Ministers reject Scottish rail devolution bid

Listen to this article

The UK government has rejected a request from the Scottish Parliament for rail franchising powers to be devolved from Westminster.

Transport secretary Justine Greening has stated that there is no evidence that devolution would deliver better value for passengers or taxpayers.

Transport Scotland reacted by saying that it is “utterly bizarre”  that state-owned companies from outside of Great Britain can run Scottish rail services but “home grown public bodies can’t”.

Transport secretary Justine Greening has stated that there is no evidence that devolution would deliver better value for passengers or taxpayers.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “As the Secretary of State has made clear, we do not believe it would not be sensible to run the railway in such a way that the Scottish Parliament could overturn the framework that governs the operation of passenger services on a GB-wide basis.

“Our policy is to maintain a unified, national rail network but one that is subject to appropriate oversight by the Scottish ministers. This is what the current system achieves.”

1 COMMENT

  1. What framework??
    Trying to establish how much a particular journey is going to cost is
    a total nightmare given all the different companies involved.
    No joined up thinking here whatsoever and certainly no prospect of
    any idea of an integrated transport system.
    All about generating profits for a few and not about providing a service to the public.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

Network Rail engineers prepare for £90 million investment over Easter bank holiday

Over 95% of Britain’s 10,000 miles of railway will be open for business this Easter - with some exceptions...

More like this...