A Better Railway for Britain: A Report by Bring Back British Rail
1st October 2016 | Evidence
Bring Back British Rail’s first report A Better Railway for Britain: Re-unifying our railways under public ownership is launched in the Houses of Parliament in London on 13 October 2016.
Print copies are available to order in advance for just £5 (including free delivery in the UK), with all proceeds supporting campaign materials and activities.
The Four Big Myths of Rail Privatisation
1st June 2015 | Evidence / News
Read this report from our friends at Action for Rail! It’s all the evidence you need that rail privatisation has failed to deliver what they promised it would in the ’90s:
• reduction in government subsidies (we now subsidise rail by nearly three times more than we did as British Rail)
• cheaper tickets (rail fares have risen by 24% in real terms since privatisation)
• innovation and investment (90% of the investment in the railways has come from public money)
Rail Privatisation: A Timeline of Failures
1st April 2015 | Evidence / News
A special edited and updated version of Rail Privatisation: A Timeline of Failures (below) – based on the design of British Rail’s 1979 ‘Go Direct by Inter-City‘ poster – features in A Better Railway for Britain: Bring Back British Rail’s first report, launched in October 2016.
—
Today marks 21 years since the enactment of the Railways Act (1993), on 1 April 1994, which unleashed rail privatisation on the poor unfortunate public. Since then, Britain’s privatised railways have been beset by a series of failures, scandals and fatal crashes, each at great expense to taxpayers.
19 September 1997 – A collision between two trains at Southall kills seven people and injures 139. A passenger train running at high speed with defective Automatic Warning System equipment, a fundamentally important safety system, passed a signal at ‘danger’ and collided with a freight train crossing its path. Great Western Trains was fined £1.5 million for violations of health and safety law relating to this accident.
1 December 1998 – A report by the National Audit Office into the flotation of the national railway infrastructure company, Railtrack, found that taxpayers lost £1.5 billion because of the government’s decision to ignore the Public Accounts Committee’s recommendation to sell its shares in stages, opting instead to sell them all at once.
5 October 1999 – A near head-on collision between two passenger trains at Ladbroke Grove, outside London Paddington station, kills 31 people and injures more than 52. A signal with a bad safety record was passed at ‘danger’. A poor standard of driver training by Thames Trains was cited as a major contributory factor.
17 October 2000 – A train running at high speed derails at Hatfield when a rail affected by rolling contact fatigue fractures under its wheels. Four passengers were killed and 70 were injured. The crash exposed the major stewardship shortcomings of the privatised Railtrack plc and the failings of the regulatory oversight of the company (principally, failure to ensure that it had a good knowledge of the condition of its assets) which ultimately triggered its partial renationalisation. Following the crash, Railtrack imposed more than 1,200 emergency speed restrictions across its network, since it did not have the knowledge to predict where rolling contact fatigue might hit next.
24 October 2000 – Connex loses its South Central franchise after a decision by the Strategic Rail Authority to re-let the franchise following criticism of Connex’s poor customer service and poor financial management.
7 October 2001 – In the face of severe financial difficulties, Railtrack plc is placed into railway administration by the Labour government’s Transport Secretary, Stephen Byers. This leads to an explosion of costs and a severe drop in performance. Railtrack was subsequently replaced by Network Rail.
10 May 2002 – A train derails at Potters Bar, killing seven people and injuring 76. A poorly maintained set of points was to blame, the maintenance of which was the responsibility of the private sector railway maintenance contractor Jarvis (who had tried to blame the accident on ‘sabotage’). Eight years later, Jarvis and Network Rail (having taken on Railtrack’s liabilities) were both charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Network Rail subsequently took track maintenance back in-house.
27 June 2003 – The Connex South Eastern franchise is terminated by the Strategic Rail Authority, citing the company’s poor performance and financial management.
15 December 2006 – GNER is stripped of its East Coast franchise by the Department for Transport, having fallen into financial difficulties and unable to meet the terms of its franchise.
13 November 2009 – National Express gives up the East Coast franchise (which it had taken over from GNER) owing to financial difficulties, having accumulated more than £1 billion of debt. The failure of this franchise deprived the Department for Transport of between £330 million and £380 million of revenue.
15 August 2012 – The Department for Transport announces FirstGroup plc as the winner of the InterCity West Coast franchise, prompting the incumbent franchise holder, Virgin, to seek a judicial review of the franchise decision.
