A historic journey took place this week, when the first renationalised South Western Railway (SWR) service departed from Woking for Waterloo. Yet unfortunately, passengers had to disembark at Surbiton and board a rail replacement bus as a result of engineering work.
The incident highlights that this is a moment of maximum vulnerability in the push for greater nationalisation in Britain. SWR is the first train company to be nationalised under this Labour government, which has plans to renationalise nearly all services in England by 2027. But at the launch, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said she couldn’t promise that nationalisation would yield lower fares. If services don’t improve and fares don’t fall, critics will have their attack line ready: “We told you nationalisation doesn’t work – just look at the trains.”
