The Austrian transport union Vida sees Britain's decision to return to nationalization after a failed experiment with rail privatization as a clear warning signal for all advocates of neoliberal privatization models in European rail transport. Vida chairman Roman Hebenstreit commented on a corresponding media report and pointed out the negative consequences of privatization in Great Britain, where the rail network was dismantled and privatized in the 1990s.
According to Hebenstreit, this led to underfunding of infrastructure, exploding ticket prices, numerous train cancellations, declining wages for employees, and safety-related deficiencies that resulted in serious accidents. He described British railway privatization as an "economic, safety-policy, and social disaster." The renationalization now underway, in which all railways are to be returned to state ownership within the next two years, demonstrates the final failure of this neoliberal experiment.
Hebenstreit emphasized that public rail transport represents a basic public need that cannot be left to the mechanisms of the market. The withdrawal of the state in Great Britain has not only caused social hardship, but also caused economic damage, as private operators repeatedly require state support. In light of voices in Austria calling for more competition on the railways, Hebenstreit urges that the British experience should be seen as a warning and that the railways should remain in public hands to ensure climate protection, mobility, and security of supply.
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