Scotland urged to nationalise railways

The Scottish government has been urged to follow the Welsh leadership by bringing the railways back into public ownership.

Rail unions and opposition parties said the Scottish government now had “no excuses” not to take the same sort of action.

The franchise sin Scotland– Scotrail and Caledonian Sleeper – have been beset with problems for years. Abellio’s Scotrail contract was cut short by three years by Transport Secretary Michael Matheson in 2019, with it now ending in 2022.

The Welsh government has announced it would take back into public ownership its pas - senger railway franchise with Keolisamey.

The call was backed by the RMT rail union, the Transport Salaried Staff Association, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Greens.

Unions and opposition political parties have called on the Scottish government to follow the Welsh leadership by bringing the railways back into public ownership.

The RMT railway workers union lead the calls, stating the Scottish government now had “no excuses” not to take the same sort of action.

The franchises in S cotland – S c o t R a i l a n d C a l e d o n i a n Sleeper – have been beset with problems for years. Abellio’s S c o t R a i l c o n t r a c t w a s c u t short by three years by transport secretary Michael Matheson in 2019, with it now ending in 2022.

The Welsh government has announced it would take back into public ownership its passenger railway franchise with Keolisamey.

A move towards nationalisation has b een backed by the Transpor t Salaried Staff A s s o c i a t i o n ( T S S A) , S c o t - tish Labour and the Scottish Greens.

RMT general secretary Mick C a s h we l c o m e d t h e m o v e from the Welsh government and said Covid-19 meant the S cottish government could b r i n g t h e i r f r a n c h i s e s i n t o public ownership.

He said: “There should now b e no more excuses for the S c o t t i s h g o ve r n me n t , wh o have greater powers than the Welsh government over rail ser vices, not to take similar action.

“T h e f a i l u r e o f p r i v a t e l y o p e r a t e d S c o t R a i l a n d t h e Caledonian Sleep er to meet their contractual obligations due to the drop in passenger numbers caused by Covid–19 means the S cottish government has the power to appoint a public operator of last resort to take rail services into public ownership.

“Instead it has chosen to use the extra public funding necessary to support railways in Scotland at this difficult time to be delivered through Emergency Measures Agreements that allow these companies to carry on making profits on the backs of the tax payer and passengers.

“The S cottish government should act now to take rail services into public ownership.”

T S S A g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y Manuel Cortes said the “game is up” for the franchising model.

He said: “This is a welcome a n d p o s i t ive s t e p f r o m t h e Welsh government, which will put our railways back in public hands and again shows the abject failure of privatisation.”