• Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Private, or not Private?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Giugiaro

Established Member
Joined
4 Nov 2011
Messages
1,312
Location
Valongo - Portugal
Today I came to myself realizing, after watching the list of Japanese Railway Companies, that there's something strange that I can't find myself an answer to.


Imagine a setting were Portugal decides to Privatize it's Railway Company, CP - Comboios de Portugal EPE (something closer to being truth than fiction), and, besides there showing up private groups and consortiums, the Spanish State pulls itself a chance in the bidding.
In the end, Spain gets the bid, and decides to fuse CP to Renfe and operate the same way in both Portugal and Spain, in a same company with the same service structure and without funny franchisings. So...

- Has CP turned into a private company since its main shareholder, the Portuguese State, resigned its ownership?
- Or has CP kept being a nationalized company, but now under another state's ownership?
- Or did CP become something else? Neither a Nationalized company, nor Privatized? What's it called then?


Here's a second scenario:

In this case, it's not the Railway Company, but the Public Television Service (RTP - Radio e Televisão Portuguesa) is being privatised, and the BBC decides to appropriate of this communication service and rebrands it BBC Portugal.

- Has RTP now become a private company?
- Or is it still nationalised?
- Or neither?


I know that in the UK some railway franchises are taken by other public railway companies from European countries, like Abellio and Northern Rail. But since they are franchises, I think they count as being private. (Heck, even Renfe and CP tried to get a foot hold on the Greater Anglia franchise, that Nederlandse Spoorwegen later took... )


So, what's your say? Would either of the two cases be Private, National, or something else?
 
Last edited:
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Bevan Price

Established Member
Joined
22 Apr 2010
Messages
8,333
Today I came to myself realizing, after watching the list of Japanese Railway Companies, that there's something strange that I can't find myself an answer to.


Imagine a setting were Portugal decides to Privatize it's Railway Company, CP - Comboios de Portugal EPE (something closer to being truth than fiction), and, besides there showing up private groups and consortiums, the Spanish State pulls itself a chance in the bidding.
In the end, Spain gets the bid, and decides to fuse CP to Renfe and operate the same way in both Portugal and Spain, in a same company with the same service structure and without funny franchisings. So...

- Has CP turned into a private company since its main shareholder, the Portuguese State, resigned its ownership?
- Or has CP kept being a nationalized company, but now under another state's ownership?
- Or did CP become something else? Neither a Nationalized company, nor Privatized? What's it called then?

As far as Portugal would be concerned, it has no ownership of the assets, so it would have become a private company, albeit owned by a nationalized organisation in Spain.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top