Heidi Alexander refused to say that rail fares will go down post-nationalisation of rolling stock operators. Puncturing the fanfare of the new livery…
Sophy Ridge asked Alexander if rail fares would go down:
“So, we’ve announced the rail freeze for next year on regulated fares so for season tickets, for peak returns and peak returns between big towns and cities in England. Prices won’t be going up.”
A policy entirely distinct from nationalisation. Pressed again Alexander said:
“Fare decisions are taken every year. We do still subsidise the running of the trains to the tune of about two billion pounds every year and that is on top of the over ten billion pounds that we put in as a country into maintaining the infrastructure, the tracks and the signaling. What we want to do is provide better value for money for people and sweep away some of these inefficiencies that have existed in the privatised system. So in bringing the train operating companies in, we save up to £150 million a year that would have gone to the private companies in management fees.”
Still no mention of fares going down. The only result is that train operation will now be another hostage in future tax-raising budgets…
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”