Re: Rail re-nationalisation

One of the reasons you have such a comprehensive railway network in the first place is because of competition between rail companies when the lines were built.

Though in general I agree with you, transport in Britain is ridiculously expensive.

However I live on a line that takes 1 hour 40 minutes to travel the 90km to Sydney which while it is cheap is also ridiculous. No wonder 80% of commuters from this region use their car.

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

Joe, me old pal, me old beauty...

Surely instead of your surly comment you should be congratulating the government for exhibiting such grand socialist principles. Economic rationalists would have just let it fail and shut down.

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

Ah the lovely british rail of years gone bye - but first about UJ - he crows so much sometimes it gets stuck in his throat - what between that and eating too much he lives a very sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle!

in the early '70's I traveled from the south of england with my family of two kids a wife and two sedated ferrets. we needed to travel some 200 miles to the north changing somewhere in the middle. it was xmas time so train was packed and we couldn't afford first class [which would have been wonderful] half way through the journey my wife whispered - there's a trickle of water coming from the weaved basket that we had the ferrets in - one or both had decided to pee. she said 'do something' - on a crowded train and not a mop in site?? - I just ignored it as did everyone else - some moving passengers stepped into it others over it. finally we got off to change trains and continued unabated for the rest of our journey. the BR in those days were so accommodating!

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

Joe, me old pal, me old beauty

That is just not true. I was in the UK in either 1989 or 1988 (year of Lockerbie crash and London train crash) before the railways were privatised. For the journey from London to Folkestone I paid about 4 times the cost of the equivalent journey here (though it was quicker). Charing Cross station was filthy, the train was filthy with cans rolling along the aisle. A few years ago I travelled on a Virgin train from Macclesfield to London, it was still very expensive but the train was fast, clean and modern and even had reserved seating (my seat was not reserved).

It is a bit of a stretch blaming the government of what ever ilk for the high prices, it is endemic in your system.

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

I will excuse you of your ignorance, because you don't live here, but when the scumbag 'nasty party' privatised the railways, they insisted on the train companies paying a premium for that franchise, notwithstanding most franchises are losing money in any event. Strange to say, when LNER was nationalised a few years ago, it was actually making a profit again. However, the scumbag 'nasty party' then de-nationalised it and flogged it to Virgin and national express buses. They very recently handed back the franchise to the government because they were losing too much money. Strange isn't it, that under a 'nationalised' system, they make money, whereas the moment they privatise it again it manages to lose squillions!!!

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

The Tories massively starved BR of cash in the run-up to privatisation so it would be so bad the public wouldn't miss it.
An example of the idiocy of the Tories privatisation, this comes for the time of Railtrack but still is relevant today:
A length of track needs tamping over some points. Once upon a time BR would have done this with their own tamper. After privatisation, the work was subcontracted to company A. Unfortunately, A does not have any tampers, so they subcontract to company B. B doesn't have the special tamper needed for points, so they subcontract company C to do the work. I assume A, B, and C all want to make a profit, which works its way back to then Railtrack, now Network Rail - three lots of profit adding to the cost that would not have been part of the maintenance cost in BR's day.
Yet the government tell us private ownership is always the best for the taxpayer. Which conveniently overlooks the number of privatised businesses now owned by foreign governments.
As Elvis Costello once sang, When England was the whore of the World, Margaret was her madam, for Margaret, read John or Theresa as required.

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

No, Bruce is correct. Travel in the UK is nothing to do with getting passengers from A to B, it's all about raking in as much profit as possible whether it's a private company or national company. Nationalising the railways will make no difference to the passenger. As Bruce rightly says, it is endemic in our system to milk the public of every penny they have.

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

So explain to me why, some years ago the (nationalised) LNER were making a profit, whereas, Virgin and National Express managed to lose money hand over fist over the same rail routes???

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

No idea. I am not in 'the know' but I can promise you that when it is nationalised, the passengers will be no better off.

Re: Rail re-nationalisation

Well said Swim'

Impossible to disagree with that statement.