3 October 2012 – The government announces the cancellation of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition after finding significant technical flaws in the bidding process, rescinding its decision to award the franchise to FirstGroup. The Public Accounts Committee found that civil servants had made “fundamental errors” in the way that the risks for each bid had been calculated, leading to the default surety required of bidders being too low. The government reimbursed the four bidders for all costs incurred; this amounted to £39.7 million, with a further £4.9 million paid to FirstGroup as reimbursement of their mobilisation costs. In the ensuing shambles, numerous incumbent franchise holders were directly awarded extensions to their franchises instead of opening them up to tender. So much for competition!
17 December 2014 – A report from the Public Accounts Committee is severely critical of the Department for Transport’s inept handling of the procurement of new trains for the Intercity Express Programme and Thameslink. The DfT had chosen to break away from previous procurement arrangements and carry out the procurement by itself, despite having no previous experience in this area.
3 April 2015 – The private train operator West Coast Railways has its operator’s licence suspended by Network Rail amid concerns over the company’s ability to perform its safety obligations. This action followed an incident on 7 March 2015, when a steam-hauled train operated by West Coast Railways passed a signal at ‘danger’ after the driver had switched off vital train protection systems, narrowly avoiding a collision with a passenger train running at 100 mph.
Is it anyone wonder we’re all shouting Bring Back British Rail?
Spread the word! Link to this post using www.bringbackbritishrail.org/timeline and read more compelling evidence for Public Ownership here: www.bringbackbritishrail.org/evidence
Towards Public Ownership
31st March 2015 | Evidence / News
This TUC Report summarises research by Transport for Quality of Life, to show the high costs of running rail franchise “competitions” – estimated at £45million for every single one!
Given that there are 11 of these unnecessary “competitions” scheduled to take place before the next parliament ends in 2020, the Report shows how much we could save by then if we chose to run these franchises under a single publicly-owned railway company instead. It’s more than £600million!
The Arguments for Public Ownership are Overwhelming
1st January 2015 | Evidence / News
There are so many reasons why privatised rail is failing us and the environment. Check out this brilliant leaflet, supported by Bring Back British Rail, which will be handed out at the nationwide Protests for Public Ownership on Monday 5 January 2015.
All on Board
30th May 2014 | Evidence / News
Our friends at Compass have today launched their All on Board report detailing a vision for a publicly owned railway that is efficient, affordable and good for the planet.
Echoing what Bring Back British Rail has being saying for the last five years, the All on Board report demands a publicly owned railway “that constantly improves, innovates and responds to passenger needs, because it is accountable to all of us.”
The Great Train Robbery
7th June 2013 | Evidence / News
Today sees the launch of The Great Train Robbery – a new report by the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) about the failings of rail privatisation in the UK.
It rightly describes the privatised rail system as “a serial shambles creating artificial profits for the franchise holders and hidden costs for the public.”
Together with the 2012 Rebuilding Rail report by Transport for Quality of Life, this provides yet more strong evidence for the Bring Back British Rail campaign that we need a re-unified national rail network run for people not profit.
The New Home Front II
3rd September 2012 | Evidence / News
Bring Back British Rail founder Ellie Harrison was invited to write a text on the public ownership of our railways for the Green Party’s The New Home Front II, which aims to look to the post-war period for lessons on how to tackle climate change now. Read the full text below.
Bring Back British Rail
It is essential to remind ourselves that transportation is not just a question of how an individual gets from A to B. It is a social question; an ethical question. For an outstanding public transport system (based on a fully integrated train, tram and bus network) offers the potential to help solve many of the problems we face – from climate change, to inequality and social unrest. Not only could it prove vital in reducing C02 emissions by supplanting many of the individual journeys made by car and plane, but it could also improve the living environment in our cities, offer us better air quality and assist with social cohesion, as people from all walks of life become accustomed to travelling together.
There is no better place to look for this reminder than post war Britain. It’s no coincidence that British Railways was inaugurated in 1948, the same year as our National Heath Service. Both were part of the Labour government’s revolution inspired and supported by the real sense of community engendered by the war effort, to ensure that government had control over the infrastructure it needed to provide the essential services that we all need to live happily and well (health care, transport, communications and fuel).
These huge initiatives were driven by a desire for moral success and progress, rather than financial. On opening the NHS, Nye Bevan declared that it made us ‘the moral leaders of the world’. Even in this stricken, bankrupt war torn country there was a clear future vision. The founding statement of our new publicly owned rail service proclaiming “Plans for modernisation and improvements are ready and are being carried into effect as materials become available. Difficulties will be overcome; the plan is to make British Railways the best in the world.”
