Lord Prescott: Keep HS2 in public hands
Train services running on the planned north to south high-speed rail line should be kept in public ownership and not sold off, Lord Prescott has said.
The former Deputy Prime Minister - and ex-Transport Secretary - told the Express & Star that privatising services on HS2 would be better run in public hands.
Lord Prescott pointed to the East Coast Main Line route between London and Edinburgh which had been run publicly since 2009 and returned £1 billion in profits since nationalisation.
"The East Coast Main Line has shown that the state can run train services efficiently and effectively," Lord Prescott said.
"If we are going to invest billions of taxpayers' money into HS2 it is right that the profits go back to the Exchequer and not straight into the hands of hedge funds and banks that own the train companies."
The £50 billion high speed rail project is set to cut a 45-mile swathe through rural Staffordshire as it connects London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds
The government has also announced plans for HS3 - a quick train line connecting Manchester and Leeds expecting to cost £7 billion.
Lord Prescott said the scheme was identical to one proposed under the former Labour Government but was shelved after the 2010 election.
HS2 is expected to be kept in public hands but due to the £50 billion pricetag the Government could be tempted to sell it off to help Britain pay of its debts and lower the deficit.
It comes after a joint venture between Stagecoach and Virgin was awarded the franchise to run the East Coast mainline rail route.
The firms promised to invest £140 million in the route over eight years, and will pay the government £3.3bn for the contract.
The RMT union called the return of the franchise to the private sector 'a national disgrace'.
The consortium, named Inter City Railways, will take over the franchise in March 2015.
Its plans include 23 new services to and from London, and 3,100 extra seats for the morning peak time by 2020.
The previous operator of the rail line, National Express, ran into financial difficulties, forcing the government to take control of the franchise.
The government says it always intended to return the route to the private sector, but transport unions have been pushing for the franchise to remain in public ownership.
Also being sold odd by the government is Eurostar - the high-speed rail operator connecting London and Paris via the Channel Tunnel, which includes a fleet of 28 trains.
The sale is expected to raise around £300 million for the Treasury. Eurostar is owned by three countries. Britain holds a 40 per cent stake and French state-owned rail operator SNCF has a 55 per cent shareholding, while Belgian counterpart SNCB has five per cent.
