Re:Why privatisation has been a costly failure in Britain
by willyt on Tuesday July 11, 2023 @01:12PM
(#36684004)
From the article linked below comparing the 1960s nationalised rail service to todays privatised service:
"When Dr Beeching wrote his 1963 report, half the UK rail network carried only 4% of the passenger traffic, a third of the passenger fleet was used less than 20 times a year, and the railway employed 475,000 staff. British Railways annual deficit was then £87 million, or £2.3 billion in today’s money.
Today’s rail network is more intensively utilised and employs about a quarter the number of people. Yet in 2018/19, operational funding (i.e., less HS2 and enhancements) cost the taxpayer £4.7 billion or twice that of Beeching’s highly inefficient railway"
Also on the busiest West Coast mainline route London-Glasgow most trains still take around 5 hours the same as in the 1970s but with less legroom, more uncomfortable seats and highly extortionate ticket prices.
"When Dr Beeching wrote his 1963 report, half the UK rail network carried only 4% of the passenger traffic, a third of the passenger fleet was used less than 20 times a year, and the railway employed 475,000 staff. British Railways annual deficit was then £87 million, or £2.3 billion in today’s money.
Today’s rail network is more intensively utilised and employs about a quarter the number of people. Yet in 2018/19, operational funding (i.e., less HS2 and enhancements) cost the taxpayer £4.7 billion or twice that of Beeching’s highly inefficient railway"
https://www.railengineer.co.uk/is-rail-affordable/
Also on the busiest West Coast mainline route London-Glasgow most trains still take around 5 hours the same as in the 1970s but with less legroom, more uncomfortable seats and highly extortionate ticket prices.