Thing is, I suspect a lot of people who are angry now are doing so because the Tories are in power. Look at social media - much of the moaning is directed at them - so if Labour had to increase fares, as it did before, I am sure people will less inclined to complain
This!
It's a nice simple thing to moan about, without having to understand the actual problems - blame the Big Bad Tories.
You've not noticed the masts going up between the Severn Tunnel and Cardiff?
Or IEPs running to Cardiff/Swansea since October?
Completely new Virgin fleet in North Wales with faster journey times to London?
New XC stock on Nottingham-Cardiff?
First use of ERTMS in the UK on the Cambrian?
No, Wales hasn't seen any investment in its railways since privatisation
Good points.
...but apart from that, what did the Romans ever do for Wales?
Worth pointing out that every pound spent on subsidising unprofitable lines (that require forty or fifty pence per mile in subsidy?) or rebuilding the Conwy Valley line each year is a pound that can't be spent on investing in new trains or electrifying lines.
In contrast, routes around London are profitable, so can justify investment.
The fact that we've kept lines like the Heart of Wales open is great but the money spent on such routes needs to be considered in the "why can't we have new trains" rants.
No, it's far easier for the DFT to use the TOCs as a shield for it's own failings so they can continue taking the praise for anything good and shift the blame to someone else for anything bad because the general public know no better. It's essentially nationalising the praise and privatising the blame - almost all of the public blame the TOCs for DFT/SRA failings, and that suits the DFT just fine
Handing the railways back to government control from private companies won't solve these issues, because these issues are caused by the government but unfortunately the general public who have little knowledge who the railway works simply think the TOC has control over many things when in fact it's the DFT.
Transpennine Express wanted to order 168 carriages with an option for 56 more. The DFT cut the order to 153 carriages with no options and resisted any attempt for the company to order a fourth car when overcrowding happened but still publicly lambasted the company for overcrowding.
200 diesel carriages were proposed for various operators following agreement with train operators but the government cancelled this project when electrification was announced.
The Thameslink and Intercity Express projects was fully managed start to finish by the government and both of them took a ridiculous amount of time since the government wanted to be hands on.
If you think that rolling stock procurement, replacement and age management is down to the TOCs then I have to say you are extremely naive and are falling right for the governments tactics of taking the praise for the good things and shifting the blame to the companies for the bad.
It's amazing how the Government have created an environment where they pull all the strings, they make all of the mistakes and people queue up to blame Richard Branson and Brian Souter for things. Why would any Government want to take full responsibility for things?
I will repeat the question again what law does the goverrnment use to prevent companies like GwR ordering more trains out of their own money. I am not talking about trains that the government are paying for or underwriting the cost of.There is no legal mechanism as far as I can see that prevents a TOC ordering their own rolling stock at market rates without goverment subsidy
The same FGW who bought some Pacers and HSTs outright, you mean?
Also the other thing is that you need to take into account the fact that the government cannot stick to what it promises with regards to infrastructure. First a line isn't going to be electrified, then it is, then it isn't.
The DFT and SRA have a lot to do with the age of rolling stock in this country because they micro-managed it for so long how it was used, ordered and replaced because they made forecasts that were flawed and wrong time and time again.
True.
Based on the past twenty years, I'd trust a TOC to deliver franchise promises more than I'd trust a politician to deliver commitments (like MML electrification). But people will blame private companies!
The statement still stands VTEC needs a bailout so it is looking increasingly less likely to return more to the DFT than DOR did.
Stagecoach pay a premium of £272m pa to the Treasury
DOR paid £216m pa in premium to the Treasury.
And that was with DOR cutting things back to the minimum (e.g. abandoning plans for daytime services to Lincoln/ Harrogate, subleasing the 180s to Northern because they didn't want them), whilst VTEC are increasing/ improving services (e.g. putting Sunderland on the map, plans to run to Middlesbrough etc once the 800/801s arrive).
Quite frankly the thought of the people in the DFT taking over all responsibility when I see how they handled growth the last few years and the IEP and TL procurement fills me with dread.
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hudders::
