SOME people talk, a little cynically, you might feel, about “vested interests” — because, if you think about it, all interests are vested. Of course they are. And Aslef, as the union for train drivers for 142 years, has a vested interest in the success — now and in the future — of Britain’s railways.

We have always had such an interest, a vested interest, if you like, since we first came together in Leeds in 1880 to represent the aims and the aspirations of the locomotive engineers and firemen who shovelled the coal into the firebox on the footplate, in the halcyon days of steam trains that brought the countries, towns, cities, and villages of Britain ever closer to each other.

Transport — by river, canal, railway, and road — didn’t just help move people and goods around England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Better transport, and the economic and social benefits it brought in its wake, was what drove the industrial revolution in Britain.

That’s why we have always advocated the use of public rather than private, transport — and why we have always actively campaigned for more and better railway links.

Because we have always understood not only how the railway was at the heart of the first industrial revolution, but how it will help drive industry and all our communities in this 21st century too.

The railway can move people and goods around this country more effectively, more efficiently, more quickly and more cheaply than other modes of transport.

That’s why earlier this year we launched our Invest in Rail campaign to persuade politicians that investment in rail is not only economically beneficial but environmentally essential.

Because we understand how the railway can play a key role in the move by Britain to become a modern, sustainable and carbon-neutral economy fit for the 21st century and beyond.

Investment in rail is critical for meeting the commitments we made in November last year at Cop26 in Glasgow and for rebuilding the British economy post-pandemic — the Rail Industry Association has published data which shows that every £1 spent on rail generates £2.50 of income in the wider economy. It is crucial for any real “levelling up” between the different regions of Britain.
 
That’s why we have been making the case for the government to deliver the HS2 rail project that voters were promised and that this country deserves, building capacity to deal with the problems faced by the Manchester task force and completing the promised electrification projects to Wales and elsewhere.

Back in May at the launch of our campaign in a renovated, grade two listed Edwardian pump house at the People’s History Museum in Manchester, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire and Steve Rotherham, the mayor of the Liverpool City Region, at a meeting chaired by Julie Clegg, a Northern Trains driver and member of our Manchester Piccadilly branch, told activists, reps, councillors and journalists about the importance of investing in rail and bringing public transport back into the public sector.

Rotherham has proved the power and value of investment in rail with his new £80 million three-platform station at Headbolt Lane, Kirkby, for Merseyrail services as well as Northern Trains from Manchester and Wigan, creating jobs, and providing much better transport links, for a more deprived part of Merseyside.

The shadow transport secretary Lou Haigh appeared by video to endorse our campaign: “In the teeth of a cost-of-living crisis as well as the climate crisis, the need for faster, cheaper, greener, and more reliable public transport could not be more important.”

Burnham said it was essential to integrate bus and rail services and that “you can only integrate if you have got public control of the whole thing. Under all governments since the 1990s, privatisation has failed the travelling public.”

Rotherham added: “I have been a long-time advocate of renationalisation. This Tory lot are not going to do it because their friends are making huge amounts of money out of it.”

The lack of investment in rail over the last few decades has held Britain back. It’s time to invest and improve our rail infrastructure in every region.

Our campaign aims to challenge the Tory policy of quick fixes instead of strategic long-term solutions and deliver a proper, integrated rail network for Britain — because we know that better connected communities provide far more opportunities for work, education, social and cultural experiences.

We are also calling for more frequent rail services, accessible stations, a full programme of electrification and high-speed rail fit for the future. Yes, we have a vested interest in all this. But so does everyone in this country of ours.

Mick Whelan is chair of Labour Unions, the organisation that represents all those trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party and a member of Labour’s NEC, as well as general secretary of Aslef.