OWNERSHIP OF LONDON OVERGROUND

That this House welcomes the extension and upgrade of the East London Line, now part of London Overground, which will play a vital role in the social and economic well-being of London and the South East; is deeply dismayed that this service will be operated by a private company LOROL, whose first priority is shareholders, not passengers and communities; believes that this arrangement will repeat the mistake of privatising the national rail network; notes that £1 billion has been spent on this upgrade and believes that every penny of taxpayer subsidy and fare revenue should be invested to improve services and not removed from the industry in shareholder dividends; and recognises that this would be best achieved by transferring LOROL services to London Underground, which is publicly-owned and publicly-accountable.