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To: Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport

Keep passengers safe: Don't break-up & privatise Network Rail

We call on the government to rule out the break-up and sell-off of Network Rail - the publicly-owned body responsible for the safety and maintenance of Britain's railways and for the management of our largest stations.

Why is this important?

Network Rail was formed in 2002 after the tragic failure of the privately-owned Railtrack plc, which was heavily criticised over several fatal train crashes in the late 1990s (particularly in Southall and Ladbroke Grove where 38 people lost their lives).

It was acknowledged at the time that profit-making had proven incompatible with the need to put the public’s safety first.

The Shaw Report, commissioned by the government and published in March 2016, recommended that passenger safety on tracks should not be handled by any private company.

Re-privatising Network Rail would be a disaster. Not only is it the unnecessary sell-off of yet another important public asset, but it is also the wilful return to the failed experiment that was Railtrack plc. It would lead to yet more fragmentation and confusion on our railways and result in rising costs for taxpayers and falling safety standards for passengers.

Petition Supported by:

• All on Board (Compass) http://www.allonboard.org.uk
• Bring Back British Rail http://www.bringbackbritishrail.org
• Campaign against Climate Change http://www.campaigncc.org
• Campaign for Better Transport http://www.bettertransport.org.uk
• The People's Assembly http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk
• Together For Transport (TSSA) http://www.togetherfortransport.org
• We Own It http://www.weownit.org.uk

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Updates

2016-12-05 17:46:35 +0000

10,000 signatures reached

2016-12-03 20:04:09 +0000

Petition is successful with 7,796 signatures

2016-03-21 17:12:37 +0000

Petition is successful with 7,579 signatures

2015-09-20 14:09:02 +0100

5,000 signatures reached

2015-06-02 17:53:24 +0100

1,000 signatures reached

2015-06-01 21:41:47 +0100

500 signatures reached

2015-06-01 19:04:10 +0100

100 signatures reached

2015-06-01 18:55:21 +0100

50 signatures reached

2015-06-01 18:50:54 +0100

25 signatures reached

2015-06-01 18:48:10 +0100

10 signatures reached