Are British Rail trains better than ever?

[Tangled up in Blue]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/15/nostalgia-british-rail-trains-better

Personally, (in my admittedly rather limited experience of UK post-privatistion rail travel), I don't think so.

I was interested to read that apprently 2/3 of the British public would like to see the railways renationalised.Hopefully this will be a Labour party manifesto commitment at the next election.

 

[MK Shrimper]

That article is the biggest load of Tory arse-licking crap I have ever read. What were The Guardian thinking? It'd been better in The Mail.

Nationalise it all now, and I speak as someone on the inside of an industry.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Well the rolling stock is undeniably better. Can't say I miss the old trains where you opened the door yourself by leaning out of the window!

 

[MK Shrimper]

Well the rolling stock is undeniably better. Can't say I miss the old trains where you opened the door yourself by leaning out of the window!

They were ancient then and would have been replaced if privatisation happened or not.

Oddly, the TOCs or NR don't own them - they're leased, mainly from foreign banks who actually own them.

 

[Jam_Man]

C2C is a great line. Reliable and good trains. Far better that it was 20 years ago.

How other lines fare (excuse the pun) I dont know.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Just paid £120 for return tickets for my son to go visit his grandparents in Yorkshire - bloody joke! Probably cheaper to fly!

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

That article is the biggest load of Tory arse-licking crap I have ever read. What were The Guardian thinking? It'd been better in The Mail.

Nationalise it all now, and I speak as someone on the inside of an industry.

It was of course written by Cameron's ex-speech writer (in the 2010 election).

I'm reminded of a character, in Ian Bank's excellent The Quarry, who is accused jokingly by her ex-Uni. friends to believe that "even The Guardian is a tad right-wing these days." :winking:

 

[Pubey]

Some lines are great. C2C, East Coast etc. Some are absolute garbage.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Just paid £120 for return tickets for my son to go visit his grandparents in Yorkshire - bloody joke! Probably cheaper to fly!

I'm liking your new profile image a lot of.:winking:

(Please excuse Spanglish).

 

[Neil_F]

Train travel is incredibly expensive. I don't see how nationalising it would make it any cheaper unless it was subsidised by the taxpayer. Given that the rail network predominantly serves the Home Counties commuters, the best paid people in the country, I don't see how a subsidy is going to be very popular.

 

[Uncle Leo]

They were ancient then and would have been replaced if privatisation happened or not.

Oddly, the TOCs or NR don't own them - they're leased, mainly from foreign banks who actually own them.

But that wasn't the question :winking:

Genuine questions - what have been the main failures of privatisation and what benefits would re-nationalisation bring?

Didn't know about the ownership of the stock - every day is a school day on ShrimperZone!

 

[MK Shrimper]

Train travel is incredibly expensive. I don't see how nationalising it would make it any cheaper unless it was subsidised by the taxpayer. Given that the rail network predominantly serves the Home Counties commuters, the best paid people in the country, I don't see how a subsidy is going to be very popular.

It already is. Virgin recieved £1.36 Bn from the taxpayer. NR recieves a load from the Government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19914219

 

[MK Shrimper]

Call me paranoid, but my thoughts on this are going to stay (sort of) private whilst on a works PC.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Call me paranoid, but my thoughts on this are going to stay (sort of) private whilst on a works PC.

Don't worry, your thoughts on practically everything else (all 31052 of them) will keep HR busy and you will probably have retired by the time they get to anything that denigrates your employer.....

 

[MK Shrimper]

Don't worry, your thoughts on practically everything else (all 31052 of them) will keep HR busy and you will probably have retired by the time they get to anything that denigrates your employer.....

Lets hope so MC. :thumbsup:

 

[Neil_F]

It already is. Virgin recieved £1.36 Bn from the taxpayer. NR recieves a load from the Government.

I know it already is subsidised. Outright nationalising would require a huge amount of taxpayer funded investment and working capital on top of that though.

 

[londonblue]

I know it already is subsidised. Outright nationalising would require a huge amount of taxpayer funded investment and working capital on top of that though.

The government could just use the money they're going to make from selling their shares in the banks instead of using that money as a tax bribe at the next general election...

 

[ldnfatso]

Some train services are much better (C2C) but some are still shambolic (Southeastern)! Whilst the rolling stock and infrastructure may have improved immensely on the whole, the problem remains with the staff and the Unions (RMT and ASLEF) who interfere behind the scenes. These scumbags claim to be there for Union members needs but are more of a hinderance to members by calling strike action that other members just can't afford to take. In my opinion staff who subject innocent customers to that kind of inconvenience don't deserve jobs.
I think that union's should not be allowed to threaten companies by using its sheer number of members against it, members also deserve better representation than this. Members pay fees to unions for representation and unions should be accountable to them too. They are not meant to be profit making organizations and I don't believe they should be allowed to just spunk cash on donations to political parties. This does not benefit members!

 

[MK Shrimper]

Some train services are much better (C2C) but some are still shambolic (Southeastern)! Whilst the rolling stock and infrastructure may have improved immensely on the whole, the problem remains with the staff and the Unions (RMT and ASLEF) who interfere behind the scenes. These scumbags claim to be there for Union members needs but are more of a hinderance to members by calling strike action that other members just can't afford to take. In my opinion staff who subject innocent customers to that kind of inconvenience don't deserve jobs.
I think that union's should not be allowed to threaten companies by using its sheer number of members against it, members also deserve better representation than this. Members pay fees to unions for representation and unions should be accountable to them too. They are not meant to be profit making organizations and I don't believe they should be allowed to just spunk cash on donations to political parties. This does not benefit members!

Way to completely and utterly miss the point. :thumbsup:

 

[Benfleet A1]

Way to completely and utterly miss the point. :thumbsup:

Then put him right then.