Prior to British Railways, our trains were run by lots of privately owned companies. Although these had been responsible for building the foundations of the system as a means of facilitating the Industrial Revolution, they had left our country with a railway network that suffered from uneven regional investment and lacked an overall cohesive structure or long-term plan for development. This core public service had been left to the whim of private interest. And yet, since the misguided and opportunistic privatisation of our railways in 1993, we have allowed ourselves to retreat on the moral ambition of our ancestors and have been left with an expensive and dysfunctional public transport system as a result.
Think of the frustrations you have experienced buying tickets and travelling on our trains today and dare to imagine a radical policy – the creation of a fully integrated public transport system spanning the nation, run by proud employees as a service for the people. Imagine knowing that you could walk up and buy a ticket to go anywhere in the country at a fair price. Imagine a universal and comprehensive ‘National Rail Service’, providing the basic human need to travel to work and for leisure. How much less stressful would this be? How many more journeys would you choose to make by train?
The two commonly cited hurdles – public support for the idea and cost – are not in fact hurdles at all. The popularity of the Bring Back British Rail campaign (and others like it) shows that there is widespread dissatisfaction with the present system and a massive desire for a radical rethink of the way our railways are run. And there is clear evidence (in the recent Rebuilding Rail report and other influential / critical studies) that renationalising the system – removing the inefficiency and added bureaucracy caused by dividing it up into so many competing ‘franchises’, not to mention the private profits continually being leaked out – would actually save us billions each year. The only real challenge is convincing those in power that there are some things in life – some basic public services – which should remain ring fenced from the profiteers. We need to popularise the notion of nationalisation, so that it no longer a dirty word but rather plain common sense. Because this is the only way we can be sure that we – the people – have the control necessary to build that outstanding public transport system, which will make all our lives better in the future.
Ellie Harrison
Founder, Bring Back British Rail
www.bringbackbritishrail.org
www.facebook.com/bringbackbritishrail
Rebuilding Rail
2nd July 2012 | Evidence / News
Today sees the launch for the Rebuilding Rail report by Transport for Quality of Life.
The report highlights the “fragmentation and leakage of public money that characterise the UK’s privatised railways”, and lays out the all important realistic blueprint of how we could go about bringing them back into public ownership.
This is a brilliant key piece of evidence for the Bring Back British Rail campaign, clearly demonstrating the need for a re-unified national rail network run for people not profit.
Co-operative Rail: A Radical Solution
4th April 2011 | Evidence / News
Published today by Co-operatives UK the Co-operative Rail: A Radical Solution report examines the disasters of privatisation, in order to propose an alternative way of running the rail network.
“Harnessing the interests of passengers, staff and providers by opening up to co-operative business models for train and track.”
This is an interesting new vision for how our railways could run in the future, which would stop profits being siphoned off to shareholders and would be a damn-sign better than the mess we have now!
Bring Back British Rail
34 minutes ago
Waste of space letter in The Times! When are people like this former rail manager going to realise that the British public can see straight through all these examples and statistics they cite. The days of rail privatisation are well and truly numbered. ...
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google PlusShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
Wonder why he's against nationalisation!
Says the man responsible for Voyagers I think.
"Rail privatisation is fantastic" says man who's milked the system and made a killing out of it. Nothing to see here.
Yes Mr Gibb, with what's stuffed in your pockets, no wonder you think privatisation is "fantastic".
Never read such a load of bollocks in my life
He clearly has no need to use trains.
Hardly an unbiased view!
Never read such tripe!! #ChrisGibb
What a load of crap
Privatisation has seen profits diverted from investment in infrastructure and rolling stock, to share holders bank accounts, while commuters are left with an inefficient, over-priced service that's no longer fit for purpose. The only jobs that have been created have been at accountancy and PR firms as the likes of that grinning parasite Branson try and convince the public that privatisation is the way forward.
Biggest scam in history. 1940s ... Buy up all the railways and put them into public (taxpayer) ownership. 1980s sell the railways to the public (taxpayer) whom already owns them. Never mind, the City made a killing, selling off the shares!
The Railways started off as dangerous dodgy private enterprises - that's why they were nationalised in the first instance. But Tories like to under fund stuff and tell us it's not working then flog it off to their mates who then screw the great British public . Yes it's time for renationalisation and the profits put back into the public purse for the good of the people not the few with shares.
