Member

Amendment 1 would also require the Secretary of State to be satisfied that appointing a public sector operator would result in service improvements. The Government would not be pursuing public ownership if we did not expect it to drive improvements, decrease costs by integrated management and improve revenues. This condition would have only one practical effect: it would create a new opportunity for train operators and their owning groups to bring spurious legal challenges against the Secretary of State, again prolonging their tenure and delaying the benefits of public ownership.