Can Labour fix the UK’s broken railways?

Presented by Ciaran Jenkins; Produced by Suzannah Rogerson and
Tom Ross; Graphics by Ian Watkins; Executive Producer Ryan Ramgobin

Britain’s railways are a mess and people are fed up.

Three in ten of all UK train journeys were delayed, according to the latest quarterly figures from the Office of Rail and Road – and there were more cancellations than the same time last year.

Experts say it’s the same old issues: trains are getting older, they’re too expensive to maintain, and services can’t handle the sheer volume of passengers.

“The system today is quite different to what it was in the 1990s, and it got to the point where the system or the structure they introduced isn’t really fit for purpose for today’s railways,” Kevin Smith, editor in chief of International Railway Journal, told us.

But back in power after 14 years, Labour claims to have the solution: nationalisation. And just this week, it was announced South Western Railways, C2C and Greater Anglia will all be renationalised next year.

Will their approach fix the UK’s broken railways?

The British railway system boomed in the 19th century – with services operated by private companies.

But two World Wars changed everything. During these conflicts, the government took control of the railways in order to support the war effort. Private companies regained ownership after World War One – but following World War Two, the government kept control – as part of a wider policy of nationalising public services and British Railways was born.

The results of nationalisation were mixed – cuts were made which impacted services. Improvements eventually came in the seventies – with hi-speed trains making their way onto British tracks. But cuts continued and British Rail came to an end in the early nineties – with the railways returning to private ownership.

The move has seen a surge in both passenger numbers and ticket prices. These higher costs, coupled with industrial action and issues with reliability – has eroded public trust. A 2024 survey found only one in five people thought ‘the private sector has done a good job running the railways’.

But proponents of the current system, who advocate for a broader environment of privatisation that allows for more competition, look at the numbers more positively.

“It’s not perfect, but it was never intended to be perfect. It was just intended to be better than the system it replaced,” said Maxwell Marlow, director of research and education at the Adam Smith Institute.

In some cases – poor performance by private operators has led to the state-owned, so-called ‘operator of last resort’ taking back control of service – and it leaves Labour with huge challenges to fix.

The first challenge is ticket prices.

A one-way ticket from London Euston to Carlisle costs around £120. If you’re lucky enough not to be delayed – it’s a 260 mile journey which takes almost three and a half hours. Now, if you were to drive – the journey is longer – just over 300 miles – but you’d only be spending £40-50 on petrol.

And, if you compare this journey to a similar one in Europe, for example in Sweden which has  nationalised high speed trains: Stockholm, the capital, to Gothenburg, the second city – 250 miles – will cost you just £37.

This is because of our differences in infrastructure. In Sweden around 75 per cent of the railways are electrified, according to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory. But in the UK, the Office of Rail and Road reports it’s just 39 per cent.

And then there’s reliability. Three in 10 train journeys are delayed in the UK – compared to just 8 per cent in Switzerland.

“The best rail system in the world is the Swiss rail system, and it is 100 per cent publicly owned,” said Johnbosco Nwogbo, lead campaigner for pro-nationalisation group We Own It.

“We think there is some reason for that, there is a connection between a system that is run entirely for passengers, not for profit, and one that’s run entirely for private companies from across the world who just want to make a profit from the system.”

However, the promise of nationalisation doesn’t always run true everywhere. Germany is experiencing worsening service from its state-owned operator Deutsche Bahn.

“Their railways often run at 50, 60 per cent reliability on long-distance services because of problems with infrastructure,” said Smith. “The system’s under pressure and Deutsche Bahn’s reputation in the country is really, really low and it’s going to take a long time for that to recover.”

With the government already setting fare costs and managing infrastructure through Network Rail, the question remains how much will change when operators are brought under public control as well.

“The whole idea is to bring track and train closer together, whereas it’s been quite splintered previously with different operators that aren’t necessarily related to Network Rail,” said Smith.

“What that looks like in reality, I don’t think anybody really knows yet.”

Labour’s plan is to create Great British Railways (GBR) – a body which will bring almost everything into one organisation. Operators will be brought into public ownership when their contracts expire; and Network Rail – which is already a public body that maintains the railways – will also be absorbed.

But there are some exceptions. Freight companies continue as they are – as do some private services like Hull Trains and Heathrow Express.

Labour wants GBR to be fully operational by 2029, by the end of the current parliament. They say their approach will deliver improvements across the board – from a reliable timetable and automatic compensation for delayed journeys to 5G internet and safer services.

But there are some who have doubts about nationalisation – and want privatisation to be given another chance.

“We need to go towards full privatisation, rather than this half-baked good we have at the moment, and we could actually see really big improvements in service, really big improvements on cost, big improvements on punctuality, big improvements on rolling stock, because then you have companies actually competing for customers,” said Marlow.

“I don’t think it’d be very different if it ran under a nationalised system. I think it’d probably be worse, actually.”

GBR represents a new era for British railways. Good or bad, we won’t know for several years.

But supporters of the plan are clear: success depends on Labour sticking to what they promised.

“This government now has an opportunity to make sure that the system continues to be popular, because it started out incredibly popular,” said Nwogbo.

“We believe it’s going to deliver for passengers.”