Extracted from (£):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/10/14/nationalisation-proponent-john-mcdonnell-backs-private-rail/

The shadow chancellor, an ardent campaigner to nationalise the railways,
has been branded a “hypocrite” after publicly backing an ambitious £1.6bn
privatisation of train tracks and infrastructure.

John McDonnell said a groundbreaking proposal to privately fund and build
tracks between Heathrow and the South West “could be the solution”,
according to marketing material seen by the Telegraph.

The Heathrow Southern Railway (HSR) is one of five proposals under a
landmark initiative announced by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling earlier
this year. The Government is inviting private investors to develop specific
parts of the country’s rail network.

Backed by Baroness Valentine, the HSR would link Heathrow with fast trains
to Basingstoke, Reading and the Birmingham through a connection to the
future HS2 station at Old Oak Common. Journeys between Woking and Heathrow
could take just 16 minutes.

Labour’s 2017 manifesto had a pledge to bring all private rail companies
back under public ownership as franchises expired, a process that in some
circumstances could take more than 10 years. Mr McDonnell, however, said
last month the renationalisation could be usher through more quickly and
completed with five years.

However, in a bizarre endorsement of what would be the privatisation of
rail infrastructure – currently operated by publicly owned Network Rail –
Mr McDonnell was recently filmed at Westminster backing HSR’s proposals.

He said: “The lack of transport links [to Heathrow] results in large
numbers of people still coming in not by public transport but by car.
That’s not just passengers – it’s the huge workforce… What I’m interested
in is just the potential that there is for a solution to that problem and I
think this could be the solution.”

Conservative Huw Merriman, a member of the Commons transport committee,
said: “The shadow chancellor seeks to deny new private sector-led railways
for the many in the UK, while campaigning for it for the few who happen to
live in his backyard. This new low in political hypocrisy is made worse by
the shadow chancellor also opposing the aviation expansion at Heathrow,
which could make the difference in delivering his new rail project.”