Last Thursday, the then-transport secretary, Louise Haigh, welcomed Royal Assent being given to the Public Ownership Bill. This is the law that aims to renationalise the railways. Ms Haigh called it “a huge win for frustrated passengers up and down the country”.
The minister, who styled herself the passenger-in-chief, said: “For far too long, passengers have faced unacceptable levels of delays, cancellations and unreliability under a fragmented, privatised system – but not on my watch.”
Her watch was to last less than a day. Within hours of the announcement, Ms Haigh had resigned after revelations about a fraud case involving a mobile phone. Her replacement as transport secretary is Heidi Alexander. Within six days, the new incumbent has revealed the first three train operators to be brought back into public ownership.
“Starting with journeys on South Western Railway [SWR], we’re switching tracks by bringing services back under public control to create a reliable rail network that puts customers first,” said Ms Alexander.
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