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[Travel] Rail nationalisation.



amexer

Well-known member
Aug 8, 2011
6,915
Strange. When I was working in Government departments we were introducing accrual accounting, precisely to prevent this "We've got a budget and we've got to spend it" mentality - it mucked up your budget something cruel if you persisted with this.
Your right. Remember senior management in a department concerned theyu would be spending 200k under budget and discussing how they could spend it by end of year
 




Invicta

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 1, 2013
3,394
Kent
Southeastern also fell back into nationalisation a year or 2 back. I'd say that they are slightly better than they were. Possibly a coincidence!
 


drew

Drew
NSC Patron
Oct 3, 2006
23,760
Burgess Hill
People moaning about British Rail seem to forget, if I remember rightly, that it was saddled with enormous debt which prevented it from investing in infrastructure however when it was sold off, wasn't that debt wiped out for the benefit of the new franchise operators who also didn't have to pay for infrastructure? I think infrastructure was sold off as Railtrack but that went pear shaped following the Ladbrooke Grove crash and came back under public ownership.

I believe it was similar for the other utilities with debts being written off.
 


Sid and the Sharknados

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 4, 2022
5,868
Darlington
Southeastern also fell back into nationalisation a year or 2 back. I'd say that they are slightly better than they were. Possibly a coincidence!
I feel like Trans Pennine are better since they were nationalised.

Admittedly, unless they'd deliberately set fire to their own trains at rush hour and shot any passengers who managed to claw their way out, it would have been impossible for them to get worse.
 


Bodian

Well-known member
May 3, 2012
14,661
Cumbria
People moaning about British Rail seem to forget, if I remember rightly, that it was saddled with enormous debt which prevented it from investing in infrastructure however when it was sold off, wasn't that debt wiped out for the benefit of the new franchise operators who also didn't have to pay for infrastructure? I think infrastructure was sold off as Railtrack but that went pear shaped following the Ladbrooke Grove crash and came back under public ownership.

I believe it was similar for the other utilities with debts being written off.
I seem to recall that there was a big upturn in investment in the immediate runup to privatisation - to make it more attractive.
 




jackalbion

Well-known member
Aug 30, 2011
5,057
I think getting more of the different parts of the railway under the same roof is a good thing, there’s too much fragmentation. What disappoints me the most is the lack of movement on ROSCOs, they’re the single biggest money drain, and prevention of better services IMO. Bring the units under governement ownership and we solve a lot of problems quickly, then we can work on driver availability, etc.
 




Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patron
Oct 8, 2003
56,719
Faversham
People moaning about British Rail seem to forget, if I remember rightly, that it was saddled with enormous debt which prevented it from investing in infrastructure however when it was sold off, wasn't that debt wiped out for the benefit of the new franchise operators who also didn't have to pay for infrastructure? I think infrastructure was sold off as Railtrack but that went pear shaped following the Ladbrooke Grove crash and came back under public ownership.

I believe it was similar for the other utilities with debts being written off.
Yep. A massive tory con, subsidised by the taxpayer, for the benefit of the new breed of shareholder.

I still have legacy shares from when a company I used was flogged off. Worth next to nothing, and all for what?

Someone else's pocket, and 'rebalancing'.

Tell Sid he's a ****.
 






nsclurker

Well-known member
Apr 3, 2018
489
I can’t see elec/gas being a priority in any parliament, Octopus who many use for supply seem very fair to me, for example.
We have the one of the highest electricity prices in Europe - 20% higher than in France, per kWH, for example.

It's an industry/Government issue, with profits going out as dividends as shareholders take precedence over customers. Same in the water industry.

(I'm with Octopus, who are different, but their customer service is...don't get me started).
 
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Weststander

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Aug 25, 2011
69,897
Withdean area
We have the one of the highest electricity prices in Europe - 20% higher than in France, per kWH, for example.

It's an industry/Government issue, with profits going out as dividends as shareholders take precedence over customers. Same in the water industry.

(I'm with Octopus, who are different, but their customer service is...don't get me started).

Octopus charge 24.5p / kWh for elec. But standing charges too. We pay lower due a fix taken out in July.

Other elec rates just now:
Germany 39.5c / kWh
Denmark 37c
Ireland 34.4c
Belgium 34c

France invested heavily in nuclear reactors when other nations deemed them an anathema. Then in the Putin caused energy crisis one way or another their government subsidised domestic bills.
 


nsclurker

Well-known member
Apr 3, 2018
489
Octopus charge 24.5p / kWh for elec. But standing charges too. We pay lower due a fix taken out in July.

Other elec rates just now:
Germany 39.5c / kWh
Denmark 37c
Ireland 34.4c
Belgium 34c

France invested heavily in nuclear reactors when other nations deemed them an anathema. Then in the Putin caused energy crisis one way or another their government subsidised domestic bills.
Screenshot_20241205-110241~2.png
 




Beanstalk

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2017
3,052
London

And not about to get lower any time soon, in fact just the opposite. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she recognised that "affordability is really important to people" but that people were "willing to pay for a good service".
To be fair, if prices from London to Brighton stay at a similar level and everything works, that will be such an incredible improvement to my quality of life I won't really mind paying the same for a return ticket as I do now.

Yes, it's hugely important to me in a grander view that rail travel becomes cheaper and more connected, falling in line with the European model and offering a better alternative to the whole country in the long term. In the short term though, I just want to not have to submit a delay repay every f***ing time we're at home. It should be around 3 hours of travel in total to go to home games (not including the Brighton->Falmer leg) and get back to NW London but instead it regularly takes me close to double that if things don't line up, especially after games where the cancellations and delays pile up week on week.
 


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