claimed that “a better, cheaper and more effective service for the commuter” beckoned. Rail fares: unions and Labour condemn 'staggering' increase Read more Fast forward 25 years, and commuters are facing average fare hikes of 3.4% – with season tickets jumping by 3.6%: the biggest increase since 2013. And this, in a county where workers have suffered the longest squeeze in wages in generations. While the cheapest single ticket to the capital will cost a British commuter 50p per mile, German passengers are paying just 19p a mile. According to TUC research, British passengers commuting from Chelmsford to London are shelling out 13% of their salary on travel; a French worker travelling from Étampes to Paris will see only 2% of their wage packet eaten up by the cost. And for so many Britons, their miserable lot is paying extortionate sums for an overcrowded commute, pressed against the bodies of other understandably grumpy passengers. Government plans to consider linking future price hikes to a lower level of inflation is a woefully inadequate response. Other wealthy nations manage to provide decent quality rail travel at an affordable price: but then, rather than flog this critical national service to profiteers, they’ve maintained them under public ownership. The government does allow state ownership of some rail and energy services – but only if they are foreign governments who are not accountable to British citizens. 'Weight is a lifelong struggle': your best comments today Read more The answer is to bring the rail franchises back under public control – as was successfully done with East Coast before it was idiotically sold off – as part of an integrated, modernised system. No more dividends for shareholders: all the money to be reinvested back into this critical service. This disastrous experiment sums up so many of the Tories’ woes. Their fundamentalist pro-market dogma keeps colliding with the lived experience of millions of people: from the terrible cuts to living standards which followed the financial crash, to the failed privatisation of the utilities. The miserable state of our railways is another reminder that the economic system has failed – and must be replaced. • Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Topics Rail fares First thoughts Transport policy Transport comment Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content Advertisement First thoughts Quick takes on big stories from Comment is free columnists Children are dying on our streets – May’s response is not good enough Gaby Hinsliff Conservative governments fail because they cut and cut, and for a long time we don’t notice. Then we feel the impact, writes Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff 3h 3h Children are dying on our streets – May’s response is not good enough May’s Brexit bung to the north is pathetic. It changes nothing Simon Jenkins The £1.6bn the PM has promised to secure Labour support for her deal is no match for years of systematic neglect, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins 1d 1d May’s Brexit bung to the north is pathetic. It changes nothing There is no magic ‘stop Brexit’ button for Labour. There never has been Owen Jones There are simply not enough Labour MPs in leave areas who are willing pass the Kyle-Wilson amendment and trigger another referendum, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones 4d 4d There is no magic ‘stop Brexit’ button for Labour. There never has been The fight for EU citizens’ rights could become another Windrush Polly Toynbee The Tory MP Alberto Costa wants to secure post-Brexit rights. But nothing is certain in the face of a hostile Home Office, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee 5d 5d The fight for EU citizens’ rights could become another Windrush View all comments > comments (752)Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion. Guardian Pick The taxpayer is already subsidising the rail system to a large degree. Privatisation hasn't got rid of that, which is one reason it's failed. Jump to comment SnowyJohn 2 Jan 2018 196 197 Guardian Pick East Coast wasn't "sold off" and would generate money under any ownership. Ending dividends for shareholders would not necessarily release any of the 3 percent margin as it would also remove incentives to maximize revenue (eg by encouraging off peak usage). This "disastrous experiment" is a victim of its own success, doubling passenger numbers after years of stagnation. British Rail used to solve overcrowding by increasing fares. Just because a p… Jump to comment Mick James 2 Jan 2018 46 47 Guardian Pick In Northern Ireland, the NI Railways network is still publicly owned by Translink. To get A day return from Belfast to Derry at the station it costs £18.50. This is a 2 hour journey and the longest journey possible on the NI rail network. (It’s as little as £12.50 if prebooked online with a railcard) On the other hand An equivalent length 2 hour journey in England going from London to Liverpool today would cost you £85 for just a single ticket. Jump to comment Ernekid 2 Jan 2018 91 92 Guardian Pick For the tories, the free market has become such an ideological nirvana that they keep throwing money at it to make it work. Whatever your politics, that's both amazing and stupid (and, in fairness, many grassroots tories afaict are just as appalled). Jump to comment tomandlu 2 Jan 2018 162 163 Order by oldest newest oldest recommendations Show 25 25 50 100 All Threads collapsed collapsed expanded unthreaded 1 2 3 4 … next Loading comments… Trouble loading? Plataea 2 Jan 2018 12:13 187 188 The Tories buy their cognitive dissonace by the truck load - you can wheel out the evidence till the cows come home - won't make a blind bit of difference - they don't giove a stuff.Tories: shafting british peasants & serfs since the 18th century. