Publicly owned rail is popular. But is it making the trains run on time?

On Wednesday 6 August, a power outage caused widespread disruption across the north-west of England's railway network. Passengers were stranded on platforms for hours, with some having to book hotels for the night. This incident, stemming from a short power cut at Network Rail's operating centre in Manchester, added to a challenging summer for train travellers. Repeated heatwaves required speed reductions, leading to delays and cancellations, and there were serious derailments near Lewes and Wickford.

Despite high cancellation rates and increased fares compared to previous decades, a YouGov poll suggests that almost two-thirds of the public support public ownership of rail services. However, nationalisation plans are still in their early stages, with only one railway service - South Western Railway - having been fully taken into public ownership under Labour.

South Western Railway saw an increase in cancellations in its first year of public ownership, but experts caution that it's too early to say whether nationalisation will meet public expectations or improve performance. South Western Railway's operator, Lord Hendy, claims that the service has seen a drop in cancellations due to staff shortages, while another operator, TransPennine Express, reported a decline in cancellations after introducing new trains and renegotiating with the drivers' union.

However, critics argue that these improvements may be due to other factors, such as the state of the infrastructure and weather conditions. Former regulator Stephen Glaister, now an emeritus professor, believes that a decade is needed to accurately assess the impact of nationalisation, as passenger numbers, infrastructure, and weather events all play a role in service performance.

The government maintains that publicly owned operators are performing better overall, but experts caution that attributing improvements to nationalisation alone is difficult.