Name: Airlines and train companies could be nationalised to prevent them going bust, transport secretary says
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Airlines and train companies could be nationalised to prevent them going bust, transport secretary says 

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Airlines, rail and bus companies could be temporarily nationalised to protect them from the economic fallout from coronavirus, the Transport Secretary has suggested,Grant Shapps on Tuesday told MPs good companies "shouldn't be going bust" because of the unfolding health crisis.Possible responses included "on occasions organisations being run by the public sector", Mr Shapps said.Airlines&nbsp;have been severely impacted by the coronavirus outbreak which has forced&nbsp;airlines&nbsp;to cancel tens of thousands of flights, causing airports to also be hit.The bosses of Virgin Atlantic have told Boris Johnson that&nbsp;airlines&nbsp;will need up to £7.5bn in government aid, while the chief executive of&nbsp;British&nbsp;Airways&nbsp;said the crisis which is “more serious” for the&nbsp;airline&nbsp;industry than 9/11 and Sars.France on Tuesday said it was prepared to nationalise industry to protect it from the economic fallout of coronavirus.French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said: “I won’t hesitate to use all means available to protect big French companies.&nbsp;“That can be done by recapitalisation, that can be done by taking a stake, I can even use the term nationalisation if necessary.Mr Shapps pointed out nationalisation has already taken place for some rail companies, unrelated to coronavirus. In January the government announced Northern was to be taken into public ownership after the public had&nbsp;"lost trust in the north's rail network".Stephen Doughty, the Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, highlighted Mr Shapps' comments about supporting&nbsp;airlines, rail and bus companies, and said: "Does he accept that we're going to potentially have to put some of those into national ownership, perhaps for a temporary period?"The Labour MP also suggested the rules should be relaxed surrounding "bailouts" for municipal bus companies and others.Mr Shapps responded: "The principle should, as far as we can possibly make this work, be that people and individuals and companies are left in the same position when we come out of this."Although I have to say, I feel we will be in a somewhat changed world, a somewhat changed environment on the other side of this, but nonetheless good organisations shouldn't be going bust."It'll be hugely challenging and we will require a lot of different responses and mechanisms in order to get there, including on occasions organisations being run by the public sector, which he's already seen in the case of trains but for a completely different reason."Ten of the biggest losers (airlines)Airlines affected by CVThe Transport Secretary said the Government is "determined" to ensure companies are "left in as strong a position as possible" to ensure they can continue to operate after the virus outbreak.He said: "We will work in partnership with the transport industry to keep essential services running for the public and for those who need to get to work, those who have essential business."Mr Shapps also said the government wants to avoid running empty "ghost trains" but noted it may be desirable to keep as many services running as possible to help passengers follow guidance on social distancing.He said: "It makes no sense for us to be running empty trains as fewer people will be travelling following the advice and guidance from the Government and Prime Minister last night."So in the short, medium-term timetables may be altered in order to ensure we don't effectively run&nbsp;ghost&nbsp;trains, which will make no sense."Yvette Cooper, the former Labour pensions secretary, had questioned why train services would be reduced given so many are "crowded".She said: "Doesn't it make sense to keep many more of them running for those essential workers who still have to get to work, but to make sure there are far fewer people on them?"Mr Shapps replied: “Because of social distancing as well, it may well be desirable to have more space between seats so people can keep some distance, so yes, that absolutely needs to be taken into account as we look at the timetabling going forward."Related TopicsThe Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our.You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Find out more.Show commentsAdvertisementRelated TopicsWe rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.Thank you for your support.Need help?Visit ourpage.Close

Airlines, rail and bus companies could be temporarily nationalised to protect them from the economic fallout from coronavirus, the Transport Secretary has suggested,Grant Shapps on Tuesday told MPs good companies "shouldn't be going bust" because of the unfolding health crisis.Possible responses included "on occasions organisations being run by the public sector", Mr Shapps said.Airlines&nbsp;have been severely impacted by the coronavirus outbreak which has forced&nbsp;airlines&nbsp;to cancel tens of thousands of flights, causing airports to also be hit.The bosses of Virgin Atlantic have...

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Airlines and train companies could be nationalised to prevent them going bust, transport secretary says

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