Following strong support for a campaign by South West Green Party to renationalize the Great Western rail franchise, the Party has launched an e-petition [1].
The public now has an opportunity to call on the Secretary of State for Transport to take back the Great Western franchise into public ownership when the current First Group contract expires in two years time.
The petition comes amidst a wave of popular support for taking back Britain’s railways into public ownership. This week marks the twentieth anniversary of rail privatisation and Greens will join campaigners from groups such as Action for Rail and People’s Assembly as they co-ordinate a national day of action pressing for public ownership of the railways [2].
The petition has been set up by Molly Scott Cato, lead Green Party European candidate in the South West. She said:
“We believe the private franchise model has failed. Passengers pay some of the highest fares in Europe but have to endure overcrowded trains and unreliable services. The Green Party is the only political Party fully committed to the renationalisation of the railways, arguing it would save taxpayers more than £1 billion a year and lead to lower fares and better services. Signing this petition will help put pressure on this and any future government to carry through what we believe is the wish of the majority of people in the South West to see a return of the Great Western Franchise to public ownership”.
[1] e-petition: Take back the Great Western franchise into public ownership http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/56244
[2] Action for Rail Day of action: http://actionforrail.org/
People’s Assembly: http://thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/