Excellent Greater Anglia rail service nationalised – is there anything to fear?

Today has seen the latest rail company move into direct government control as Greater Anglia has been nationalised.

While this can offer plenty of benefits in some respects it’s a shame given they’re an excellent operator that I’ve been using ever more in the recent past. Management are clearly capable.

My increased use begun as more friends and family left London due to ever higher housing and living costs some have moved to the Greater Anglia patch. They’ve generally been fantastic.

From reliable and frequent services to trains kept in good order (cleaners are often getting on sweeping and hoovering) there’s also some great value advance fares and well managed stations.

So for the love of God please don’t let the Department for Transport start to chip away at a fantastic operator.

There’s a lot to like about the idea of nationalisation with less duplication and wasted costs, but with the Department for Transport and Treasury taking further power it’s a concern given the DfT’s recent form.

No Great British Railway

As of now there’s not even a Great British Railways in existence and we don’t even know what form it’ll take given the promised Railways Bill hasn’t even been introduced to Parliament let alone passed with a 2027 date expected. Right now it’s further power to the DfT and that’s not generally a good thing.

After all this government have not been pro-rail since taking power. Above-inflation fare rises were seen this year and many service cuts previously made under the Tories have been retained on nationalised Southeastern Metro despite Labour complaints in opposition.

In terms of infrastructure a range of projects were “paused” recently which are in effect cuts, from electrifying the Midland Main Line (which sees skills built-up set to be lost once again pushing up the cost of any future projects which is a chronic problem in this country) to halting plans to rebuild Peckham Rye station.

All projects that would help housing – which they claim is a priority. Just not when it comes to investing in rail infrastructure it appears.

Staffing

On Greater Anglia there’s often pro-active and helpful staff on board trains with stations also generally well-staffed. That includes both those I use regularly on a couple of lines as well as others I’ve had to stop at when switching to rail replacement buses, which is often due to two new stations being built at Cambridge South and just north of Chelmsford.

At those varied stations where a rail replacement bus was needed they’d often be good levels of staffing and not just to assist with buses but at gatelines and ticket offices.

In terms of those new stations one also wonders if this government would have cut such projects if they hadn’t started before they came to power.

Of course it may be argued that staffing is good as Greater Anglia as some local lines in London were devolved to TfL in order for a London Overground takeover, leaving Greater Anglia able to focus on what they are good at. At Southeastern the barely staffed Metro network often has the feel of being an unwanted afterthought compared to HS1 and mainline routes.

This government though shows little interest in devolving rail services such as Southeastern Metro – but nor does it seem interested in investing under DfT control.

Other worrying issues under a nationalised operator can be seen at LNER with their “simplified” tickets. What that actually meant was a ticket that was previously off-peak and permitted to be used much of the day became limited to 70 minutes before or after a specific time. It was far less flexible.

Some seem to think it was in place of advance tickets for an exact train. It isn’t. Those still exist. The “flexible” and “simpler” ticket is in effect a vast reduction in flexibility with a narrower time window to use.

Contrasts

The subject of station staffing and some stark differences between operators can be seen between Southeastern Metro under direct DfT-control for years and Greater Anglia at Kidbrooke and Cambridge North.

Kidbrooke under Southeastern control saw a station building submitted due to 6,000 homes being built in the town. After the initial application was made plans for a gateline were dropped. Well that’d require staffing and extra costs short term. Who cares that it may generate more revenue long term?

And so a small new station building was approved, built and now either occupied by a single member of staff or entirely shut leaving access via a side gate. The latter is not uncommon.

Now compare that to Cambridge North with gates, staffing and less feeling of being an irritation to the rail company.

With the Department for Transport in charge of Greater Anglia could we see demands for chipping away at expenditure here and there with the result being staffing reduced?

Then the gates are left open, word gets out it’s a free for all and you have the type of system that is Southeastern Metro.

Fewer people start to pay and less staffing then puts others off travelling as feelings of safety on the network decrease. A spiral which is hard to get out of once it begins. See just about any Southeastern Metro station at night.

With the DfT and Treasury seeking cost reductions that could be the result. If so it’d be a crying shame as it’ll ruin what is a fantastic operator by and large.

A penny wise and pound foolish attitude will benefit no one. Not passengers, not staff, not business and not the taxpayer if people are driven away.

Nationalisation alone is no fix-all if those in charge just seek to save money and cut. It’s a key area to watch under this government who have hardly got off to a pro-rail start.