Great British Railways

[naf1234]

The news of the reformation of the passenger railway system is obviously not 'new' news, with the Williams-Shapps "Plan for Rail" being published on the 20th of May this year. To paraphrase, this will see the end of franchising as we know it, with private companies being offered concessions on operating service, but with branding, tickets sales and timetabling at the control of the Department for Transport. As well as this, the plan also includes the disolution of Network Rail, and infrastructure responsiblities will lie in the hands of the new national brand "Great British Railways" (GBR), which will apparently use updated versions of British Rail's iconic "double arrow" symbol, which is widely and has been recognised as the symbol of the railways in Britain since its adoption in 1965.

Ultimately, one can say that this puts a much greater amount of responsibility on the government; a move that may prove either greatly beneficial or perhaps detrimental in time to come. Many people have described this as a step towards an end goal of complete re-nationalisation. However, some others have also argued that this is actually the way privatisation can succeed, with the concession system streamlining the problems that arise from the bidding system (companies overbidding, promising investment that cannot be fulfiled, etc...).

It's certainly an interesting proposal that has brought a variety of reactions both in terms of politics and railway enthusiasts, so I thought it would be interesting to see if anyone has any thoughts on this.

[electra]

Ultimately, one can say that this puts a much greater amount of responsibility on the government...

Not really. DfT have been micro-managing the system for some time, now; and have just demonstrated why government should be kept out of running public transport.

[klambert]

and have just demonstrated why government should be kept out of running public transport.

May I just ask, why the government should be kept out of running public transport?

[electra]

and have just demonstrated why government should be kept out of running public transport.

May I just ask, why the government should be kept out of running public transport?

Because, they've made such a hash of it; since DafT have been (micro-)managing things.

[Briggsy]

May I just ask, why the government should be kept out of running public transport?

Because they're generally clueless. Chris Grayling awarding a shipping contract to a company that didn't have any ships being a prime example.

[klambert]

The private sector hasn't exactly been doing a sterling job which prompted this round of quasi/sorta but kinda not nationalisation (if you can call it that). The previous system certainly hasn't fulfilled any of Majors prophecies of reduced subsidies through free market efficiencies or a more reliable train service.

Also before passenger numbers rising is quoted as being a success of privatisation, I put forward growing road traffic congestion's driving this rather than privatisation, as after all the average passenger doesn't care who runs the trains as long as they run, and that the growth in passengers is an international trend regardless of whether the system's nationalised or not.

[Briggsy]

I'm neither for or against privatisation or public ownership - both have their pro's and con's.

However, I'm sick of public money being used to subsidise and / or bail out so-called 'private' companies.

If something is privatised, then it should be fully privatised and paid for by the companies that choose to take them on - not contributed to by tax payers money.

If the tax payers are going to be paying towards something, then it should be fully nationalised again so that the tax payers also benefit from the profits.

It angers me that we supposedly cannot afford to give NHS staff better pay, fund our armed forces better, or give more than 20p a week increases in benefits for those that are genuinely ill or disabled - but we're able to contribute to private companies with CEO's earning ludicrous salaries and share holders getting substantial dividends.