State poised to take over more train operators?

[Horizon22]

Agreed!

I don’t think the people demanding “Nationalisation” (probably a majority of the population) realise just how much the railway has always been controlled the government and how much more responsibility has been taken by them since Covid started

Yet you’ll continue to see Corbyn-style politicians demand we “take back control” as if this will magic everything better

My favourite is always answering that perhaps 90% of the things would remain the same in a nationalised industry, often around disruption. "Nationalisation" might put you at the whims of the colour of the government based on the most recent elections. Some elements about communication and ticketing issues might be better, but equally a lot will remain similar.

 

[Annetts key]

I personally still think the large debt and the cost of servicing it is the biggest drag on the finances of Network Rail (and of course, there is no quick fix for this).

The TOCs have other issues. As does the network as a whole.

I don’t have a magic crystal ball that can see forward into the future to see what the answers are. But I do think the the current mess of a system is definitely not helpful.

 

[geoffk]

I think what we'd all like to see is railway managers getting on with running the railway and government setting the budget. Civil servants don't have the necessary competence to do all this micro-management. The Chairman of BR was often a high profile figure - Beeching, Marsh, Parker and the two Bob Reids are those I remember. Sir Peter Parker in particular was often seen on TV and was the public face of the railway. He created the five business sectors, didn't hesitate to criticise under-investment and opposed the recommendations of the Serpell report. Since privatisation there has been no equivalent. Richard Bowker of the SRA is hardly comparable and, of the train company bosses, only Richard Branson was a well-known figure. No doubt they each all earn more than the BR chairman ever did!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think what we'd all like to see is railway managers getting on with running the railway and government setting the budget. Civil servants don't have the necessary competence to do all this micro-management. The Chairman of BR was often a high profile figure - Beeching, Marsh, Parker and the two Bob Reids are those I remember. Sir Peter Parker in particular was often seen on TV and was the public face of the railway. He created the five business sectors, didn't hesitate to criticise under-investment and opposed the recommendations of the Serpell report. Since privatisation there has been no equivalent. Richard Bowker of the SRA is hardly comparable and, of the train company bosses, only Richard Branson was a well-known figure. No doubt they each all earn more than the BR chairman ever did!

The late Adrian Shooter would have been a perfect candidate to take BR into the 2000s and 2010s had privatisation not happened. You need someone like that. I suppose there's Mark Hopwood though he's not *quite* the same calibre, and I'd rather Alex Hynes was as far away from it as possible as he seems to be more a blusterman than a good manager, though I think he's safely hidden away up in Scotland for now. You could do worse than David Horne though.

Mind you, Carolyn McCall did wonders for easyJet, and that seem to be deteriorating now she's gone to ITV.

 

[Annetts key]

I agree that it would be better if someone who actually understands the railways and who has the guts to tell it how it is to government would be good.

The other problem is that the ORR is a contradiction, part being responsible for safety, part responsible for economic regulation and the other parts are responsible for other things.

One thing that does cause a loss of productivity and contributes to some of the other silliness, is all the extra processes, procedures, paperwork/forms (or electronic equivalent) that are now required before any change can happen. Compared to when it was all one company (okay, mostly one company, even BR used some private companies for some work/services).