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The new UK government’s plans to nationalise rail services are thundering down the parliamentary tracks faster than most trains on the country’s rickety rail network. They add up to a major reversal of one of the flagship Conservative privatisations of the 1980s and 1990s. The commitment of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour to “move fast and fix things” is commendable; fixing the railways is important not just for passengers but to boost economic growth. But in prioritising ownership it is focusing on the wrong issue.
英國新政府的鐵路服務國有化計劃正以迅雷之勢在議會軌道上推進，其速度比該國快散架的鐵路網路上跑著的絕大多數火車都快。這些計劃是對20世紀80年代和90年代保守黨私有化旗艦計劃之一的重大逆轉。基爾•斯塔默爵士的工黨的「快速行動，解決問題」值得稱讚；修復鐵路不僅對乘客很重要，而且對促進經濟成長也很重要。但工黨將所有權放在首位，是將重點放錯了地方。
A bill that received a lightning third reading on Tuesday will return franchised passenger rail services to public hands when existing contracts end or reach a breakpoint — which at least means this renationalisation has little upfront cost. The government says it will produce a more centralised network, under the “directing mind” of a still-to-be-created arms-length body, Great British Railways. It touts the potential to cut costs by removing duplicative bureaucracy, and to simplify the unpopular maze of ticketing.
本週二，一項法案閃電般地進行了三讀，該法案將在現有合同到期或達到斷點時將特許客運鐵路服務交還給公衆——這至少意味著此次重新國有化的前期成本很小。政府表示，這將建立一個更加集中化的鐵路網路，由一個尚未成立的獨立機構，「大不列顛鐵路」(Great British Railways)來「領導」。該政府吹噓此舉將削減成本，消除重複的官僚機構，並簡化不受歡迎的票務迷宮。
The danger, though, is that as with British Rail in the 1970s, public ownership will mean poor management and cost control, and empower rail unions with which Labour has just expensively settled long-running pay disputes. Recent experience shows state control does not guarantee better service. Ask long-suffering passengers of Northern Rail, one of four previously franchised services already taken back by the state.
但危險在於，與20世紀70年代的英國鐵路公司一樣，公有制將意味著糟糕的管理和成本控制，並賦予鐵路工會權力，而工黨剛剛與這些工會以高昂代價解決了長期的薪酬糾紛。最近的經驗表明，國家控制並不能保證提供更好的服務。問問長期受苦受難的北鐵乘客就知道了——北鐵是之前四個特許經營服務之一，已經被國家收回。
The flawed franchising system created distorted incentives; several large franchises failed after overpromising on revenues. But the Conservative government committed in 2021 to shift to passenger service contracts with private companies, which pay a fee for providing tightly specified services with penalties for failures to meet targets. This was a sensible concept that avoided full nationalisation. Several countries, including Germany and Sweden, use service contracts on some services. (In Japan’s famously reliable rail network, the private sector takes the lead on almost all routes, though with a very different structure to Britain’s.)
有缺陷的特許經營制度造成了扭曲的激勵機制；幾個大型特許經營項目因過度承諾收入而失敗。但保守黨政府在2021年承諾改用與民營公司簽訂的客運服務合同，民營公司要支付費用，提供嚴格規定的服務，未能達到目標還要接受處罰。這是一個明智的概念，避免了全面國有化。包括德國和瑞典在內的一些國家在某些服務上使用了服務合同。(在日本以可靠著稱的鐵路網路中，幾乎所有線路都由民營部門主導，但其結構與英國截然不同）。
With about half of cancellations blamed on infrastructure owners, the biggest problem dogging Britain’s railways is not ownership of operators but constrained and crumbling capacity. This follows years of inconsistent and inadequate government-led investment in rail infrastructure, most of which was returned to public hands under Network Rail in 2002. Sustained higher investment in tracks is vital — but Labour, though it has promised a more detailed rail reform bill in due course, has so far said little on this subject.
約一半的取消行程歸咎於基礎設施所有者，困擾英國鐵路的最大問題不是營運商的所有權，而是運力受限和崩潰。這是由於多年來政府對鐵路基礎設施的不一致和不充分的投資，其中大部分在2002年歸還給了國有企業Network Rail。持續增加對軌道的投資至關重要，但工黨雖然承諾將在適當的時候提出更詳細的鐵路改革法案，但在這個問題上迄今爲止幾乎沒有發表意見。
The need is all the greater after then prime minister Rishi Sunak last year cancelled the remaining northern leg of HS2, the high-speed project from London originally to Manchester and Leeds. Though costs had ballooned, HS2 promised new capacity as much as speed. The government must urgently find other ways to ease congestion on the West Coast main line, where commuter and intercity services share tracks in places, and which is vital for the net zero priority of shifting freight from roads to rail. It should study a plan from city mayors and engineering firms for a cheaper, privately funded line along HS2’s axed Birmingham-Manchester route.
在英國首相里希•蘇納克(Rishi Sunak)去年取消了HS2剩餘的北段之後，這一需求就更加迫切了。HS2是一項從倫敦到曼徹斯特和利茲的高速鐵路項目，儘管成本飆升，但它承諾提供新的容量和速度。政府必須緊急尋找其他方法來緩解西海岸幹線的擁堵問題，該幹線在某些地方是通勤和城際服務共享軌道的重要線路，對於將貨物從公路轉移到鐵路的零排放優先事項至關重要。它應該研究市長和工程公司提的一項計劃，即在高鐵2號被砍掉的伯明翰-曼徹斯特線路沿線修建一條更便宜、私人資助的線路。
It would also be helpful for the government to clarify its view of Northern Powerhouse Rail, the proposed east-west line connecting northern English cities that is central to revitalising services. And it should draw up coherent plans for redirecting funds no longer being spent on HS2 to other projects.
政府還應明確其對Northern Powerhouse Rail的看法，這是連接英國北部城市的東西向線路，對於振興服務至關重要。並且應制定一致的計劃，將不再用於HS2的資金重新分配給其他項目。
In doing so, Labour should heed the advice of a policy review it commissioned, and seek private funding too. The report led by former Siemens UK boss Juergen Maier recommended new partnerships, akin to those often used in Europe and Asia, involving “blended finance” — with the private sector taking on delivery and recouping a return later. In revitalising rail, Britain’s new government would be wise to create room for more private sector investment and involvement, not less.
在此過程中，工黨應聽取其委託進行的一項政策審查的建議，同時尋求私人資金。這份由西門子英國公司前老闆尤爾根•邁爾(Juergen Maier)領導的報告建議建立新的合作伙伴關係，類似於歐洲和亞洲經常採用的「混合融資」模式：由民營部門負責交付，之後再收回回報。在振興鐵路的過程中，英國新政府最好爲更多的民營部門投資和參與創造空間，而不是更少。