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report fishplate Plataea 2 Jan 2018 13:27 32 33 Serfdom was long gone (in England and Wales at least) by the 18th century. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Watered fishplate 2 Jan 2018 13:31 78 79 I disagree.Serfing is still very popular on the south coast. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report RDUK123 Plataea 2 Jan 2018 13:37 25 26 What evidence has been wheeled out in this article? That its possible for a country to reduce its rail fares by throwing money at the system to subsidise it, like Germany? I travel by rail a lot, my biggest annoyance is the poor mobile signal whilst travelling. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 6 more replies tomandlu 2 Jan 2018 12:14 Guardian Pick 162 163 For the tories, the free market has become such an ideological nirvana that they keep throwing money at it to make it work. Whatever your politics, that's both amazing and stupid (and, in fairness, many grassroots tories afaict are just as appalled). Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Unpick Report TragicomedyBeholder tomandlu 2 Jan 2018 13:40 32 33 Whatever your politics, that's both amazing and stupid That may be the natural reaction, but it’s the wrong reaction. In actual fact, everything is going exactly according to plan – for the plutonomy that is. For the rest of us, the commuting precariat, it is another case of like it or lump it. Just as worker insecurity helps the economy to grow and satisfies the needs of the 1 percent, so too inefficient and expensive railways. Why should they change a systems that is working perfectly……. for them? Of course, we can expect some lip service, the usual pledges, and perhaps the odd patch-up job or gimmick here and there, but that will be about it. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were now to argue a case for total privatisation of the railways in order to encourage competition and produce competitive prices. That would be the logical conclusion within fundamentalist free-market dogma. Then, whatever the outcome, there would be no one to blame since the free market sets its own rules and prices. End of story. Government absolved of all future responsibility. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Simon Cohen tomandlu 2 Jan 2018 13:42 76 77 'and, in fairness, many grassroots tories afaict are just as appalled' Yes but they still keep voting for them which is why we have a rigid 40% support for these incompetents. The problem is, the public have been conned for the last 40 years that 'there's no money' and Britain will go bankrupt and we'll be like Weimar Germany/Zimbabwe/Venezuela (take your pick of the unfounded cliches). When will the British wake up to the fact that we're in the fifth decade of a dreadful experiment involving the financial industry catheterising whole populations levaing people staggering around with massive debt, poor quality jobs and atrocious infrastructure and lack of public services? There is NO shortage of money because the Goverment issues the currency just as it did when we had QE. There is also no chance of inflation from this spending because we are operating well under capacity and have massive levels of uderemployment and ropey jobs combined with private debt of nearly 2 trillion. Get the financialised industry off our backs-they do nothing but 'shuffle wealth' around a limited circuit. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Mauvegrail tomandlu 2 Jan 2018 14:04 20 21 The ideological nirvana that you talk about is (excepting the content) identical to the reverence shown by Americans for their constitution and Muslims for the Koran. Nothing is allowed to change because it is the received wisdom from an earlier age. The franchises given to these groups or individuals are virtually the same as the monopolies bestowed by royalty in the past. They are a licence to print money. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 2 more replies Mongost 2 Jan 2018 12:14 112 113 Fast forward 25 years, and commuters are facing average fare hikes of 3.4% – with season tickets jumping by 3.6% It's the government that sets the annual increase in regulated fares. German passengers are paying just 19p a mile German taxpayers pay EUR 17b a year for Germany's railways. Our taxpayers pay GBP 5b a year. The answer is to bring the rail franchises back under public control How would that make the government change their policy on annual regulated fare increases? It isn't at all clear. