05-21-2021, 10:47 AM
But the ECML has been profitable and provided a good service under East Coast and LNER which the private sector has been unable to replicate, and it's happened twice now. Services have also significantly improved in Wales over the last few months now TfW Rail is directly operated by the Welsh government. You can't blame the staff or investment here as the staff is the same and the private sector franchises got more investment from Network Rail, the only thing that changed was the management structure and the introduction of the introduction of a supposed "profit motive". And let's not forget, East Coast managed it during the period with the least amount of investment into the ECML and with aging rolling stock that was only replaced when Virgin-Stagecoach came in. If it's the profit motive that's important in driving innovation and then all signs point to the state doing a better job at that as well as providing services.
And let's not get started on criticising Network Rail in this context shall we? Otherwise I'll bring Railtrack into the argument who are a prime example of how the private sector can fuck up managing critical infrastructure even while being tightly regulated. Hell, the ECML in particular has been a heavy focus of Network Rail in addressing the fuck ups by Railtrack.
You can't compare British Rail to the modern railway network. The state tried to wind down rail usage the entire time in contrast to embolden public transport since the franchise model was introduced. Let's not forget British Rail itself was sabotaged in its operation by Ernest Marples, in a textbook example of Tory cronyism might I add, which the franchises have not been. Hell, the state is spending more money on the railway now than they were before the Beeching cuts even when adjusted for inflation and it's been that case for decades at this point.
And let's not get started on criticising Network Rail in this context shall we? Otherwise I'll bring Railtrack into the argument who are a prime example of how the private sector can fuck up managing critical infrastructure even while being tightly regulated. Hell, the ECML in particular has been a heavy focus of Network Rail in addressing the fuck ups by Railtrack.
You can't compare British Rail to the modern railway network. The state tried to wind down rail usage the entire time in contrast to embolden public transport since the franchise model was introduced. Let's not forget British Rail itself was sabotaged in its operation by Ernest Marples, in a textbook example of Tory cronyism might I add, which the franchises have not been. Hell, the state is spending more money on the railway now than they were before the Beeching cuts even when adjusted for inflation and it's been that case for decades at this point.