Thousands of passengers gather every day at Euston in front of the large signs displaying the upcoming trains, the platform to reach and above all the delays, the cancellations sometimes only a few minutes before the scheduled departure. This is particularly true here where trains serve the north of England, Manchester, Birmingham, Stoke… and where companies regularly fail. Private companies for 30 years. Molly experiences the ups and downs of this irregular traffic. Rail managed by the State again? She said yes: “I would be happy about it. In the past, when it was public, I don’t remember experiencing all the problems we have had since privatization. If everything is nationalized again, in theory it should be more efficient.”
“Emblematic”
In 1994, it was a massive privatization. A few years later, the State regained control over the maintenance of the railway tracks after several accidents, also over the stations. Today, train companies remain private. They benefit from a limited-term contract with the government to provide the service. In the coming years, the political majority does not want to renew them in order to gradually regain control. A completely realistic perspective according to Christian Wolmar, transport expert, close to the Labor Party: “The government has already introduced two laws. It shows that they are serious about this subject. The re-nationalization of the rail is emblematic, like a setback of the Conservatives’ policy. They want to show that the State can control an important industry like the rail.
Six companies are already managed by the State, currently. A decision of the previous majority, either because they went bankrupt or because the government judged that they did not meet their specifications.
Professor David Hall judges very harshly the private companies which have managed water in the United Kingdom since 1989. Inefficient and solely guided by profit according to him. © Radio France – Richard Place
The re-nationalization of rail is therefore underway. But this is not the only sector concerned by this project, there is wastewater treatment, a sector privatized in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher. Today, it is clearly a failure. Companies that are not doing well financially despite increasingly high prices and above all, deplorable service. The state of the waterways attests to this, particularly that of the Thames, to understand the extent of the problem. The legendary rowing race between Oxford and Cambridge took place amid excrement last spring, several competitors fell ill. Symbol of a faulty system.
“They took almost 100 billion pounds out of the system, but the shareholders invested nothing,” laments Professor David Hall, of the International Public Services Research Unit at the University of Greenwich. “It is a terrible economic failure as well as an environmental disaster. This will be a good test of the government’s general approach to the role of the state in the economy. »
The population is not hostile to these nationalizations
The Labor speech is even clearer regarding energy, with the creation of a government agency which will be based in Aberdeen, Scotland. It’s called Great British Energy. Objective: invest, via private companies, in zero carbon emission projects and also launch your own projects. Each time, what guides the government is better service and better controlled prices.
This is a subject that does not cause a stir among the population. “These are things that take a lot of time.” points out Sara Hobolt, professor of political science at the London School of Economics. “Perhaps unachievable in a single legislature. What people care about is the result. They are not opposed to nationalization in principle, but they want to see the difference.”
Rail will undoubtedly be the first visible nationalization. In the next five years, all companies should be managed by the state.
