Ah, the irony. The focus of much of the media coverage of the return of South Western Railway to the public sector was on the fact that the first train was, in fact, a bus replacement service. Leaving aside the incompetence of the PR managers who should have pulled out all the stops to ensure this did not happen, this was a trivial aspect of the transfer which actually signalled a rather important change.
But triviality rules in this era of social media, though I have to confess that I was guilty myself of the same emphasis on the inconsequential. In The Independent of Jan 31 1996 I wrote a front page story which revealed that the first privatised train for 50 years, this time between Fishguard and Cardiff was also a bus. Of course that was a deliberate dig at the whole privatised process in the same way that opponents of renationalisation have used the same meme – a word, incidentally, that was not used 30 years ago – in reverse.
I was actually on the first privatised train that ran at 5 am from Twickenham to Waterloo and regaled readers with the fact that the regular punters, of whom there was barely a dozen, were surprised to find half a dozen ticket inspectors at the station who promptly nabbed several of them who clearly had been used to free travel on this early service. That rather dominated the coverage with the hapless fare dodger finding his name in the tabloids.
This emphasis on the easy headline about bus replacement services masked the significance of the takeover of South Western Railway. Of course, just to add to the complexity of the story, this was not the first franchise to be taken over since four are already in the hands of what is now known as the DfT Operator, the body which runs franchise that are no longer in the private sector. But this time it’s different. Those franchises were taken over because they had failed, either operationally or financially, and therefore by definition they were in a bad state. Now, however, the operations being subsumed into DfT Operator will not necessarily have failed and may well indeed be flourishing, as is the case with Greater Anglia which, in October, is next up for being taken over.
Therefore there is a strong imperative for the Department for Transport to run these new in house operations effectively. The government has set a lot of store by the ‘renationalisation’ of the railways – in inverted commas because it is only a partial takeover given that many of the old BR’s functions will remain in the private sector. It is an emblematic policy strongly supported by Labour MPs and members, and even, so far, by the public. Therefore it is vital to be shown to be a success as a demonstration that the state can be just as good – or better – than the private sector at running public services.
Actually the process has been given a boost by the results of an earlier state intervention. TransPennine Express was taken over as a basket case in May 2023 because of its terrible performance. I went up there a few months later and was impressed with the energy and commitment of the staff, notably Chris Jackson the managing director. He was open and honest about the failings, and while committing himself to improvements, was careful not to over promise or make rash predictions.
And it has paid off. TPE release figures recently showing remarkable improvements. According to its press release, ‘since transferring into public ownership in May 2023, TPE has reduced cancellations by 75 per cent, increased customer journeys by 42 per cent and grown revenue by 54 per cent’. That has been greatly helped by the ending of the drivers’ dispute soon after Labour’s election victory last July but nevertheless these are undoubtedly impressive figures which is reflected in passenger satisfaction soaring from 5 per cent to 94 per cent (hmmm, I am slightly suspicious of this as it smacks of the type of election figures that dictators enjoy). However, despite any doubts about the precise numbers, there is no question that even anecdotally things have improved immeasurably. Jackson is in no doubt about how this has come about saying : “Public ownership gave us the space and stability to reset. Our focus has been on people, our passengers, our colleagues, and the communities we serve’. That is true. Even some of the people reluctantly transferred to public ownership have told me that management was far easier in the public sector as the line of accountability was simpler.
The bigger picture here is that this ‘renationalisation’ is part of a wider transformation taking place not just in Britain but across the world. The worldwide phenomenon of globalisation with neoliberalism at its heart is being reined back. The downsides in terms of loss of sense of community, the displacement of millions of people out of their jobs and the general sense of insecurity that this process has created have become all too apparent. Taking back control may well be the order of the day, even if not quite in the way envisaged by Boris Johnson.
Indeed, I have been struck by how many people responding to my various articles and media appearances express a great fondness for BR and, more important, what it represented – public service. The media goes on about sandwiches (don’t please get me going) and wrong types of snow, but it misses the point about how BR gave people a sense of belonging, of knowing that it may have been bad at times, but at least it was theirs. The privatised companies enjoyed no such ambivalence – they were quite simply disliked because they were perceived, correctly some of the time, as being only interested in maximising profits.
This process will be fascinating to watch as us railway watchers have a front seat to observe progress on one of the crucial policy areas for government. In particular, I look forward to watching the politicians grapple with the complexity of the issue. They will to pay a lot of attention to the railways while refraining from micromanagement and avoiding making decisions they may regret. All sorts of things need sorting out from fares to HS2 and from climate change to cyber attacks. The pressure, though, will hopefully bring about similar results to those enjoyed by TransPennine. Making sure that talented managers like Jackson stay the course will be cruicial. To the success of the new structure.
First class joy with an odd pang of hunger
I was offered a free First Class ticket from London to Glasgow on the West Coast by Avanti to test their offerings. This is not something I do very often – I have probably accepted barely half a dozen free journeys since starting to write this column nearly 30 years ago. But First Class is rather unaffordable for pretty much anyone paying their own way, given that, without the benefit of an advance purchase discount – which would have been difficult as I was not sure what train I would be able to take – the normal would set me back, even with my rail card, more than 170 sheets. I had hoped to compare the service with LNER on the way back but the company was unable to offer me a seat because I was travelling on a busy weekend – though when I did take the train, there were certainly lots of available space, despite it being a weekend when there was disruption on the West Coast.
Avanti’s First Class offering is reasonable, but in no sense does it offer a full meal. At breaktast, there is a limited ‘full English’ but later in the day there is only a choice between ‘lighter choices’ and ‘larger plates’. The obviously pre-prepared meals are tasty and well presented but even the ‘larger plates’ are snacks in all but name, with only the ‘ploughman’s grazing plate’ offering 600 cals. The others hover around 400, not really enough for a big lad like me who does lots of exercise. There did not seem to be a limit on the four hour plus journey and I sampled the brie and red onion quiche as well, and I presume I could have added the brioche and the risotto if I have been desperate. There was no limit on drinks, and the guy next to me tucked away a few g and ts, while I confined myself to a pleasant Brewdog Ale and a glass of slightly insipid wine.
It should be added that the service could not faulted. The staff came through regularly offering food and drinks, and it was served politely and efficiently. That was old school railway catering and worthy of praise.
The question, though, was it worth it if I had been paying myself? Possibly for a treat as my wife was with me, but perhaps to tempt me otherwise there should be a more substantial food offering, particularly for those taking the whole journey between London and Glasgow, to ensure that one was sufficiently well fed as well as watered.