Businessglobal-economy
Publicly owned rail is popular. But is it making trains run on time?
Public ownership of passenger rail services has strong public backing, with polls showing nearly two-thirds of people in favor. However, a series of summer disruptions, power failures, and heatwave-related speed restrictions have highlighted ongoing reliability issues. While the Labour government is steadily bringing train services back into public hands, experts caution that it is too early to measure the true success of these structural changes. Early indicators, such as cancellation rates on recently nationalised lines, show that commuters have not yet experienced noticeable improvements.