Labour proposes gender segregation on rail

Good news for fans of Chris Williamson MP (Sid and Doris Gricer).

The Shadow Home Office minister has suggested a return to Ladies Only carriages.

Alas, this discrimatory nonsense will not do!

As any ful kno there are now at least 39 genders that will need similarly catering for if the industry is not to fall foul of equalities legislation (40! You forgot to include Mighty Oaks, of which I am one. Ed).

Despite his proposals being subjected to wide spread derision, Eye understands at least one part of the industry has welcomed Williamson's 'bold and exciting' initiative.

Step foward the Roscos, who are expecting a bumper bonanza as all those displaced vehicles are hurriedly pressed into gender specific service!

Labour party official manifesto - Rail

Here are the key rail elements of the Labour Manifesto launched today...

Taken from the section on Transport (page 90ff):

On our railways, we pay some of the highest fares in Europe for increasingly unreliable and overcrowded services.

The beneficiaries of public funding siphoned off through transport privatisations have been the earnings of directors, dividends for shareholders and the coffers of overseas governments.

Labour will prioritise public service over private profit.  And we will start by bringing our railways back into public ownership, as franchises expire or, in other cases, with franchise reviews or break clauses. We will introduce a Public Ownership of the Railways Bill to repeal the Railways Act 1993 under which the Conservatives privatised our railways.

In public ownership, we will deliver real improvements for passengers by capping fares, introducing free wi-fi  across the network, ensuring safe staffing levels, ending the expansion of driver only operations, and introducing legal duties to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.

Labour will introduce regulations to designate and protect routes of critical community value, including those that serve local schools, hospitals and isolated settlements in rural areas.

A publicly owned railway system can be the backbone of our plans for integrated transport. It will be built on the platform of Network Rail, which we will retain whole, working with the devolved administrations. We will ensure new rolling stock is publicly owned and will encourage expansion of public freight services in a publicly owned railway that will leave our roads freer of traffic and our air cleaner. We will facilitate British procurements, including steel, whenever possible.

A Labour government will complete the HS2 high-speed rail line from London through Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester and then into Scotland, consulting with communities affected about the optimal route. We will link HS2 with other rail investments, such as Crossrail of the North (tying together our great Northern cities) and on to the Durham Freight Centre. We will build a new Brighton Main Line for the South East.

In London, to ensure our capital continues to prosper, we will build Crossrail 2.

To harness the economic potential of new technologies and science, we will complete the Science Vale transport arc that runs from Oxford to Cambridge through Milton Keynes. and we will deliver rail electrification and expansion across the whole country, including in Wales and the South West. We will also consult with local communities to re-open branch lines.

Read the whole thing for yourselves here.

Compared with last week's leaked version Birmingham appears to have lost its port(!),  Brighton will gain a new mainline to London and commitments to get rid of DOO have been watered down.

Leaked Labour Manifesto - Transport

Here is the Transport section of Labour's leaked manifesto:

Labour will invest in a modern, integrated, accessible transport system that is reliable and affordable.

Our transport systems illustrate the abject failure of Tory policies: relentless deregulation, privatisation and fragmentation.

They say we get choice and efficiency but the reality of their transport privatisations has been that services are less reliable, safety is compromised, fares have risen, ticketing has become complicated and public health has worsened.

On rail we pay the highest fares in Europe for an increasingly unreliable and overcrowded service.

The beneficiaries of public funding siphoned off through transport privatisations have been the rocketing earnings of directors, dividends for shareholders, and the coffers of overseas governments. 

A different system is possible. A Labour government will prioritise public service over private profit. and we will start by bringing our railways back into public ownership, as franchises expire. 

A Labour government will introduce a Public Ownership of the Railways Bill to repeal the Railways Act 1993 under which the Conservatives privatised our railways.

In public ownership, we will deliver real improvements for passengers by freezing fares, introducing free wi-fi across the network, ensuring safe staffing levels and ending driver only operation, and by improving accessibility for disabled people. 

A publicly owned railway system can be the backbone of our plans for integrated transport. It will be built on the platform of Network Rail, already in public ownership, and consider establishing a new public rolling stock company. 

A Labour government will complete the HS2 high speed rail line from London through Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester, and then into Scotland, consulting with communities affected about the optimal route. 

A Labour government will invest to regenerate the local and regional economies across the whole country, so that every area gets its fair share of transport investment. 

A Labour government will link HS2 with other new investments, such as Crossrail of the North.

To harness the economic potential of new technologies and science we will complete the Science Vale transport arc, from Oxford to Cambridge through Milton Keynes. To prepare for global new trade arrangements, we will study the feasibility of port development in Southampton and Avonmouth as well as Liverpool, Hull and Birmingham. 

In London, to ensure our capital continues to prosper, we will build Crossrail 2 and devolve responsibilities for running the commuter train lines to the Transport for London authority.

We will invest in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, too, working with devolved administrations through the National Infrastructure Commission.

Our plans for will encourage and enable people to get out of their cars, for better health and a cleaner environment.

Across the country we will enable the creation of municipal bus companies, publicly run for passengers not profit.

We will introduce regulations to designate and protect routes of critical community value, including those that serve local schools hospitals and isolated settlements in rural areas.

We will better regulate the licensed taxi and private carriage hire sectors in the knowledge that new technologies, consumer service and public safety all require competitive playing field between these sectors to be levelled.

We will invite the National Infrastructure Commission to recommend the next stages for developing and upgrading the National Cycle Network.

We will continue to upgrade our highways and improve road works at known bottlenecks. !he A1 North, the Severn Bridge and the A30 provide essential connections and require our urgent consideration.

We will refocus the roads building and maintenance programmes on road safety, connecting our communities, feeding public transport hubs and realising untapped economic potential.

Our rail freight programme on a publicly owned railway will leave our roads freer and our air cleaner.

Labour supports the expansion of aviation capacity and we will continue to support the work of the Airports Commission. 

We will continue working with our neighbours through the European Union’s Highways of the Seas and by negotiating to retain membership of the Common Aviation Area and Open Skies arrangements.

Unclear at this stage whether Labour is looking to nationalise rail freight.

UPDATE: An Eye notes that the Airports Commission hasn't existed for two years!