Why on earth would we want to change this fantastic service? The railways are wonderful

Conservatives in Wirral oppose calls to bring the train service back into public ownership. A motion had been put forward by Green councillors Jo Bird and Ruth Molyneux at a full Wirral Council meeting on December 1 calling for the local authority to support bringing Merseyrail back into public control. The current contract is due to expire in three years.

In 2028, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is planning to re-brand Merseytravel into the Transport for Liverpool City Region. This is part of wide ranging plans from the combined authority (CA) to connect rail, bus, ferry, tunnels and active travel options across the six local authority areas.

As part of this, the Rail and Maritime Transport workers union (RMT) has called for the authority to bring Merseyrail back into public ownership as well as the train-drivers union ASLEF and independent transport and travel union TSSA. Options being considered include a five year extension to the current contract.

The Green motion was dropped before the meeting and in a display of political unity, Wirral’s Labour, Green, and Liberal Democrat groups put forward a joint statement endorsing moves by Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram “to deliver greater public control over Merseyrail while developing the pathway to public ownership.” This was voted through by the local authority at a full council meeting last night, December 1.

The joint motion pointed to £212m in dividends as well as £42m of profits in the 12 months leading up to January 2024. However it pointed out the company continued to provide services despite no direct pandemic subsidies when the estimated cost of keeping trains running was £40m.

Councillors also said they did not want to see an increase in the Merseytravel levy given the local authority’s current financial pressures.

Cllr Steve Foulkes, who chairs the combined authority’s transport committee, said running a rail service was a complicated issue and felt some councillors did not fully understand the situation. He said he was not opposed to private company profits but wanted to make sure any future decision around the service prioritised passengers.

Councillors argued investment in the rail network dipped following privatisation and praised Merseyrail’s public owned trains. Cllr Allan Brame also pointed to numerous newspaper headlines, including a Liverpool Echo headline from the same day of the meeting, highlighting delays, cancellations, and disruption on the network.

Green councillors, who had put forward the original motion on the issue, particularly criticised the John Major government’s decision to privatise British Rail in 1994. Cllr Harry Gorman said public ownership was about “restoring a public service rather than continuing on with a private cash cow.”

However the council’s Conservative and Independent Conservative groups voted against the motion. Independent Conservative leader Cllr Kathy Hodson said she was not bothered either way if the service worked, adding: “If the current model works, why change it?”

Conservative Cllr Simon Mountney said British Rail was “an absolute nightmare” and argued publicly owned railways were not the solution to all problems. He argued a public private partnership would work best.

Pointing to Merseyrail’s high satisfaction ratings, Cllr Jenny Johnson said this was “extraordinary, wonderful, and it’s a fabulous service” and “we should be proud of this as an area.”

She added: “Why on earth would we want to change this fantastic service? The railways are wonderful. The last thing we need is putting it into public ownership for it all to go downhill.”