‘Passenger populism: Can Louise Haigh fix Britain’s broken railways?’

The world’s most expensive soap opera, High Speed 2, has dominated the news cycle in recent years, so one might be forgiven for overlooking the slightly obscure plan for Britain’s railways from the Labour Party’s Shadow Transport Team.

Anoraks like me, on the other hand, pored over it with a great deal of interest, finding in the proposals a pragmatic, cost-effective, consumer-friendly blueprint for government that will resolve at least some of the policy blunders of the last 14 years.

As we look forward to a potential Labour government, it’s likely that Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, and Shadow Rail Minister, Stephen Morgan, will soon be responsible for implementing their modest plans.

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Reshuffles permitting, they will be tasked with tackling the immediate issues, from poor industrial relations and chronic delays to cancellations that have left commuters feeling thoroughly let down.

Beyond these immediate concerns, another significant challenge will be managing the constrained budgets imposed by the new government. A Rachel Reeves-led Treasury will, in all likelihood, impose strict discipline on departmental spending.

Like much of the Labour manifesto, Haigh’s rail reforms opt for the kind of low-cost, high-impact policies that characterise much of the Labour Party’s platform. Although, it is arguable that rail investment will drive productivity, economic growth, and Treasury tax receipts over the long term. Given these constraints, it is worth delving into the specifics of Haigh’s plans.

Renationalise, rebrand, rejoice?

Under Haigh’s plans, Britain will, at long last, gradually renationalise private train operating companies (TOCs) under the umbrella of the resurrected “Great British Railway” brand as each franchise comes up for renewal. This move towards renationalisation has long been a goal for many party members, and it promises to provide much greater control to the Department for Transport and GBR.

The regulator for the railways, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), publishes quarterly statistics repeatedly showing how poorly private TOCs have performed. One third of Britain’s rail journeys are late, 3.8% of trains in the last year were cancelled, and reliability has failed to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to the ORR.

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To add insult to injury, Britain pays more as a proportion of GDP for its rail system than our European counterparts. The UK puts 0.4% of GDP into rail spending, meanwhile the French spend 0.3% and have 2,800km of high-speed track, while the UK has just 108km, rising to 338km when HS2 is completed. British taxpayers pay for lower reliability, considerably less high-speed track and far higher ticket costs than Europeans do.

Clearly, the present system is broken. Haigh’s gradual renationalisation proposals, combined with reforms at Network Rail, are designed to create a much more coherent railway. That is not to say the proposals centralise everything; devolved governments will be given more of a say in the running of Network Rail under these proposals too. Additionally, Haigh’s vision includes a populist element, particularly evident in her plans to address one of the biggest complaints from passengers: train tickets.

Ticket touting

Train ticketing in the United Kingdom is objectively a completely crackers system. It requires advanced planning and an implicit knowledge of its foibles that Britain’s regular commuters have had to begrudgingly adjust to. As an example, it is ridiculous that a same-day, day return train from my native Newport to London and back is £240 (£200 with splitsave).

Before you ask, yes, I am bitter, but besides that, there is much to be said for reforming the insane ticketing system that requires a master’s degree to navigate and get the best deal out of.

Had I not used the train booking app, Trainline, the day I had an urgent work meeting in London, I would have been a further £40 out of pocket. Those less digitally savvy would have had to fork out at the station, and sadly, it is far too often the case that those more vulnerable or less digitally engaged are suffering under the current system.

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Haigh’s planned reforms, which include best price guarantees, simplified ticketing, and automatic refunds for delays and cancellations, promise to be a welcome change, especially amidst the ongoing cost of living crisis.

It almost makes you wonder why the Conservatives thought not to introduce them sooner, instead of starting a rather large scrap over the closing of ticket offices. Again, this would have disproportionately impacted vulnerable passengers and were dropped as a result of the sheer scale of resistance from passenger groups and the unions.

These reforms aim to ease the burden on commuters during the cost-of-living crisis and pave the way for a more efficient train network. However, there is a big “But” to all of this. The railways are not going to be fixed with tweaks to the operational management of TOCs and ticketing alone.

In fact, there is a case that the railways are key to unlocking Britain’s productivity and economic growth, while also tackling climate change, they should be seen as a worthy investment for the hawkish Treasury team to consider in order to drive growth.

Investing for the future

Rail is a critical component of the national economy and boosting sustainable transport and reducing emissions. Rail emissions per kilometre are just 20% of that of a car journey and help in slashing emissions.

Long-term investment is crucial, and as former Chancellor George Osborne and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls discussed on their podcast, “Political Currency,” the biggest impact could come from better connecting East-West services within the United Kingdom.

These things do not come cheap, of course, made yet more challenging by a vampiric planning system that makes any major national infrastructure project a grinding of administrative gears instead of a facilitator for freshly laid, productivity-producing track. Keir Starmer has pledged to relax planning laws within 100 days of taking office to unlock growth in Britain, which raises the question: could this include measures to facilitate long-term rail-based productivity growth?

If not resulting in an immediate East-West national infrastructure project (one can dream), the hope is the reforms will create the conditions for when there is renewed interest in national infrastructure investment, the way is far clearer to do so than under the current planning system that contributed to the spiralling cost of HS2.

Concluding thoughts

Louise Haigh’s rail reforms represent a significant step towards improving Britain’s beleaguered railway system. The proposed passenger-friendly policies and structural changes are ambitious, if modest, and aim to address some of the most pressing issues faced by rail users. Nonetheless, the absence of concrete investment promises and concerns about adequately addressing ticket prices cast doubt on the potential success of these reforms.

As Britain hopefully moves towards implementing these changes should Labour win a majority next Thursday, it will be crucial to monitor their impact and ensure that they deliver the desperately needed improvements to the nation’s railways.

Success will depend not just on these immediate reforms, but also on a commitment to substantial, long-term investment in the rail infrastructure. Fellow rail enthusiasts and policymakers alike will be staying vigilant to see these ambitious plans through as the whole country and our economic future stand to benefit, should Haigh succeed and win more Treasury backing.

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