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George Spiggott wrote: Perhaps we should start calling it repatriation of the railways rather than nationalisation since about three quarters of the railways are already owned by government, just not ours.
Same thing for the power companies.
... ...
As for trains, the horror stories I could tell you. Imagine being stuck on a Virgin train at the height of summer. Imagine that train has broken down and the air conditioning is not working...
I don't need to imagine that, because it happened to me and the family back in the early 2000s. What was good was that the train crew had prepared by not loading water. If it had gone on much longer, there would have been some medical repercussions.
Virgin have improved a lot since those dark days, but Great Western seem as bad as ever.
You guys might be on to something with renationalisation. Here in Northern Ireland our train and bus services are state owned and they're great. It's run by a public company called Translink, which is devided into Ulsterbus, N.I railways and Metro (Belfast city bus services). No complaints from me. Well ok, they're not perfect but they're better than your ones!
And now that we'll be out of the eu it'll be nice and legal too. Up yours Junker.
Future War Cultist wrote: You guys might be on to something with renationalisation. Here in Northern Ireland our train and bus services are state owned and they're great. It's run by a public company called Translink, which is devided into Ulsterbus, N.I railways and Metro (Belfast city bus services). No complaints from me. Well ok, they're not perfect but they're better than your ones!
And now that we'll be out of the eu it'll be nice and legal too. Up yours Junker.
We had nationalisation, and it wasn't perfect, and privatization was supposed to be the magic bullet, but 20 years later, it has clearly failed. We may as well take back our railways and put an end to this nonsense of British rail passengers subsidising cheaper fares in other nations.
George Spiggott wrote: Perhaps we should start calling it repatriation of the railways rather than nationalisation since about three quarters of the railways are already owned by government, just not ours.
Same thing for the power companies.
... ...
As for trains, the horror stories I could tell you. Imagine being stuck on a Virgin train at the height of summer. Imagine that train has broken down and the air conditioning is not working...
I don't need to imagine that, because it happened to me and the family back in the early 2000s. What was good was that the train crew had prepared by not loading water. If it had gone on much longer, there would have been some medical repercussions.
Virgin have improved a lot since those dark days, but Great Western seem as bad as ever.
Yeah, Virgin have improved, but Richard Branson is still a complete
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/23 12:39:16
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
And now that we'll be out of the eu it'll be nice and legal too. Up yours Junker.
Hate to break it to you, but most if not all big EU countries do have national rail.
France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy.... even your neighbours across the border have Irish Rail, fully government-owned.
That privatisation was some sort or evil EU plot is another cheap Brussels-bashing myth. All the EU requires is separate magament of tracks and rail operators and that the tracks are open to private competition, but of course the Thatcher-Major governments saw this as a fitting excuse to push their privatise everything agenda.
And now that we'll be out of the eu it'll be nice and legal too. Up yours Junker.
Hate to break it to you, but most if not all big EU countries do have national rail.
France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy.... even your neighbours across the border have Irish Rail, fully government-owned.
All the EU requires is separate magament of tracks and rail operators and that the tracks are open to private competition, but of course the Thatcher-Major governments saw this as a fitting excuse to push their privatise everything agenda.
How can you have national railroads if you aren´t allowed to have nationalised railroads and tracks? And how can it be nationalised if it's open to private competition
And now that we'll be out of the eu it'll be nice and legal too. Up yours Junker.
Hate to break it to you, but most if not all big EU countries do have national rail.
France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy.... even your neighbours across the border have Irish Rail, fully government-owned.
All the EU requires is separate magament of tracks and rail operators and that the tracks are open to private competition, but of course the Thatcher-Major governments saw this as a fitting excuse to push their privatise everything agenda.
How can you have national railroads if you aren´t allowed to have nationalised railroads and tracks? And how can it be nationalised if it's open to private competition
State controlled services don't have to go out to competition. A lot of UK local authorities are now bring services back in house because it is more cost effective. There is no competition then; it's how you implement it that is important (so for example you couldn't create a new state controlled company and then give all the business to them), but you can bring the service 'in-house' so the operations fall under the umbrella of the government body.
