Rising Railway Fares
Posted by Roger Godsiff, MP for Birmingham, Hall Green, at 08:08, Sun 22 May 2011:
The privatisation of the railways was one of the worst decisions ever made by a Government. Furthermore if the clock could be turned back to the 1960s before Dr. Beeching took his axe to the railways then I believe that any British Government, of whatever political colour, would jump at the chance of having the sort of coordinated and extensive rail network throughout the country that existed at that time rather than having to spend vast sums of money on building new lines.
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Posted by Merryn Fawssett, 14:11, Sun 22 May 2011: (Is this post abusive?) #
Absolutely! The hap-hazard state of English railways now is ridiculous.
Posted by Tahir Mahmood, 18:37, Sun 22 May 2011: (Is this post abusive?) #
Whats the bottom line in privatising any public body? yes PROFIT. who ends up paying? yes joe public!
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 11:35, Mon 23 May 2011: (Is this post abusive?) #
Privatisation has been a buzz word in the past and an election winner for the party. Does privatisation cut the wastage and inefficiancy that is found in the public sector? If it does, then who benefits? Of course it is the managers and consultants. Does privitisation encourage competition which may be beneficial to consumers? These are some of the issues that needs to be addressed. I can help in this and I do not need a single penny for my services, except my expences. I could carry out a proper research on for and against privitisation, why public sector is inefficient and how it could be made more efficient.
Posted by M K Parmar, 18:30, Mon 23 May 2011: (Is this post abusive?) #
One of the reasons obvious at the time to privatise railways was to cut power of the trade unions to hold the country at ransom with strikes at drop of hat (I am by no means advocating union bashing - just an observation). Privatisation has only escalated the cost with profits for the operating companies. The current economic plight of UK demands we reduce costs of travel by railway so people can afford to use them. But can the exchequer afford to buy back from the private sector now? A forced privatisation would discredit UK in the eyes of prospective future investors. It looks a no win situation as the operating companies are now holding UK at ransom.
Posted by Howard Hemmings, 10:31, Tue 24 May 2011: (Is this post abusive?) #
The Godsiff statement regarding Dr Beeching is true but he takes no account of the facts at the time the decision was made. People and industry had deserted the railways in favor of the car and lorry. To have kept all the lines open would have cost more over the last 50 years than it takes to rebuild the lines now.