"Manager in private business approves of system that diverts billions of pounds of taxpayers' money towards private businesses" shocker.
Person who probably made a small fortune from the gravy train writes letter in support of gravy train shocker.
I agree with this contributor. I was a senior manager pre-privatisation, and post. I now travel on the Network in retirement. The standard of accommodation, service and staff is higher than pre-1995. It may be difficult to declare this in view of my past involvement, however it is true. Well done Virgin, and others. Sadly, we have too many dinosaurs and cave-dwellers voting for past standards.
Was he on something when writing that? Thought mind-altering drugs were illegal in the UK?
Take comfort in the fact it's Virgin Trains, so they won't have any offspring...
The 24000 on there looks like it has been photoshopped in.
To paraphrase Christine Keiler 'Well he would, wouldn't he'
As somebody else once said, "He would say that wouldn't he?"
Chris Gibb should crawl back under the stone he crawled out from.
Hes only talking from his own pocket!!
What utter nonsense!
Ha ha ha ha. Pure fantasy.
+ View previous comments
Bring Back British Rail
2 days ago
Great concern on Radio 4's 'You and Yours' re Ryanair delays and cancellations. Rail users suffer the same stress and unfairness EVERY SINGLE HOUR of EVERY SINGLE DAY. Why do BBC ignore their plight and the causes of this privatised shambles? ...
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google PlusShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
There is a slight, but important, difference: capacity. It's illegal for airlines to not provide a seat for all passengers on a flight. Therefore if you have 2 flights a day between, say, Edinburgh and Luton, each aeroplane having 300 seats and are 95% booked for the next 3 days, and you need to cancel one flight a day, you would only be able to accommodate 45 "cancelled" passengers on alternative flights over that period, compared to the 900 which were booked but cancelled. On trains, although it would be uncomfortable, you could (a) squeeze more passengers on as standing passengers, and (b) operate on a (slightly) fairer first-come-first-served basis. There are also (usually) infinitely more train departures than plane departures, and (usually) alternative routes which in the event of disruption are (usually) free to use on your existing ticket. Not the case with airlines.
Have to disagree with that statement. I've heard plenty rail related phone ins on Jeremy Vine's Radio 2 show in the last couple of years. I also recall reports on the Southern issues on the 6 o'clock news. Being selective I think!
I guess it happens with such alarming frequency to rail users that it's common knowledge, and is to be expected. It would make headline news if for once it didn't!!!
& why so little publicity for the real dangers of having 'one-man's operated trains too?
The answer is, THEY DON'T. ONE programme in response to a current news story. If you listened to radio 4 regularly you'd know that there are regular reports on the plight of British Rail travellers. I think you're blaming the wrong people and I urge you to avoid allowing knee jerk reactions to divert you from targeting your justifiable anger at the real culprits.
Point is airlines get away with most reasons for what delays them - weather, air traffic control issues etc. This Ryanair issue is quite unusual in so far it is both big and their fault.
Because ministers back the current franchise system, and the BBC tends to do what it's told by Government :-(
The difference being train companies are not leaving people stranded,if a train is cancelled,then another will follow yes it's not great,yes the train may well be packed,but there is no comparison to the 2 sorry
I believe this post to be inaccurate and misleading. Although some rail companies are guilty of sudden cancellations, many (or even most) are not.
As a general comment, could posters please provide evidence for comments about service delays etc. I'm not sure the cause (which I fully support) is helped by generalisations.
Slimey Viney is at it on Radio 2 this lunch time, as usual with the BBC its the stories they don't cover that should concern us more.
Because they don't give a shit and do what the government tells them to report Same as train operators they won't get the franchise unless they demonstrate what they want them to do Cut jobs You all get a vote then use it to elect a government that won't abuse tax payers money Enough said
Because Ryanair is not unionised to the same degree nor on the nationwide scale of the RMT/Aslef and the BBC support the current Govt who've made no secret of the fact that they are using DOO as a political lever to break the Transport unions - for political and economic gain
Probably because O'Leary talks a load of bollocks and everyone believes him.
Entirely agree. Today's miserable commute to Birmingham by Cross Country Trains was overcrowded and full of dangerously stacked luggage.
Rail journeys do not disrupt the glitterati from zipping off to their villa in Tuscany or the dordogne whereas ryanair problems do.
