Rail union leaders and politicians have attacked plans to reform the railways, accusing the Government of merely “papering over the cracks”.
Labour said it raised more questions than answers while a campaign group accused ministers of “rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic”.
Manuel Cortes, leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: “The Conservatives have admitted that their Frankenstein privatisation experiment on our railways has failed and the franchising of train services has hit the buffers.
“Rather than take the bold action that our rail network desperately needs, this is an attempt merely to paper over the cracks.
“A concessions-based model will still see passengers and taxpayer money leak out of our industry in the form of dividend payments for the greedy shareholders of the private operators who will hold them.
Rail union leaders and politicians have attacked plans to reform the railways, accusing the Government of merely “papering over the cracks”.
Labour said it raised more questions than answers while a campaign group accused ministers of “rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic”.
Manuel Cortes, leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: “The Conservatives have admitted that their Frankenstein privatisation experiment on our railways has failed and the franchising of train services has hit the buffers.
“Rather than take the bold action that our rail network desperately needs, this is an attempt merely to paper over the cracks.
“A concessions-based model will still see passengers and taxpayer money leak out of our industry in the form of dividend payments for the greedy shareholders of the private operators who will hold them.
Great British Railways will replace Network Rail to operate 20,000 miles of rail
It will have powers to set most fares and timetables and issue contracts
Grant Shapps said passengers had been failed by years of fragmentation
The reforms include flexible season tickets that will go on sale next month
They will allow commuters to travel for eight days over a 28-day periods
Control of trains and track will be brought under a new public sector body named Great British Railways (GBR) as part of sweeping reforms, the Department for Transport has announced.
The organisation will own and manage rail infrastructure, issue contracts to private firms to run trains, set most fares and timetables, and sell tickets.
It will absorb Network Rail in a bid to end the current “blame-game system” between train and track operations when disruption occurs.
The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail has been published as a white paper.
It is based on the recommendations of a review of the industry carried out by former British Airways chief executive Keith Williams following the chaotic introduction of new timetables in May 2018.
Rail union leaders and politicians have attacked plans to reform the railways, accusing the Government of merely “papering over the cracks”.
Labour said it raised more questions than answers while a campaign group accused ministers of “rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic”.
Manuel Cortes, leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: “The Conservatives have admitted that their Frankenstein privatisation experiment on our railways has failed and the franchising of train services has hit the buffers.
“Rather than take the bold action that our rail network desperately needs, this is an attempt merely to paper over the cracks.
“A concessions-based model will still see passengers and taxpayer money leak out of our industry in the form of dividend payments for the greedy shareholders of the private operators who will hold them.