017 at 12:13 am - Reply

    If you watched the BBC’s coverage of this the other morning and knew nothing, you’d be forgiven for thinking the rail system was already nationalised. Not one mention was made of the fact that it’s run by franchises taking a profit from it. In fact, they were very careful not to even allude to it.

    Is this how bad it’s become? Not only is it difficult to find out how much of our government subsidies and fares are taken as profit, we’re encouraged not to even think about it… by the BBC itself.

    It’s beyond misleading. It’s not “post truth” either, which is a term increasingly used by liars to get away with large scale deceit of the public.

  6. Barry Davies January 4, 2017 at 10:35 am - Reply

    When has anything the government privatised got cheaper or offered a better service ?

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