3 reasons: Bought By Conservatives? Biased Broadcasting Corporation. Ball-less Broadcasting Corporation.
A VERY Good Point!
Why rail privatisation wastes billions through lack of forward planning is that new trains become surplus after only a few years service.
Most of the delays on the railways (industrial action apart) are down to Network Rail infrastructure, and Network Rail is nationalised.
Because the BBC is run by Tories whose god is privatisation.
They don't.
+ View previous comments
Bring Back British Rail
1 week ago
We never stop fighting for you. Last night in Parliament one of our co-ordinators held a door open for Paul Maynard - Railways Minister - and then accosted him. ''The Railways get better and better everyday'' he said. ''That's not our experience'' we replied - ''and a majority of your own voters agree with us''. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Ministers just spent a week travelling around with a Rail Rover instead of listening to the advice from their civil servants? Might wake them up a bit! ...
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google PlusShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
It very much depends on which train company you use. Some regions I've had no problems (barring 'act of God' and tresspassers on the line), other times I plan my journey to actively avoid particular operators.
I have long felt that we would see a drastic improvement in Public Transport (rail and bus) if our Parliamentarians were obliged to carry out their duties for six months using ONLY public transport - but that they would be given NO notice of when the six months begin, but would still be obliged to make ALL journeys they had planned to make (probably by car or possibly air) by rail or bus during that time. Taxis would only be permitted for journeys from a railway station where no bus service existed at all.
What Paul Maynard should have gone on to say was "The Railways are getting better and better everyday for the Train Operating Companies and their shareholders who are making an absolute killing, and with our blessing". That is what he really meant, so again we have a Minister who is being very extremely economical with the truth. It's infuriating when towing the party line and political dogma is far more important than being honest - we all know the entire "Rail Network" is a broken shambles, and so does he. But hey, money talks.
Having worked in the industry both during BR and for various privatised franchises it would be great to see more politicians not only travelling by train but also talking to people like myself and my colleagues who have to explain to the travelling public why fares keep increasing while they are still in 35/40 year old trains, why booking offices are closing and stations becoming unstaffed, why Conductors are being phased out to leave one safety trained member of crew on a busy passenger service and why tens of thousands of pounds are being spent on "branding" while basic infrastructure is allowed to perish. That would be an interesting chat
Interestingly it was Roger Ford in Modern Railways some years ago who pointed out that "renationalisation" (or whatever you wish to call it) was possible at no cost if franchises are simply taken back on expiry. Somewhat belatedly the Labour party seem to have realised this. Presumably "Directly Operated Railways" as created to run the East Coast Franchise for some years still exists to take over such franchises? Comments awaited.
That's a bit insulting to civil servants! You'd do well to mind that may of these civil servants actually commute into and out of London daily by train. In other words, it's not a matter of ministers "listening to advice from their civil servants", but rather of ignoring it, mis-shaping it and steaming ahead with an anti-public transport agenda regardless.
Do you really think he doesn't know how shit the railways are ? The problem is if he did travel on it he couldn't ignore how bad they are and would have to sort it out,however if he doesn't know he can plead ignorance
british rail was a bloody joke, the unions spoilt it with their greed and self interest
It's not the civil servants who are to blame for this, it's ideology
The only thing the Government see in Privatisation is Money! & how much of it they can cram in their pockets! I am 125% behind Bring Back BR! As a 100% Public Transport System Should be Owned by the Public not by a load of Greedy Companies who put prices up when they feel like it!
They should have to use trains AND standard class only. That's the only way they'll ever find out what it's like for the average person. Even at the busiest time of day first class is always empty.
I'm not sure just traveling around would do it. He should be given tasks. Like get to bishop Auckland and back with in 2 hours. Try and bored a train out of leeds heading towards selby and hull between 15:30 & 18:30. Use TPE on any weekend between York and Manchester. Or try and board any TPE service out of Manchester stations at any time of the day. I could go on and on and on.
Nearly every time I travel on the railways, I feel frustrated about the unreliability of the trains. Yesterday I had a frustrating journey. It was supposed to be just over an hour and ended up being 2 and a half hours. Bring Back British Rail
A sensible idea but that's why it wont ever happen because they know this and to access and be seen first hand they'd have to invent a whole boatload of shite to explain away the issues and problems. So they stay away.
I wish they travel on our railways too and hopefully the enjoy it as much as i do. Just a shame GWR are replacing their Intercity 125 HST trains. Those HSTs have another couple of decades left in them.
