Current Affairs The Labour Party

[Rita_Poon]

Few salvo's fired about privatisation - rail, national grid, some energy companies, water.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

What are we looking for from our new state run rail wotsit?

 

[Charro]

What are we looking for from our new state run rail wotsit?

For it to work in a semi competent way.

 

[tsubaki]

What are we looking for from our new state run rail wotsit?

Ideally not to be state run.

 

[Moomin]

What are we looking for from our new state run rail wotsit?

To be run at a decent level and affordable.

Compared to other European countries our service is awful and over priced. Would love a service like they have in the Netherlands.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

What are we looking for from our new state run rail wotsit?

Thomas the Tank engine to return.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Good it needs it.
More or less all in government hands now anyway after the shambles of privatisation.

The first task is of nationalised railways, drive down ticket prices, hire more drivers and other rail staff. If you can turn a profit on the railways, then you can reinvest that into rail infrastructure to increase capacity. Although they could borrow money, markets are not opposed to borrowing if it's for infrastructure investment. The IMF said as much not too long ago. Hopefully undetermined point in near future this is the first step towards converting it into a worker-owned cooperative.

 

[Eggs]

What are we looking for from our new state run rail wotsit?

….my son works a few days each week in Manchester and the number of times he gets to the station early in the morning to be told his train is cancelled is extraordinary. Coming home, the train will often fly straight through his station because they are trying to make up time without an announcement meaning he he has to stay on to the next stop.

It’s an absolute shambles in the North. I think reliability would be a major expectation.

 

[orchard]

It’s not that straightforward - what they’ve announced is taking the operating companies under public control but leaving the firms who own the trains (called ROSCOs) in private hands.

The ROSCOs were always the most profitable bit of the privatised railway, so although this will save money vs the current mess it will not be as efficient as one organisation (whether a nationalised entity like BR or a company like SNCF or DB) would be.

That said, once you have a monopoly on the service it would allow them to bully the ROSCOs into giving up by charging them loads for every broken loo, ingested carriage or dirty train.

That's a generous extrapolation of possible policy, on the other-hand, it's also conceivable that we could end up subsidising most of the infrastructure whilst the operators extract profit, no?

 

[tsubaki]

That's a generous extrapolation of possible policy, on the other-hand, it's also conceivable that we could end up subsidising most of the infrastructure whilst the operators extract profit, no?

Subsidising the ROSCOs certainly, by controlling the rolling stock they’d potentially be able to influence the success of the new BR. That would work both ways too, mind.

I am a bit more hopeful now though as this proposal has properly wound up the IFS / Tufton Street / Guido mob, so it’s done something right already.

 

[edge]

What are we looking for from our new state run rail wotsit?

Common sense

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Common sense

I'm just curious what that actually means. Network Rail is already the government. The Office of Rail and Road is the government. So the government controls the track (infrastructure) and has a tight rein (or as tight as it wants) on the operating companies via the regulator. So what do we really expect to change?

 

[edge]

I'm just curious what that actually means. Network Rail is already the government. The Office of Rail and Road is the government. So the government controls the track (infrastructure) and has a tight rein (or as tight as it wants) on the operating companies via the regulator. So what do we really expect to change?

The whole system is disjointed, nobody knows what the next one is up to,
honestly mate other than keeping balance sheets in some order most of the people in charge haven't a clue.
Would be nice to have a bit of order and accountability at least.
Save millions not duplicating many different sections , clerical staff, managers, directors for a start.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The whole system is disjointed, nobody knows what the next one is up to,
honestly mate other than keeping balance sheets in some order most of the people in charge haven't a clue.
Would be nice to have a bit of order and accountability at least.
Save millions not duplicating many different sections , clerical staff, managers, directors for a start.

I suppose that's what I was hinting at earlier. It may well be the case that whomever is in charge at the moment is useless, but what seems less clear is where the experts will come from to replace them. It's hard to imagine they're sitting twiddling their thumbs waiting by the phone.

 

[Rita_Poon]

I suppose that's what I was hinting at earlier. It may well be the case that whomever is in charge at the moment is useless, but what seems less clear is where the experts will come from to replace them. It's hard to imagine they're sitting twiddling their thumbs waiting by the phone.

VIP lane?