Scottish Labour have re-affirmed its commitment to bring the railways back into public ownership as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Richard Leonard MSP, visited Lockerbie Railway Station on Monday (25 June).

The visit took place on the day that the East Coast Rail Line is transferred back into public hands after a string of failed public sector franchises, and Labour wants to see services on other routes including the West Coast mainline through Lockerbie also come back under public ownership.

At the beginning of this year Colin Smyth launched a campaign to improve Lockerbie Railway Station both in terms of rail services and improvements to parking.

Scottish Labour Leader, Richard Leonard said, “The East Coast Mainline coming back into public hands should make clear, once and for all, that the franchising model does not work. It is time to nationalise our railways and put public transport back into public hands. Every day passengers from Lockerbie Railway Station take a gamble as to whether they will get to work in Glasgow or Edinburgh on time. There also simply aren’t enough services from the station and those that do run can often be overcrowded, with car parking just not good enough.

Passengers deserve better. Bringing all of our railways back into public ownership will ensure that services improve, fares come down and every penny of profit is re-invested in our railways.

Local Labour MSP and Scottish Labour’s Spokesperson for the Rural Economy, Connectivity and Transport Colin Smyth said, “Scottish Labour are the only major party that is actively campaigning for our railways to be brought back into public ownership. The problems at Lockerbie Train Station from a poor service to a need for increased parking show that rail franchising and privatisation has failed.

Bringing the railways back into public ownership would ensure that railways are run for people, not profits. Unlike the current situation where passengers are sacrificed for profits shown far too often at Lockerbie Train Station.”