Still can not trust a government to look after the railway. Tories did Beeching Labour implemented it, both have fucked us over since. Don't know what the answer is!
Don't hold your breath he probably wouldn't be seen dead out of first class and thats if he was forced to travel on a train.
That would require him to actually get off his arse and do something - which from what I can tell is never going to happen!
What's the difference between 1st Class and Standard Class other than the fares, different colour of upholstery on seats?
Another mantra-repeating drone. Do they deliberately act this moronic to their friends and family each day ?
Try the Bolton to Blackburn branch.
Morning rush hour into Manchester from Preston or Hebden Bridge or into London from anywhere on Southern. I've a good anecdote about the then chairman of trans pennine being interviewed with some scots politico on a train in 2010 and my comments
Give them the chance and the private companies would get rid of the rovers..the all line rover is one example.
Ministers listen? Impossible...
Take it back ...
+ View previous comments
Bring Back British Rail
1 week ago
Not that this is news to anyone supporting our campaign - but it would seem the failures of past privatisations are a revelation to Establishment bigwigs such as the Editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber. We will not say ''well we told you so''. Bit by bit, more and more people from all parts of the political spectrum are realising certain industries just aren't made for privatisation - this should be celebrated. Water, energy and RAIL are three of them! ...
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google PlusShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
Wow Lionel .... you really are an ace newshound ... sniffing out those hot stories after only 30 years
Well, I never, - who'd have thought it ???
No shit Sherlock. Only Executives and shareholders benefit from Privatisation. It's in the business model! Consumers pay more pro rata 100% of the time.
The Utility Companies, and the public transport companies, were all Nationalised at some point in their past. Government funding (IE taxpayers' money), was used to build them up, and create integrated and cohesive businesses. Having reached that point, they were sold off to profiteers. Did any of them, or the Government for that matter, thank us for our contribution to their development and success? Did they apologise to us for taking advantage of our contribution to what is now their gray train? No - as usual we foot the bill, they make extortionate profits.
All Rail, Bus, and Utilities should be Nationalised, and all the Profit channelled back into the Business, which, of course should be run like a business, not the shambles the way things were the last time. For example. The Gas Board. You ordered a new Gas Fridge or Cooker. A week or so later your door bell would ring, and there would be an engineer looking man, he is standing there clutching a yard length of Copper pipe, with a plastic bag attached containing a connection thing. At the kerb stands a very large van. "Oh good" you think, 'Are you ready to start work", you ask, "No mate, I'm just delivering the bits". A week later An other large van draws up. This time they have your brand new appliance, which after a cup of tea, they remove your old one and install your new one. "Are are you going to take the old one away"? "No mate not our job, we just do installations". So your old cooker sits in your Yard for another week, and after an irate phone call and a further week later, with a bit of luck, another large van calls, and you can finally say good by to the sorry rusting heap that could have gone weeks ago. That was the way things were done, as for Railways we still had Steam Trains. So when it happens, and it will, Lets hope things will be done in a businesslike manner. Also keep the profits in this country.
One of the many problems of a nationalised industry is greed. The idea of money being ploughed back into the economy for the greater good tends to end up as being used to quietly fund someone's private company.
The private equity companies who piled into water make even Souter and Branson look like philanthropists.
And why are we still subsidising the rail companies? Time the trough was emptied
I thought that 30 years ago when it was first promoted and advertised.
In other news, bear faeces found in woods!
As long as greed is part of the human psyche we shall have privatisation.
Was nationalized and they have been built up again on our money they will sell them off again at a loss until next time they need building up again
No surprises there then!
What do you expect?
The Financial Times is run by Rupert Murdoch. They support Conservative policy such as rail privatisation but fail to come to the point with how the money comes and go.
Billions of pounds are flooding out of the country every year to investors and owners abroad. That's why there is not enough money to pay a fair days wage.
Not in Scotland it's not.
+ View previous comments
Bring Back British Rail
2 weeks ago
HM Government have probably given up calculating how much public money has disappeared into the big black hole of rail privatisation since 1993. Shame we still have lots of platforms still too short for the trains serving them then! ...
