DEATH BLOW TO PRIVATISATION SAYS LUTON NORTH MP KELVIN HOPKINS

“The humiliating collapse of Railtrack has brought to an end the daftest privatisation of all. Billions of Pounds of public money have been poured into Railtrack trying to keep it afloat when all the evidence demonstrated its total failure. I hope now we can get back to sanity and reason and start to rebuild a sensible integrated and democratically accountable railway system.

“I hope too that this is a salutary lesson to all those pushing for privatisation of the public services. Public services should be owned and run by the public sector, accountable ultimately to the electorate through Parliament. The Railtrack fat cats have had their day and our money. It is time they were banished to the dustbin of history. Railways in France, Germany, Spain and Holland are publicly owned and run in the public interest.

“So what happens now? The truth is the railways in Britain are in a complete mess and it will take years to undo the damage of privatisation. Even before that, British Rail was starved of investment so our railways were backward and inadequate. The French have invested in brand-new lines all over France dedicated to high speed passenger trains, leaving older tracks for a dedicated freight network. We have to think big in those terms and put serious investment into our railway system. Every penny of public money put in should pay for better railways and not be skimmed off by the profiteers.

Our railway system is vital to the functioning of our economy, will always require some subsidy and must therefore remain in the public sector, accountable to voters and the travelling public. I have travelled to work by train for the last 32 years, and I am looking forward to massive improvements in the coming years. This is great news for us all and will have done a great service to Britain if it kills off once and for all British governments' love affair with privatisation.

“I have called publicly for our railways to be brought back into public ownership on many occasions since being elected. Today I feel personally vindicated and very gratified.”