Transport Secretary Louise Haigh was stuck on a delayed train as she travelled to London to push ahead with a rail renationalisation bill in Parliament.
The Sheffield Heeley MP wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning: “On my (delayed) train to London to deliver the Second Reading of the Public Ownership Bill.”
She is understood to have been referring to an East Midlands Railway service.
On my (delayed) train to London to deliver the Second Reading of the Public Ownership Bill 🚆 🚉 🚄 pic.twitter.com/sIuMneMYZ9
— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) July 29, 2024
MPs were due to debate the legislation to renationalise the railways at the Second Reading of the bill on Monday.
Ms Haigh has pledged that more train services are set to be brought under public ownership from “early next year”.
She told The Standard on Monday: “I told the Department for Transport our new motto was to move fast and fix things, which is why the first Bill of this Labour Government is to radically reform our railways and drive up performance for passengers.
“This Bill demonstrates the sheer scale of our ambition to rebuild Britain, putting transport at the heart of our plans for change."
Effectively nationalising all train operation in Britain was a long-standing pledge for Labour while the party was in opposition.
The Government’s Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill was included in the King’s Speech earlier this month.
Once the legislation is passed, appointing a public sector train operator as private companies’ existing contracts expire will be the default position rather than a last resort.
Ms Haigh has stressed: “We need the first piece of legislation on the books and we are aiming for Royal Assent certainly by the end of the year, and then we can issue the first contracts three months after that. So early next year.”
That means services run by Govia Thameslink Railway, which includes the Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern brands, and Chiltern Railways could be the first to be taken into public ownership, as their contracts have core terms ending on April 1 2025.
Avanti West Coast, whose contract has a core term running until October 18 2026, could still have its services nationalised first if Ms Haigh takes action over its performance.
The Conservative government awarded Avanti West Coast, owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia, a new contract starting in October last year.
Office of Rail and Road figures show Avanti West Coast had the third worst reliability of all operators in Britain in the year to the end of March, with the equivalent of one in 15 trains (6.9 per cent) cancelled.
Rail Partners chief executive, Andy Bagnall said: ‘Train companies agree that change is needed but it is disappointing to see Government legislating to ban the use of contracted train companies, without first setting out the detail of how its wider rail reform bill will deliver improvements for passengers and freight customers.
“On a day when the Government is revealing significant pressures on public finances, it is counterintuitive to remove the only part of the system with a track record of driving growth and reducing subsidy for taxpayers, which can free up money for other public services and helps hold fares down for passengers.”
An East Midlands Railway spokesperson said: "A small number of services experienced delays as a result of a trespasser on the line in the Wellingborough area.
“This caused some congestion for services going in and out of St Pancras."
Four of the Department for Transport’s rail contracts are already operated in the public sector after private companies were stripped of control because of poor performance.
They are London North Eastern Railway, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express.
Of the remaining ten, their contracts can be ended at various points up to October 2027.
