Great Britain. Renamentalization South Western Railway

As the British Ministry of Transport wrote in a communiqué “it will be a new era for railways.”

– We say goodbye to 30 years of ineffectiveness, waste and dissatisfaction of passengers – said the minister of transport Heidi Alexander during a recent visit to one of the train service stations in the south England.

The privatization of the British Railways began in the mid -90s of the last century during conservative rule, when the prime minister was John Major, who continued the liberal policy of his predecessor Margaret Thatcher from the 1980s.

However, as experts indicate, announcements that privatization will cause better quality of services rendered, larger investments and a reduction in state expenditure have not been largely done. The whole project has become very unpopularly condemned by trade unions, opposition and a significant part of the public.

Even greater dissatisfaction was caused by a railway disaster in 2000, in which 4 people were killed. As later established, the train derailed because of neglect in track maintenance. In addition, cases of delays and cancellation of train courses were more and more.

Earlier, four railway operators in England (for a total of 14) passed under the state's management, but this decision was treated as temporary, which was only aimed at healing the company.

Laborists who returned to power in July 2024 forced the Act on the nationalization of all railway operators in November after the expiry of their contracts and the creation of a new organization under the name “Great British Railways”.

– The return of railway companies to the state guarantees that services will be provided in the interest of passengers, not shareholders, but the solution to structural problems that bother the railway will take some time – said Alexander.