- October 22, 2020
- Posted by: Mick Antoniw AM
- Category: Featured, Latest News
MS welcomes an opportunity to repair the damage caused by Thatcher’s reckless privatisation of rail services
Today, Welsh Government takes into full public ownership our railway service.
Up until now, we have been prevented by UK Government legislation from doing this . That is why we set up Transport for Wales as a not for profit company to run the service.
However, the company that ran the service for us is pulling out . Because of Covid passenger numbers are down and the company is not able to make the profit it expected. So the responsibility reverts to Welsh Government as operator of last resort.
We should see this as an opportunity to repair the damage caused by Margaret Thatcher’s reckless privatisation back in the 1980’s which we all know has not worked.
We have an opportunity to rebuild a truly public service, for the Welsh economy and for the people of Wales, efficient and accountable to the people of Wales.
So I welcome this announcement that from February 2021 the delivery of day to day Wales and Border rail services will be the responsibility of a new publicly-owned subsidiary of Transport for Wales, that infrastructure work on the Metro will continue as part of this approach and that investment in our rail service that was denied by the Tories for so many years will now be addressed by the Welsh Government.