Public Ownership of Railways

We voted to:

Support Public Ownership of the Railways

Points considered in the debate include:

For Public Ownership:
The additional costs, inefficiencies and subsidies that are involved in running multiple franchises add significantly to travel costs.
Rail travel is an essential public service and should be owned and managed by the state.

Against Public Ownership:
The cost of rail travel should be paid by those who use it, not by those who don’t.
Public subsidies for rail travel are simply subsidies to employers who simply avoid paying realistic wages to people who commute.