05.06.13
‘Keep East Coast services in public hands’, Labour urges
The Labour party is repeating its call for the Government to rethink its plan to hand East Coast services back to the private sector.
The line has been run by state-owned Directly Operated Railways since National Express handed its franchise back in 2009.
The Government is seeking a private operator to take over from February 2015.
But shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle is reported in the Yorkshire Post as saying: “Since being run on a not-for-private profit basis, East Coast services have improved and more than £800m has been returned to taxpayers, in contrast to the two previous failed private operators. If ministers get away with selling off the East Coast then the fares paid by passengers will once again be benefitting a few at the top instead of improving the service.
“The Government should stop misleading people that this privatisation is necessary to deliver investment. The truth is that the planned upgrade ... and the new generation of high speed InterCity trains that are on their way are being paid for by the taxpayer and will happen regardless of who is running the service.”
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