Labour will pledge to renationalise the railways if elected, in what the party will call the “biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.” A Labour government would expect to transfer rail networks to public ownership within its first term by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into a new body as they expire, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh will say at a launch event on Thursday. The plan will nationalise the network “without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs”, the party will say. The Government’s own proposals for rail reform, published in a draft Bill in February, include the creation of a new public sector body named Great British Railways (GBR) to hold responsibility for rail infrastructure and awarding contracts to operate trains. But a Labour government would create a “unified, publicly owned, accountable and arm’s length” version of GBR led by rail experts rather than Whitehall, Ms Haigh will say. Labour also plans to establish a watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold GBR to account. Ms Haigh will say: “With Labour’s bold reforms, a publicly owned railway will be single-mindedly focused on delivering for passengers and will be held to account on delivering reliable, safe,...