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Wally Mooney Mongost 2 Jan 2018 13:34 62 63 Our taxpayers pay GBP 5b a year. That’s not really the case though. The government is the origin of it’s own currency and neither taxation nor borrowing are required to finance government spending in sterling. The act of government spending creates the money which is then later partially removed via taxation. So the UK government does not ever have to worry about how to ‘pay for’ things in terms of pounds and pennies. The actual limitation is whether or not the UK has enough real resources (human skills and non-human materials, energy, steel, concrete, water, land, machines etc.) to achieve its policy objectives.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/warren-mosler/taxes-for-revenue-are-obs_b_542134.html Any shortages of funding for public transport, the NHS, social housing etc is purely an ideological choice of those that govern us. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report matt h Wally Mooney 2 Jan 2018 14:29 52 53 Wally by name - wally by nature. The government can print all the money it wants - as it does so it loses its value. The government can issue bonds this is technically a loan from people who buy the bonds. But alas these need paying back with interest.Then there is good old spending within your means.... Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Gcorbs Wally Mooney 2 Jan 2018 14:29 This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs. Show 8 more replies Roger ERRINGTON 2 Jan 2018 12:15 132 133 Spot on! Rail privatisation was one step too far even for Thatcher. It was an early example of a weak PM (Major) caving in to the Tory far right. An unmitigated disaster - like the vast majority of private sell-offs. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report TheGribbler Roger ERRINGTON 2 Jan 2018 13:42 38 39 An unmitigated disaster which a study by Imperial College London estimates has saved 150 lives in improved safety. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report towel TheGribbler 2 Jan 2018 13:49 64 65 How did privatisation in itself improve safety? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report TheGribbler towel 2 Jan 2018 13:52 45 46 Investment. It's increased ninefold since privatisation. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 4 more replies feeling 2 Jan 2018 12:16 70 71 The answer is to bring the rail franchises back under public control No, sack the greedy drivers on their £80,000 salaries and track staff on £800 a day and let the market decide how much staff get paid - Pay them the same as bus drivers - £25,000 a year max. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Redblair feeling 2 Jan 2018 13:28 159 160 Yes mate, it's the workers' fault... Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Norsked feeling 2 Jan 2018 13:29 90 91 Why don't you think anyone should earn more than £25k a year? I assume you believe no-one should earn more than that and aren't just singling out train drivers, because the latter would be ridiculous... Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report excathedra feeling 2 Jan 2018 13:31 89 90 Another example of when you haven't a clue just lie and hope dome of it sticks. Here's a truth for you. Brian Souter, who used a variety of unpleasant tactics to establish his business in the first place, took out £400 million as dividends ensuring that he paid very little tax on a business that he shouldn't own, hasn't built up and makes money on the backs of very poorly paid workers. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 13 more replies shangani 2 Jan 2018 12:16 38 39 No it doesn't...why should people who never use a train subsidise people who do...I don't expect people who use a train to subsidise me driving a car. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Nepthsolem shangani 2 Jan 2018 13:29 136 137 why should people who never use a train subsidise people who do Because that's how infrastructure works in society. I don't expect people who use a train to subsidise me driving a car. Yet that is exactly what happens. The roads you drive on, the lights that light them and the people who repair them are paid for out of general taxation. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report fishworld shangani 2 Jan 2018 13:29 83 84 But you do expect there to be a non-toll-based road network, right? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report WelshPaul shangani 2 Jan 2018 13:30 104 105 Why should people who don't have children subsidise those who do? Why do I have to pay council tax to the fire brigade when my home has never burned down? Taxation doesn't work that way. