Yet…
That is meaningless without any context. What proportion of the service is running compared to 2019?
It may never have happened to you before, but Reginald Perrin experienced almost that as far back as the 1970s.
www.railforums.co.uk
The 1870’s?
It may never have happened to you before, but Reginald Perrin experienced almost that as far back as the 1970s.
See post 16 here:
Creative excuses: "I was late because..."
Apologies if this has been covered before - but this made me smile this morning: A mountain of a man was on his phone, on my train to work, explaining why he would be late into the office. "My dog" he started, "it headbutted me and knocked me out cold, so I missed my usual train". Was...
Of course, I should have been a little more precise. In the three years before covid, I wasn't late for work once - admittedly, that was probably partly due to a rather good run of luck. But this summer I was late at least 4 times in a period of just 3 weeks.No but that's the period that the Conservative government would like to return this country to...
Very well stated and shows as we know the industry has the answers but the DfT need to persuaded that the least cost solution lies within the industry itself. I thought Haines would be the white knight but im not so sure anymore and certainly no operator MD has been prepared to be vocal in public about how to move the industry forward again.
The simple solution would be to fully privatise the railways into their own company, separate from government and separate from idiotic companies like Stagecoach or Govia who just run things at rock bottom. Have it like John Lewis Partnership/Co-Operative so that local authorities can hold a stake. Everyone would be happier and the government doesn't have to keep meddling in something they don't understand.
How would that work with lines that make a loss?
What on earth does that mean?
Even mutual organisations have to ensure the books balance and that money is retained in the business for investment. John Lewis / Co-op pay out dividends, albeit to their mutual members rather than investors.
For sure all the mayoral areas should be given full control of services within their demise. The infrastructure will have to be retained by NR in most cases I know Merseyrail are doing a deal but most of the DC network is just used by them.
That doesn’t change the subsidy level, just moves it onto a different balance sheet.
50/50. It could be a stimulus for investment, leadership etc. Yet it could just drive more custom away and be another nail in the coffin.
Agree but its upto local areas to decide what they want to do where as in England we DfT dictating for the whole country and unlikely ever to bother to see what teh consequences of their actions are out side of London.
I think you’re possibly confusing stakeholders with shareholders?
That’s interesting and I do think we will see more devolution in the future, but I doubt it is a silver bullet for the railways woes and there will still be an inequality in service provision due to vested interest, just along different lines to currently. Look at how the Northern city regions struggle to agree anything and have their own agendas for example.
What is your evidence that this dispute has cost the economy “hundreds of millions of pounds”?
Railworkers and unions also have the power to do that, but ideology seems to be trumping common sense all round currently.
I must have missed that pledge in their manifesto. Just think though, if we go back to the 1870s you’d have a much more extensive rail network.
You can't measure it but plenty of trade associations have reported there members lose trade on strike days now they may come back the next day and spend it but there will be plenty of occasions where its lost income. For private business that lost income is reduced profitability which means less tax even for the likes of NHS its missed appointments and more cost to recover.
It's not lost trade, it just goes somewhere else. So the economy overall doesn't lose, but the railway does.
I'm sensing that too, but they have actually been pretty good for 'workers' pay packets since taking power. I appreciate that ideology will drive some to argue against that, regardless of the reality. How much of the current malaise is Tory doing, rather than just the wider economic situation, I wouldn't like to say, but they are making themselves an easy target currently through inept leadership.
Idiotic companies like Stagecoach, that don't now run any UK mainline rail operations - they sensibly got out when they did. Not exactly "idiotic". I rather suspect you've strung some buzzwords together than you don't really know the meaning of.
www.cityam.com
There is absolutely no explanation of where that figure has come from however.Rail strikes 'cost £500m to the economy' as Nightcap boss says action 'decimating' bars
Ongoing railway strikes have cost the UK economy £500m this year, with businesses pleading with unions and bosses to find a solution to the disruption.“If we don’t get the services restored I’m worried people will give up on rail,” newly-appointed rail minister Huw Merriman told the Railway...
Reported in various locations such as above following comments by Huw Merriman, Rail Minister
To be fair if the place the money goes instead is a savings account, that generates very little economic activity.
Yes, my apologies. Thanks for the point up. Shareholders.
