Passenger Railway Services Bill (Public Ownership) Bill: Committee: Amendment 14
111Ayes
362Noes
Defeated · majority 251 · Government won173 did not vote
646 Members · Aye 111 · No 362 · DNV 173 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on Amendment 14 to the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill during its Committee stage on 3 September 2024. The amendment was defeated by 362 votes to 111. The bill, which transfers passenger rail services into public ownership, continued through committee without this modification. The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill is the legislative vehicle through which the government intends to bring private rail franchises back under state control. Amendments at Committee stage offer opponents and supporters the opportunity to alter the bill's detailed provisions before it proceeds further. The defeat of Amendment 14 means the bill advances in its existing form on whichever point this amendment addressed. The vote divided along clear party lines. All 315 Labour MPs and 37 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted backed the government by voting No. The 103 Conservative MPs who voted all supported the amendment, joined by all five Democratic Unionist Party members voting that day and four Reform UK MPs. The Scottish National Party had no votes recorded for this division. One independent voted Aye and seven voted No.
Voting Aye meant
Support Amendment 14 to the Public Ownership rail Bill — likely an attempt by opposition MPs to modify or restrict the Bill's approach to rail nationalisation
Voting No meant
Oppose Amendment 14, backing the Bill as drafted and rejecting changes to the government's rail nationalisation plans
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped No
0
315
46
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
103
0
13
Liberal Democrats
—
0
0
71
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped No
0
37
5
Independent
—
1
7
6
Scottish National Party
—
0
0
9
Reform UK
Whipped Aye
4
0
3
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
5
0
0
Green Party of England and Wales
—
0
0
4
Plaid Cymru
—
0
0
4
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
2
0
Your Party
—
0
2
0
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
0
0
1
Restore Britain
—
0
0
1
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
0
0
1
Ulster Unionist Party
—
0
0
1
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
Opposes the Bill's ideological approach; demands rigorous impact assessments, independent oversight of DOHL's capacity, financial monitoring of public operators, and independent pay review body to prevent union-driven wage inflation without productivity gains.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (4,878 words) →
Supports the Bill as correcting 30 years of privatisation damage; emphasizes billions in profits transferred abroad and that Labour has thoroughly developed the policy, rejecting claims of haste.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (231 words) →
Strongly supports public ownership but warns that DfT officials may obstruct implementation; urges fast prioritisation of worst-performing franchises first and seeks clarity on removing clause 2(3) loopholes.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,468 words) →
Neutral on ownership model; demands independent review of passenger experience impacts, ticketing system overhaul, and mechanisms for devolved local bodies to run services under GBR guidance.Liberal Democrats · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (1,476 words) →
Strongly supportive; defends public ownership against privatisation's dividend payouts to foreign governments; cites improved performance of DOHL-run services (LNER, TransPennine) and urges exploration of not-for-profit rolling stock financing.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,579 words) →
Supportive; emphasizes procurement reform and supply chain stability as critical for domestic rail manufacturing (Alstom Derby), requires detailed Government procurement strategy.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (764 words) →
Supportive of principle; proposes amendments to enable elected local bodies (combined authorities, councils) to own and operate companies bidding for franchises under GBR framework.Green Party · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (314 words) →
Defends the Bill and the recent ASLEF pay deal as delivering necessary reform; criticises previous Secretary of State's failed modernisation attempts.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,370 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0