Barmy Idea: Would a private sector NSE work?

[59CosG95]

Just one of my random thoughts: if all commuter ops out of Central London termini (not the Overground) were put under one big umbrella company, would it be commercially viable?

 

[455driver]

Probably but imagine the arguments over paths!

 

[SPADTrap]

TSGN will be a good start!?

 

[455driver]

TSGN will be a good start!?

Or a bad one!
As they are basically keeping the 3 companies separate then it will pretty much be business as normal.

 

[b0b]

Its gotta be getting close considering all the franchises GoVia is running! Perhaps the government should revive and mandate NSE branding for London commuter franchises, like the Scottish Government did for Scotrail

 

[SPADTrap]

Or a bad one!
As they are basically keeping the 3 companies separate then it will pretty much be business as normal.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Old NSE came very close to breaking even - however, the problem is more than being cash generative , but investment for the longer term. (track ,infrastructure and rolling stock) - you could however run it into the ground and asset strip it for a few years and make buckets of cash - especially if you slashed services on the edges and at non peak hours.

In other words "not really" .....a 110 years ago the Great Eastern Rly admitted , though it had plenty of commuter traffic - it was all carried at marginal rates with very low profits - and this was with coal burning simple engines , wooden rolling stock and a hard working workforce paid not a lot ...