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Probably a little off topic, but why were passenger services withdrawn between Oswestry and Gobowen in the first place? I have a copy of the Beeching Report but unless I am missing something, the line is not listed in Section 1 and Oswestry station is not listed in Section 3 for passenger...

This steps someway from the realistically possible (some form of regular Oswestry-Gobowen rail service) right over the more fanciful (Welshpool to Gobowen reopening) into the realms of pure fantasy. However if the money for the latter were available, why not spend it to realign the Shrewsbury...

I saw an early plan for the Oswestry by-pass some years ago (cannot remember where) but it would have incorporated a bridge in place of the northern level crossing. Shame it was built as is, would have made trialling a new shuttle or even through services a lot easier. The only was I can see...

It sounded like a bit of a yarn, but I remember my driving instructor (when were travelling parallel to the Oswestry branch circa 1996) telling me that when the shuttle was withdrawn a local businessman wanted to run his own shuttle but was not allowed by BR in case he made a success of it, and...

I have the 15 June to 13 September 1959 Working Timetable for the Oswestry and Chester districts. As you say, the vast majority of the passenger services between Oswestry and Gobowen were just the shuttle workings. In the summer of 1959 there was one through working each day to Oswestry from...

How about a national Limited Company or Plc to operate long distance trains (maybe with a subsidiary company to bid for regional franchises/concessions) following this model. The shares could be held by the government - perhaps with the Scottish and Welsh Governments owning a minority of shares...

Depending on the relationship we end up having with the EU, in particular regarding regulatory alignment, it may be necessary to retain EU rail directives in domestic legislation and/or parallel future directives. Personally Id prefer to have the organisational structure similar to the German...

Only that's not quite correct is it. The Board of Directors of nationalised industries were appointed by and answerable to the relevant Secretary of State. So the Government owned the industry, the people did not. If the people were the shareholders of nationalised industries, then the Board...

British Governments generally have no trust in allowing local government to run or commission services that they do in Europe and elsewhere in the western world. There is no way that John Major's government would have done what the Federal German government in 1996 by handing over the...

In all likelihood IC250 would have been small deviations primarily to iron out some of the more severe curves on the WCML. However the option of reopening the GCML was considered as an option early on. Cost, the difficulties of gaining approval (particularly in the political climate of the day)...

I dont want to get into a drawn out discussion over semantics, but nationalisation means central government owning the operator. If it is owned by a local authority or passenger transport authority it cannot by definition be nationalised. So public ownership does not automatically mean...

Execpt the Nottingham example is one of a local authority rather than centrally planned initiative. I certainly dont think it helps the supporters of nationalisation. If anything it points towards giving local authorities either individually or collectively via transport authorities more power...

First post, so I thought I'd step in to a hot topic! The debate in this country seems to essentially be a binary one between nationalisation and privatisation, as if no other options existing. Many on the Left (on other more political forums I have been on) generally bring up the...