75% of rail routes run by foreign firms

After Chinese company wins South West deal...

‘Set to make a killing from taxpayers’

THREE quarters of Britain’s railways are now run by foreign companies after ministers awarded one of Britain’s biggest franchises to a Chinese state-owned operator. MTR, which operates Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway metro system, will run South West Trains with FirstGroup for seven years from August.

The company is owned by China through the Hong Kong government. It owns 30 per cent of the First MTR consortium which struck the deal. FirstGroup owns 70 per cent.

The only other bidder for South West was Stagecoach, which has run the franchise for commuter services into London Waterloo for just over 20 years.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling described the deal as ‘great news for rail passengers’ who ‘can look forward to modern trains, faster journeys and a more reliable service’. But the RMT union said Britain’s railways have become a ‘licence to print money’ for foreign states and overseas companies.

It found that of the 28 private rail contracts, 21 are partially or wholly owned by foreign state-backed firms.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: ‘ Once again the Government has refused to consider the public sector for a major rail franchise, and instead it’s a foreign state operator which is set to make a killing at the British taxpayers’ expense.’

He added: ‘ It is frankly ludicrous that the Tories are continuing with the “any state but the British state” policy which has plundered our railways for decades.’

Huw Merriman, a Tory member of the Commons transport committee, responded to the criticisms by pointing to the union’s record of recent strikes.

He said: ‘Given that the RMT’s industrial action has been responsible for daily delays and cancellations to hundreds of thousands of rail users, they are not best placed to pick on foreign companies who are seeking to improve our railway.’

Under the deal, First MTR will plough £ 1.2 billion into the South Western franchise, which operates trains from Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset into London as well as services in Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire.

This would add 22,000 seats into London Waterloo every morning and 30,000 seats during the evening rush hour.

More Sunday services will operate across the network.

A fleet of 90 new trains on the Reading, Windsor and London routes has also been promised.

Government insiders stressed the infrastructure will continue to be owned by Network Rail.

But huge swathes of Britain’s transport – including red London buses – are controlled by foreign companies.

Heathrow Airport, Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect are owned by a consortium of foreign investors including China, Qatar and Singapore sovereign wealth funds.