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 31 more replies Mick James 2 Jan 2018 12:20 Guardian Pick 46 47 East Coast wasn't "sold off" and would generate money under any ownership. Ending dividends for shareholders would not necessarily release any of the 3 percent margin as it would also remove incentives to maximize revenue (eg by encouraging off peak usage). This "disastrous experiment" is a victim of its own success, doubling passenger numbers after years of stagnation. British Rail used to solve overcrowding by increasing fares. Just because a privatised rail system has problems Durant mean they will go away if it is nationalised. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Unpick Report LeftOrRightSameShite Mick James 2 Jan 2018 14:46 38 39 Ending dividends for shareholders would not necessarily release any of the 3 percent margin as it would also remove incentives to maximize revenue Interesting you write "would not necessarily" release the 3% margin yet are much more certain when you write "it would" remove revenue incentives. Pull your trousers up chap...your ideology is showing. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Paul1977 2 Jan 2018 12:25 21 22 The way to properly deal with this is to end the current franchise system that replaces a public monopoly with several private ones. OK is wrong to claim this as an example of the free market gone wrong as there is no free market here. In fact the best way to solve this problem is to create some genuine competition between the TOCs - it is competition that drives down prices and drives up standards, not mere private ownership. The current franchise system should be ripped up and something that creates genuine competition to replace it. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Paul1977 Paul1977 2 Jan 2018 12:26 0 1 OK should read OJ (Owen Jones!) Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report SnowyJohn Paul1977 2 Jan 2018 13:29 31 32 I think this was always the fundamental problem with rail privatisation: privatisation only leads to improvements if there is genuine competition, and the franchise system for rail doesn't really produce that. Rather than "privatisation", we should really call it what it is: a modern day form of selling monopolies. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report treebranches Paul1977 2 Jan 2018 13:33 9 10 The current franchise system should be ripped up and something that creates genuine competition to replace it. How could such a system work? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 11 more replies andrew ward 2 Jan 2018 12:26 202 203 Owen, you might not fully grasp this, but it's the taxpayer (not that magic money tree again) who ends up paying for those wonderful cheaper rail fares in Germany, France etc etc. So do you actually support cross subsidisation of the commuter rail network by people who may never use it - or perhaps due to geographical location, can never use it? If so I think you should set that case out here rather than come out with meaningless propagandist nonsense about rail fares being a failure of 'pro market dogma'. (I appreciate that such an approach involves some real mental effort rather than a simple 'cut and paste' - not great with a New Year's hangover.. ) You end with that ringing phrase - 'the economic system has failed - and must be replaced'. With what exactly??? If you could offer one example - yes, just one - of a centrally planned socialist economy anywhere in the world that has worked better than our own 'failed' free market system you might be taken a little more seriously. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Redblair andrew ward 2 Jan 2018 13:29 68 69 Any of the Scandinavian countries? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report DiBosco andrew ward 2 Jan 2018 13:32 151 152 That's right, ignore how the shareholders get paid and the rail companies still get subsidies. Tory and rail shareholder are we? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report SnowyJohn andrew ward 2 Jan 2018 13:33 Guardian Pick 196 197 The taxpayer is already subsidising the rail system to a large degree. Privatisation hasn't got rid of that, which is one reason it's failed. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Unpick Report Show 18 more replies dunn31 2 Jan 2018 12:27 19 20 According to a comprehensive survey carried out in 2012 our rail services are above the European average for cost efficiency.The cost for train drivers was 40% higher in the UK then the European average.This suggests that the existing system is extremely efficient given that its cost per mile good and it salaries high.If the article by Mr Jones is accurate all that needs to happen is for everyone to pay more tax so that rail fares can have a greater subsidy. I think he forgot to mention that was the case in the examples he was quoting. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report DiBosco dunn31 2 Jan 2018 13:30 5 6 Source please. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report RDUK123 dunn31 2 Jan 2018 13:31 21 22 Correct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_subsidies#Europe According to this, Germany subsidises its rail by 17 Billion Euro, the UK by 4.4 Billion Euro. German passengers are being massively subsided at the expense of people who never use the system. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Kingkerouac dunn31 2 Jan 2018 13:31 14 15 How much more was the cost of executives?And how many more of them?Train drivers should be paid decently - they do the work.Executives. Well what do they do to deserve their huge wages? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 3 more replies PrakashShah 2 Jan 2018 13:25 5 6 Outsource it to Uber. We can all limousine to work like Grayling. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report fishplate 2 Jan 2018 13:25 5 6 Other wealthy nations manage to provide decent quality rail travel at an affordable price: but then, rather than flog this critical national service to profiteers, they’ve maintained them under public ownership. Are Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Canada - to take some examples of places where commuter services are operated by contractors - not "wealthy nations"? Anyway, if the trains get any busier, no-one will use them. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Giuseppa_Acciaio fishplate 2 Jan 2018 13:43 8 9 "operated by contractors" doesn't equate to "privatised": in Germany for example the railways are owned by Deutsche Bahn (which has the State as its only shareholder) and operated by Deutsche Bahn and other companies. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report fishplate Giuseppa_Acciaio 2 Jan 2018 14:03 7 8 You mean like in Great Britain, where the railways are owned by Network Rail (which has the state as its only shareholder) and services are operated various companies? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report greenwichite 2 Jan 2018 13:25 19 20 Brilliantly written piece from OJ. Not a word wasted. Re-nationalise the railways. It's a winning policy for Labour. They can privatise the motorways to keep the Blairites happy, with French-style tolls. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report zippymosquito 2 Jan 2018 13:26 4 5 I don't think people would mind quite so much if the trains regularly appeared on time (or ran at all, for that matter) - and you had some chance of getting a seat. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Dufftime75 zippymosquito 2 Jan 2018 13:36 3 4 Well this is it isn't it? They've lowered our expectations so much we're grateful for scraps. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Ernekid 2 Jan 2018 13:26 Guardian Pick 91 92 In Northern Ireland, the NI Railways network is still publicly owned by Translink. To get A day return from Belfast to Derry at the station it costs £18.50. This is a 2 hour journey and the longest journey possible on the NI rail network. (It’s as little as £12.50 if prebooked online with a railcard) On the other hand An equivalent length 2 hour journey in England going from London to Liverpool today would cost you £85 for just a single ticket. Nationalised railways exist in the UK and they work. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Unpick Report fishplate Ernekid 2 Jan 2018 13:41 27 28 Belfast Central - Londonderry Waterside 151 km, 2 h 02 min on little diesel trains.London Euston - Liverpool Lime Street 312 km 2 h 12 min on intercity electric trains. If you are willing to travel this evening rather than now, you can do it for £33. The NI network was in such a state a few years ago, and ridership was so low, that there was serious talk of just giving up and abandoning it (although the Republic might have been willing to take over Dublin - Belfast at least). Instead the government agreed to throw buckets full of money at it. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report FTRH Ernekid 2 Jan 2018 15:12 4 5 Belfast to Londonderry 71 miles if you care to deal in facts! Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report SteveYates Ernekid 2 Jan 2018 15:18 18 19 Strangely, the value of a train journey is in the distance, not the time. If the Belfast - Derry journey took four hours, your analysis would suggest you'd happily pay twice as much for it, despite it being obviously worse. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Nepthsolem 2 Jan 2018 13:27 85 86 While the cheapest single ticket to the capital will cost a British commuter 50p per mile, German passengers are paying just 19p a mile The solution is simple then. Pretend to be German when you buy your ticket. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Frenske Nepthsolem 2 Jan 2018 14:55 24 25 Gutday, Ich want a ticket von Cambridge to London mit Deutsche discount. Klop. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report rustyowl 2 Jan 2018 13:27 7 8 No misery related to all the strikes? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report marziPANIC 2 Jan 2018 13:28 89 90 Those of us old enough to recall British Rail respectfully disagree Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Trumbledon marziPANIC 2 Jan 2018 13:32 36 37 The thing is that Owen isn't, really. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report odstjackson marziPANIC 2 Jan 2018 13:32 5 6 As a 30 something, I only know the privatized version, My parents hate both. Some new paradigm altogether is apparently needed. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Nepthsolem marziPANIC 2 Jan 2018 13:33 57 58 British Rail meant vast amounts of public money pumped into a system of late, dirty trains. Post-BR, we now have vast amounts of public money pumped into a system of late, dirty trains only with private companies managing to profit from it. Progress! Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 15 more replies jjsalmo 2 Jan 2018 13:28 46 47 Owen appears to have only one solution to all problems, namely 'Nationalisation'.Rather than those that use the service being responsible, he suggests that the general taxpayer, many who do not use the train would subsidise those that do.The other issue he fails to mention, is that the least efficient element and cause of much of the delays etc is already nationalised. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report ID4469239 jjsalmo 2 Jan 2018 13:44 25 26 Why do we pay the nationalised French companies to run our transport and subsidise French passengers from our fares ? Why should I have to subsidise those people deluded enough to think that Trident provides some sort of defence to me and my family. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report jjsalmo ID4469239 2 Jan 2018 13:59 8 9 You shouldn't, no argument there, but going back to the days of BR will achieve nothing. There needs to be greater genuine competition coupled with real sanctions for non-delivery. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Kingkerouac 2 Jan 2018 13:30 13 14 Everything Thatcher dogmatised, electric, gas, rail travel, football, poll-tax/rates has shot up in price when 'choice' was supposed to reduce prices. What happened? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report YEverKnot Kingkerouac 2 Jan 2018 13:40 7 8 Thatcher was responsible for football tickets? Well, I never. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report StephenHawking Kingkerouac 2 Jan 2018 13:44 3 4 Football? Don't disagree its become very expensive, but I am not sure Thatcher can be blamed for that. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report ChipKennedy Kingkerouac 2 Jan 2018 13:47 4 5 Bait and Switch . Heads you lose Tails they win . Socialism for the 1% Austerity and Rail price increases for the 99% . Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Show 2 more replies TheSpecialNeedsOne 2 Jan 2018 13:31 4 5 Good to hear you agree with Lord Adonis, Owen. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report odstjackson 2 Jan 2018 13:31 3 4 Our entire Produce/Consume society we are enslaved to is a problem. Any way of life that puts greed, selfishness and power at the forefront should not exist. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report rodmclaughlin 2 Jan 2018 13:32 1 2 The railway disaster doesn't prove that privatisation is a bad thing. It only shows that privatisation of the railways - in which companies have an inbuilt monopoly, because you can't have rival companies competing at the same times on the same lines - is a bad thing. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Trumbledon 2 Jan 2018 13:32 5 6 John Major claimed that “a better, cheaper and more effective service for the commuter” beckoned. He got two of those right, he was only wrong on cost. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report YEverKnot Trumbledon 2 Jan 2018 13:40 6 7 You really think fares would go down under nationalisation? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report Trumbledon YEverKnot 2 Jan 2018 13:46 5 6 No, not necessarily. All I'm saying is that services are now better and more effective than they were under BR. If you want a reminder of what BR was like, take a ride on one of the Class 156's which still operate in Scotland. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report DiBosco Trumbledon 2 Jan 2018 13:58 18 19 I'm willing to bet in the 70s the rail system, were it privatised, would have been absolutely no better. The world is a very different place now and renationalised railways would be nothing like 70s BR. There is no inherent reason nationalised industry can't be good. Noticed any improvement in gas, electricity and water since they started lining the pockets of the insanely rich? Do other countries' nationalised railways work a treat? Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report HonestJo 2 Jan 2018 13:32 21 22 Whatever our thoughts on privatisation please don't expect hard pressed tax payers outside London to subsidise jobs in London at the expense of their local poor services. If people can't afford to commute to these London jobs then frankly these jobs should move to places where people can afford to live and don't need to commute. Simple really. Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report ID4469239 HonestJo 2 Jan 2018 13:41 5 6 The companies should pay taxes which subsidise public transport. It's not rocket science (which is why this happens in other countries such as France) Reply Share Share on Facebook Facebook Share on Twitter Twitter | Pick Report 1 2 3 4 … next Sorry there was an error. Please try again later. 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