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Google PlusShare on Linked InShare by Email
Comment on Facebook
*pray can no trolls comment telling us 'it's a BR train' or 'BR shortened platforms deliberately because they hated passengers and were trying to save money'. We've seen it all over the years. The new BR will not be the old BR, but modelled on SNCF as a British Railway for the future. And please don't tell us 'SNCF' is just as bad. Because it really isn't 😂
Trains being too long is never a problem on First Transpennine Express's overcrowded three-carriage, rip-off, vomit-soaked sardine can trains.
I traveled frequently to Castle Cary from Paddington in the summer of '70. Destination Kingswear! First stop Pewsey. The platform was so short, the train had to pull up TWICE. Ha!
Are there any slam door trains left in service? They've disappeared from all the lines I use, so the option of opening doors doesn't exist.
I fully agree with railway renationalisation, and am a staunch believer in it being both practically and morally right. But platform lengthening seems an incredibly low priority given the state of much more important infrastructure. In many cases it's not even possible, and where properly signposted, really isn't necessary. I think this is perhaps the sort of post which should be taken down as it really doesn't strengthen your cause much and rather reduces the credibility of your otherwise excellent platform (no pun intended).
It's a non-issue. There are plenty of stations with platforms which cannot be extended or which really don't need extending because of low usage. I agree with your cause and would love to see our railways nationalised, but you do come out with a load of hot air sometimes...
Is the BBBR definition of a troll anyone who disagrees with them or e exclusively for those that might know a bit about the subject?
To extend platforms for all stations where the train is longer would be a wasteful and absurd idea. You'd have to invest tens of thousands of pounds on stations which have a footfall of only 100s. The alternative is to shut the stations. How about we campaign for real investment of significant amounts of money in areas which offer significant benefit (such as completing the electrification programs that are promised on a regular basis but never delivered. Reopening of lines where a clear benefit has been demonstrated. Opening of new lines etc)
When I was a guard in late60s/70s we used to walk down the train to tell any passenger alighting at the next stop ( if short platform to move to the front 4/5carriages)no intercom in those days!of course if the do away with guards?
Try a 4 car Vomiter, well 3 as 1 is first class on Cross Country trains! If you're disabled and need a seat then don't bother! Or even a wheelchair user! Priority seats are able to be reserved by anyone, so if a disabled person needs it people can refuse to move. XCs answer, go find the TM! But if the train is rammed or you cannot walk through narrow carriages then good luck with that! Wheelchair spaces are always full of luggage and buggies, so wheelchair users can very rarely travel!
With the government driven increase in DCO/DOO services where the Driver alone is in charge of passenger door operation the hypothetical risks increase even further. There are also too many stations with low or uneven platforms with trains which have ridiculously large drops to the platform. Investment in the "modern railway" seems to swerve around such issues in the main
THE establishment both voted and managment do not want to change a thing if as in most Euro countries the spread of labour times is not rigged to school or baankers hours .manual workers shops and office worker start times are spread wider so we have longer peaks but fewer people ,,this does not just happen on the rails so less traffic jams,,,all this due to mass production and WAR TIME TABLES,it is up to ALL of us to demand a change.
But short platforms have always been a problem even when British Rail ran the service. As a school boy (some 30 years ago) I travelled to school by train and often it would be longer than Tooting Station platform.
Lots of people use to think that there was a lot wrong with BR but when it came to the privatisation structure, it's a disaster as it has created more red tape, increased subsidy and trains that are expensive, slow and overcrowded.
Yet they cannot afford to fund 60 miles of track to revitalise many villages and towns in Lincolnshire to stop them decaying further and open up the East Coast beaches to the rest of the population
And conversely ridiculously short and overcrowded trains running a long way between major cities that only occupy a fraction of the platform, e.g. Liverpool <> Newcastle
Some of the public money has probably ended up in a certain political parties coffers. The rest in extortionate saleries paid to overseas directors and dividends to overseas investors. On which, no tax has been paid into the UK, so starving the economy of all the money needed to balance the books.
Platforms too small because many were reduced to bus stops. Here in the N of England our trains are very often just buses on a wagon body and no more than two coaches long.
C2C is exactly the opposite. Our platforms have been extended to accommodate 12-coach trains, and the trains shrunk to 4 coaches, most of the time.
Well, what hope is there when this is one of our newest stations? www.carnostation.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/beauly-stn-platform.jpg
Keep the guard on the train 😊
Successive governments who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing 😞
The times I couldn't get off and had to bear going to the next station are uncountable
I got told off last night for sticking me head out of the window
And they think we're all too stupid to look out of the train first!!
+ View previous comments