How do you know it was cheaper?

Yes, there is no simple solution, but in the UK the last consideration seems always to be the ordinary person who has no choice but to use whatever, and then this government and profiteers collude to squeeze as much as possible out of people in every possible way. Whatever works best for the regular person isn’t even a consideration, that is probably what irks most people who have to use trains.

‘You are a long winded knob’ What’s that got to do with anything? Presumably you’re just a knob? I know it’s all a scam whatever happens, but when it was nationalised it was no better or worse, but much cheaper. Happy??

It’s the rolliing-stock operators. If your plan for renationalising railways doesn’t mention Porterbrook, Angel Trains and Eversholt, then you need to go and do some more work on it. Trains that had been built entirely using public funds by BR were sold off for a fraction of their worth to the rolling-stock companies (Roscos). Some trains are now rented out for annual rents that are more than the Rosco paid for the train. Imagine a house where the annual rent was more than you could buy the house for: you’d be making a fortune!

And they are. The three Roscos make more profits than all the train operators combined. Nationalise all the train operators and you still haven’t removed even 50% of the private-sector profits from the railways. The rolling-stock companies don’t have franchises that expire, so there’s no way to just wait them out. We’d have to buy back the trains – and you can be sure that they wouldn’t give the public sector a discount! – or build entirely new trains to replace the ones they own. Sure, you could create a new public-sector Rosco, and all new trains would go there, but typical trains have a fifty-year lifespan, so you’d complete your renationalisation in 2066.

There is no easy or cheap solution to this problem. If only there were. I don’t have any suggestions for fixing it, other than a warning: renationalising the Roscos will be expensive, keeping them going will also be expensive, as they continue to extract profit from the system.

Oh, and that Pendolino you don’t like? Doesn’t belong to Virgin, in spite of all the Branson propaganda. It belongs to Angel Trains. Virgin just rent it. Complain about Angel all you like.

You are a long winded knob. Privatisation means those with money buy the asset at knock down prices.
If the asset is re nationalised the asset strippers get a profit again. Then if it is privatised again the asset strippers make a fortune again and it goes on and on. The politicians are buying the shares! Joke, Aye.

There is something about railways that really sets Thatcherites off.

Let me explain, a railway is a public service that requires investments, it is not a company selling a product to make a profit. The stupid belief that travel is a product of choice rather than a necessity of living has led to the private operators making a profit by fleecing commuters who have no choice but to use their monopoly; while continuing to receive huge state subsidies.

Perhaps, but I have read articles in Rail magazine to the effet that the total subsidy for BR, including all its tax breaks, was about the same as now. For half as many passenger miles.

They didn’t need to privatise BR to create a monopoly. They already had one of those.

The trains are already as long and large as will fit into the stations, and as frequent as the signalling system will allow. The only way to get more capacity is to improve the infrastructure – and that is the responsibility of the already publically owned Network Rail.