Labour refuses to guarantee lower train fares under potential government

The shadow transport secretary has refused to guarantee lower train fares under a future Labour government as the party plans to renationalise the railways.

Louise Haigh said she could not “definitely” promise cheaper tickets for passengers despite aiming for the biggest reform of the British rail system for a generation.

Labour plans to bring trains into state ownership in the next five years if it wins the general election and to automate the existing delay repay scheme using mobile phone apps.

It would also offer travellers a “best-price ticket guarantee” if they bought tickets through a government-approved app in an effort to stop them from paying too much via external websites.

But asked whether trains would be better value for money and prices would fall, Ms Haigh said: “So today I can’t guarantee that we’ll lower fares, but what we are saying is that we’ll simplify them.

“Passengers have to contend with a dizzying array of different types of fares and ticket structures and what we are saying is that we will have an ambition for a best fare guarantee,” she told BBC Breakfast.

‘Travellers feel fleeced by train fares’

Ms Haigh said that while commuters using the Transport for London (TfL) system could be confident they were getting the best possible value for their journey, passengers using the rail system in London and elsewhere were not always in the same position.

“Quite frankly, people often feel that they’re being fleeced so we want to make sure that people know they’re always getting the best value for that journey.

“But of course, our ambition is to make fares more affordable and accessible. Today I just can’t set out that fares will definitely lower and which fares those will be.”

Labour’s plans for nationalisation would undo reforms made by Sir John Major in the 1990s. The party claims all 16 private railway operators could be brought under state control “without the taxpayer paying a penny” in compensation.

Steve Norris, a former transport minister in Sir John’s government, warned Ms Haigh’s plan “sets us back prior to the 1990s”, although some rail and transport organisations have welcomed her ideas.

The frontbencher declared British railways “broken” on Thursday morning ahead of a speech at London’s Trainline HQ, where she was expected to promise “root and branch” reform.

“Cancellations have soared to record levels, fares have risen almost twice as fast as wages and taxpayers are paying through the teeth to prop up a failing system,” she said.

“Labour will deliver a publicly-owned railway that puts the passenger first.”

Labour’s ‘obsession with nationalisation’

But the Conservative Party has accused Labour of an “obsession with nationalisation” and Ms Haigh has previously refused to rule out tax rises to fund her proposals.

Asked by Times Radio earlier this month how much council tax would change, she replied: “It’s a much more efficient and less wasteful system than the current one. So we wouldn’t envisage that council tax would have to change.”

Tory sources pointed out bus fares have risen by six per cent in London, which is under the control of Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, while passenger costs across the rest of England fell by 6.2 per cent.

A government source said: “Labour can’t explain how they’re going to pay for the costs of their pointless plan to nationalise rail.

“Their ideological ideas won’t improve things for passengers and, with many unanswered questions around how they’ll pay for their plan, means taxes will go up for working people - taking us back to square one.”