the railways

[cmonstanley]

never had this under british rail BBC News - London Midland rail franchise extended

[cmonstanley]

Network Rail has £28 Billion of debt. British Rail wasn't allowed any. Perhaps Mr Osborne should send an invoice to the Adam Smith Institute. busting your myth

[GEaston]

I'm not saying that rail in the UK is any good now, but I don't have rosy memories of happy customers prior either.

I see that you were happy when it was run by the state, but if it were up to you you would resurrect British Leyland....... As I recall you couldnt even admit they were rubbish. Produced garbage cars that were as poorly designed as they were badly engineered.

At least in my piece I said that it's bad now, and was bad before, and the issue is not ownership but management. On the ownership point there are only a few examples of where govt ownership makes sense. In rail I'm unsure which is best. If you look at state ownership of rail around the world you can see some spectacular examples of it going wrong - like in China for example. In other places it works - Singapore and Taiwan being a couple that spring to mind.

In England I think the UK rail system is massively overpriced for the service they deliver. That's probably the only point we'll ever agree on Stan

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Less

You should feel ashamed , you know very well that Jay can't think for himself, God alone knows why he joined UKIP but, there is no need to make him imagine he has his own opinion.

**** OFF

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by cmonstanley

your talking rubbish just before they privatized the railways they were in profit the tories spent billions of pounds raised by the railways in modernising the stock and railways.in fact some of eastern and other railways just painted over the British rail carriages and are still in use till this day.the eastern railway is nationalized now as the firm who run it failed.it has brought in £360 million for the taxpayer and spent 30 million for new stock.the same British Rail that received the lowest amount of subsidy in the whole of Europe but had more trains running at over 100MPH than any other country? And the same that delivered a profitable Intercity and NetworkSouthEast by 1994, without a pound needing to be paid out in performance-related season ticket pay-outs that year? And the same that achieved the highest-ever year of investment in recent decades for 1990/91 despite having a subsidy a fraction of what it is today? Do let us know why british rail was brought to a standstill when hadnt had a strike for ten yearsA lot of people fail to understand that just before privatisation BR was one of the most efficient railways in the world. By 1990 it has managed to improve itself to such an extent it was possibly the most efficient in Europe, and had massively reduced the burden on both the taxpayer and its own finances.

Its you who talks rubbish no government subsidised industry ever made a profit

[cmonstanley]

they subsidise the raIlways to a tune of 5 billion a year NOW!! then the companies give it to their shareholders. this is a reason they dont explain. labour or tories dont explain to the public.this adds to the deficit of the UK as it was an income and british rail workers and companies paid the proper tax not like the tax dodging outsource companies these days.the stock was also made in the uk thus keeping more money in the uk .this is proof the tories dont have the good of the country in their thoughts.it just ideology and cash for their hedge fund mates. there is a pressure group working on labour to change this.lets hope they listen.

[GEaston]

Not correct Stan. The infrastructure is all owned by Network Rail which is a not for profit company setup without shareholders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Rail

It runs the railway based on its financial needs alone, and no one makes a penny out of it. Under this structure the govt gets to order it about but doesn't have any direct liability (financial or otherwise).

The rail operators bid to run lines and pay the government for their franchises. As we saw on the East Coast if their projections or promised standards are not met they lose their franchise and the govt takes over.

[cmonstanley]

the railway companies do. network rail and rail track have paid billions to the private railway companies. is this best for the taxpayer? if any train is late even 2 minutes late they get compensation.Network Rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia so who funds network rail. do the rail companies pay network rail all the rolling stock they have are all ex British rail locomotives its been a massive waste of money.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by cmonstanley

the railway companies do. network rail and rail track have paid billions to the private railway companies. is this best for the taxpayer? if any train is late even 2 minutes late they get compensation.Network Rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia so who funds network rail. do the rail companies pay network rail all the rolling stock they have are all ex British rail locomotives its been a massive waste of money.

The biggest wasters of money were nationalised companies, over financed over manned lost making dinosaurs,

[cmonstanley]

Originally Posted by jaysay

The biggest wasters of money were nationalised companies, over financed over manned lost making dinosaurs,

dont think so jaysay utilities sold off for a pittance more than paid for themselves.all the money stayed in the country the correct tax was paid so the country was put first. the railways were affordable and more than paid for themselves. fact the uk government lost more than a billion pounds in revenue every year. how is that good for the country how was it over financed the uk has now the most expensive railways in the world.why/ because of pure greed you cant defend it,if your saying you want things done for the good of the country,you cant defend billions of lost revenue and billions of pounds leaving the country.

[cashman]

Oh he can defend it, Tory at heart.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by cmonstanley

dont think so jaysay utilities sold off for a pittance more than paid for themselves.all the money stayed in the country the correct tax was paid so the country was put first. the railways were affordable and more than paid for themselves. fact the uk government lost more than a billion pounds in revenue every year. how is that good for the country how was it over financed the uk has now the most expensive railways in the world.why/ because of pure greed you cant defend it,if your saying you want things done for the good of the country,you cant defend billions of lost revenue and billions of pounds leaving the country.

I can't defend thousands of workmen standing about with their finger up there arses being paid by a government owned failing industry

[cmonstanley]

yes the apt name of work men ,now you call them benefit scroungers yes the tories the party of high unemployment you cant defend that.all these myths created by the tories were all lies .they all paid their taxes bought houses contributed to the economy.now youve got these outsource companies who put people on zero hour contracts,dodge paying their tax yes thats contributing to society and the economy.you cant defend it.the quicker the country gets self sustainable the better.stop the money leaving britain,companies paying their tax,companies creating sustainable jobs so they can buy their own houses and give them a bit of pride instead of being walked all over by companies giving them zero hours ....

[cmonstanley]

east coast mainline has got a 94% customer service satisfaction the highest since records began , punctuality the best since records began,national express walked away from this franchise.there has been a 78% decrease in threats to staff because of less complaints the stock was 27 years old yes old British rail trains which were built in Britain in the north west solid stock. not the cheap new trains that are made abroad.it has a tenfold increase in meals sold.now the tories want to franchise it before the next election.its all about ideology not whats best for the British public.This proves there is no argument this is proof nationalisation works integrated system with network rail.

[cmonstanley]

it also is the most cost effective franchise ,it is 99% self sufficient ,it also has a million more train journeys.the tories are blinkered look at the state of northern rail.they are still using trains from the early nineties .the only solution is nationalisation.