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Labour hints at rail renationalisation

RAILWAYS could be renationalised under a Labour government, the shadow secretary for transport hinted yesterday.

At the annual conference of train drivers’ union Aslef, Mary Creagh said a change to the system was needed.

She said: “The question I am asked more than any other is whether Labour will renationalise the railways. As Ed Miliband said, we are looking at all the options. 

“We won’t be going back to old-style British Rail. But the system as it stands isn’t working.”

Ms Creagh used Labour’s plans for the publicly owned East Coast Mainline as an example of intention. 

She told Aslef delegates: “If we were in government now, we would keep East Coast in public ownership as a public-sector comparator.

“This government is obsessing about handing East Coast back to the private sector. But East Coast is working well and will have returned around £1 billion to the taxpayer by March 2015.”

The shadow transport secretary also hinted there would be potential for East Coast to expand under Labour rule.

“We think it’s ludicrous that state railways from France, Germany and the Netherlands are running British rail franchises, but the law prevents our own British state operator from bidding. We will change that,” she said.

Ms Creagh also said Labour would ban “train companies from hiking fares beyond strict limits. No more averaging out the so-called fare cap, but an actual cap. Labour would give passengers a legal right to the lowest fare.”

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