Passengers across the country will have better train services
thanks to a new transport bill set out in the King's Speech.
The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill has been
introduced to Parliament today (18 July).
After years of unacceptably low performance, the bill is a
landmark change that will allow the Government to bring rail
passenger services back into public ownership, amending
legislation to make appointing a public sector operator the
default, rather than a last resort.
Transport Secretary said:
“This is a clear signal of intent. Rail reform is at the heart of
this King's Speech.
“As Passenger-in-Chief, I said we'd move fast and fix things and
that's exactly what we're doing with this weighty, radical
legislative agenda.
“Our transport system is broken, but today's bill will pave
the way for better trains that work for everyone, no matter where
you live.
“After years of inefficiency, we're two weeks in and the first
steps towards rail reform are being taken today. Change starts
now.”
Our railways are essential in ensuring connectivity for all kinds
of people across the country and unlocking their full potential
is essential to growing the economy and lowering emissions from
transport.
The privatisation model is failing passengers day-in, day-out.
Publicly-owned passenger rail will put an end to years of waste
and fragmentation on our railways and establish a more efficient,
higher quality and reliable service.
The new laws will ensure rail services are run with the passenger
put first.
With five bills, transport has the biggest legislative agenda,
with plans to deliver the biggest overhaul to transport in a
generation.
The transport bills set out in the King's Speech will be
essential to delivering the Prime Minister's missions for
Government, and will be mission critical for kickstarting
economic growth, unlocking opportunities across the country, and
accelerating to net zero.
The commitments also see the Transport Secretary delivering on
her strategic priorities
set out last week.
Notes to editors
Further details of other transport bills set out in the King's
Speech:
- The Railways Bill will create a unified,
simplified rail system – instead of the current fragmented,
expensive network. Great British Railways will manage the network
and the delivery of passenger services under one public rail
body. Led by industry experts, it will relentlessly focus on
ensuring reliability, affordability, efficiency, quality,
accessibility and safety for passengers, and save the taxpayer
millions of pounds. The Bill will also pave the way
for a powerful new watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority,
to independently monitor standards and champion improvement
across passenger services.
- The Better Buses Bill will transform bus
services up and down the country by delivering new powers for all
local leaders to take back control of local services, either
through public ownership or through bus franchising - following
in the footsteps of Greater Manchester's successful ‘Bee
Network'. The Bill will boost reliability and finally call time
on the failed system of deregulation that has seen service levels
plummet. It will also help bring an end to the postcode lottery
of bus services, putting power over services back in the hands of
the communities that rely on them.
- The High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill
will be re-introduced to the new Parliament, bringing forward the
powers necessary to deliver on wider plans for greater rail
connectivity across the north of England. It will be used to
deliver rail infrastructure that works for the whole country and
achieve the Government's priorities of improving productivity,
driving economic growth and tackling regional inequality.
- The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) (Revenue Support
Mechanism) Billwill be introduced to back SAF production
in the UK. The bill aims to boost greener flying and support an
industry estimated to add over £1.8 billion to the economy and
support over 10,000 jobs by 2030. To champion growth, attract
investment and support jobs, the bill will introduce a revenue
certainty mechanism – designed to reduce risk for the sector as
it scales up SAF production. This builds on the Government's SAF
mandate, which will create demand by ensuring 10 per cent of all
jet fuel is SAF by 2030.
