Political opinion: Our railways aren't delivering - it's time to get our trains back on track

The reality is that, at present, unreliable and inefficient train services hurt our local economy, hold our region back and make people’s lives a misery.

But if we’re to drive growth in the economy, boost productivity, allow people to access opportunities and ensure we have public services fit for the future then we need a modern transport system – that means we desperately need to fix our broken railways and get our train services back on track.

Over recent years, passengers have seen our broken and underinvested rail network fail to deliver: cancellations have soared to record high levels, fares have risen almost twice as fast as wages since 2010, and strikes are costing taxpayers £25m for every day they go ahead, whilst taxpayers fork out huge subsidies to pay for trains that are overcrowded, delayed or cancelled.

Since 2016, Cross Country passengers have faced a huge 377% increase in cancelled services. Over that same period, EMR passengers have seen a 290% increase in cancellations and LNER 295%.

Incredibly, less than 50% of all East Midlands rail services were on time in October-December last year, compared to 62% nationally.

That’s why I’m so pleased that Labour has announced a credible, sensible plan to make our rail network work for Britain. Labour’s plan will fold existing private passenger rail contracts into the publicly-owned Great British Railways as they expire, without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs, as part of a publicly owned and passenger focused railway.

Labour’s plans would mean an end to the misery that passengers across the East Midlands face on a weekly basis and, during its first term, a Labour Government would:

· Put the passenger first, by delivering a best-price ticket guarantee for passengers, and rolling out automatic delay repay and digital season tickets across the network

· Establish a powerful new passenger watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold Great British Railways to account for passengers

· Deliver significant savings to the taxpayer by eliminating fragmentation, waste, bureaucracy and by stopping profits leaking out to private operators

· Create a unified, publicly owned, accountable and arm’s length Great British Railways, which will be led by rail experts, not Whitehall

· Expect to complete the transition to public ownership within the first term of a Labour Government, by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into the new body as they expire, without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs

· Give devolved leaders, including Mayoral Combined Authorities, a statutory role in the rail network, allowing decisions about the railways to be taken closer to the communities they serve

· Support successful open access and freight operators to continue to deliver, and set clear objectives and targets for passenger services and freight growth

Labour’s plans will mean reliable, safe, efficient, accessible, affordable and quality train services for the benefit not just of passengers but also our economy and the country as a whole.