Privatisation has failed to deliver investment in rail, says TUC

Date: 7/6/2013

The privatisation of the UK's rail services has failed to deliver the level of investment needed to pay for improvements and upgrades to the network, a TUC-commissioned report has claimed.

Research conducted on behalf of the organisation by the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change at the University of Manchester concluded that private train companies continue to rely on public subsidies, with taxpayers essentially paying for the maintenance of existing infrastructure.

Indeed, the report accuses rail operators of diverting profits to shareholders rather than reinvesting them in services - something that it says has led to passengers paying higher fares to travel on an increasingly ageing train stock.

Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the TUC, said: "Rail privatisation has not brought the improvements its cheerleaders promised - the average age of trains has increased and most new investment is funded by the state."

Ms O'Grady added that the Government needs to address "20 years of failure" in the UK's rail industry and reassess its position on franchising.

Posted by Sarah Bailey

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