Why privatisation has been a costly failure in Britain

Re:Why privatisation has been a costly failure in Britain by samwillis on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @06:40AM (#36679064)

You've cherry picked two routes Birmingham/Manchester to London where there is choice, but for the majority of the country there isn't. From my town there is one train company that has exclusive use of the route, and its motivator is profit extraction, not quality of service and encouraging more people off the roads on to the trains.

Also comparing trains to cars and busses as a positive competition is missing the point that our roads are over capacity. Moving more people off of the roads onto the train networks should be a priority.

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Re:Why privatisation has been a costly failure in Britain by iso1631 on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @07:19AM (#36679384)

> and its motivator is profit extraction, not quality of service and encouraging more people off the roads on to the trains

Which station? Or which TOC?

> Also comparing trains to cars and busses as a positive competition is missing the point that our roads are over capacity

Which roads? I had no problems driving the kids to school this morning, never are. Well that time fro about 2 weeks a year that the cows cross the road at that time of day after milking which adds a few minutes onto the trip.

If you doubled the passenger mileage on rail, you would reduce passengers on the roads about 10%. Rail isn't going to be a fix for general capacity problems.

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Re:Why privatisation has been a costly failure in Britain by deepvibrations on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @08:21AM (#36679959)

I do feel you are using your own experience very anecdotally, I can tell you that a lot of the routes in wales are just one operator.

And also, your commute may be fine, but believe me, many cities in the UK are not... Edinburgh’s 41 per cent congestion level means a 30-minute journey will take 41 per cent longer than usual and I can tell you from personal experience that a lot of cities in the west-country are over capacity.

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