Move to publicly-owned rail operator must not mean job losses, warns Labour

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Mr Bibby’s motion If we are serious about restarting our economy and meeting our net-zero goals, we need to show some real ambition for rail Neil Bibby, Scottish Labour Ahead of the vote, he said: “This vote is a chance for the SNP to stand with rail passengers and workers and show us what kind of a railway they want to deliver for Scotland. “The SNP must back this motion and agree to fix the problems piling up at ScotRail, or else the hopes we have for genuine public ownership will be over before it’s even began.” Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives said the emergency rail timetable, which was recently extended into February due to the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, should be scrapped ahead of many Scots returning to the office on Monday. But by doing so, we can ensure Scotland’s Railway remains sustainable into the future.” A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said new transport minister, Jenny Gilruth, “very much looks forward” to hearing from Scottish Labour on the future of ScotRail. “The new transport minister very much looks forward to listening to the Labour Party’s views on how we move Scotland’s railways forward into public ownership, for the benefit of the people of our country”.