Future War Cultist wrote: You guys might be on to something with renationalisation. Here in Northern Ireland our train and bus services are state owned and they're great. It's run by a public company called Translink, which is devided into Ulsterbus, N.I railways and Metro (Belfast city bus services). No complaints from me. Well ok, they're not perfect but they're better than your ones!
And now that we'll be out of the eu it'll be nice and legal too. Up yours Junker.
We had nationalisation, and it wasn't perfect, and privatization was supposed to be the magic bullet, but 20 years later, it has clearly failed. We may as well take back our railways and put an end to this nonsense of British rail passengers subsidising cheaper fares in other nations.
It's the implementation that is important. The old state services were different, you had (overly) strong unions that would resist almost any change, benefits that private industry would not offer and lots of general inefficiency. Most of this has been driven out now. The only real risk factor left is MPs getting sticky fingers and trying to implement some cost inefficient scheme (like all seats must be made from leather).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/23 14:43:53
"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. " - V
I've just supported the Permanent European Union Citizenship initiative. Please do the same and spread the word!
"It's not a problem if you don't look up." - Dakka's approach to politics
ulgurstasta wrote: How can you have national railroads if you aren´t allowed to have nationalised railroads and tracks? And how can it be nationalised if it's open to private competition
By having national group running? What's the matter? Affraid of competition? If private companies come in they have to offer service that makes them better for customers. Good for customers. If there's just national one what incentive they have to actually make sure they are cost effective...
What national group can do is provide minimum level companies need to provide.
But yeah keep on bashing EU and ignore the facts like all the national trains going on. Ignoring facts is always so good idea after all.
And now that we'll be out of the eu it'll be nice and legal too. Up yours Junker.
Hate to break it to you, but most if not all big EU countries do have national rail.
France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy.... even your neighbours across the border have Irish Rail, fully government-owned.
All the EU requires is separate magament of tracks and rail operators and that the tracks are open to private competition, but of course the Thatcher-Major governments saw this as a fitting excuse to push their privatise everything agenda.
How can you have national railroads if you aren´t allowed to have nationalised railroads and tracks? And how can it be nationalised if it's open to private competition
You have several misconceptions there.
EU rules do not prevent public ownership of tracks or railroads. They do not allow a single, public company to own the tracks and operate the railroads at the same time.
The way most countries did this in the continent was to split the old state monopoly into two different companies.
One owning the tracks, which is obligated by law to offer the same conditions to anyone wishing to operate trains on their tracks, and another one that operates the trains, which has to compete in the open market against private operators (and public operators from other countries).
There's nothing wrong with public ownership as long as competition is permitted.
The election campaign will be up and running again on Friday, which is good news.
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Personally I think they should start again tomorrow.
My argument would be that the objective of the terrorists is to disrupt western national life. Halting an election is a pretty big disruption, and our best weapon is to carry on as we intended.
Thursday is good, but if it were up to me, I would have had them back on the campaign trail today.
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
I would like to see British Rail returned. With red livery and everything. My only concern is the unions. I can see them taking the country hostage, like the way the underground takes London hostage but on a national scale. I saw first hand the ugly side of unions in my old job. But I'm sure a way can be found to make it work.
For energy, wouldn't it be cool if the state could take control of production and leave supply to the private sector. So that we can get the best of both worlds?
Future War Cultist wrote: I would like to see British Rail returned. With red livery and everything. My only concern is the unions. I can see them taking the country hostage, like the way the underground takes London hostage but on a national scale. I saw first hand the ugly side of unions in my old job. But I'm sure a way can be found to make it work.
For energy, wouldn't it be cool if the state could take control of production and leave supply to the private sector. So that we can get the best of both worlds?
By best of both worlds you mean the state having to fund all the actual production of energy whilst the private companies just gouge the public in order to make profit?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/24 21:11:58
The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.
Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
Future War Cultist wrote: I would like to see British Rail returned. With red livery and everything. My only concern is the unions. I can see them taking the country hostage, like the way the underground takes London hostage but on a national scale. I saw first hand the ugly side of unions in my old job. But I'm sure a way can be found to make it work.
For energy, wouldn't it be cool if the state could take control of production and leave supply to the private sector. So that we can get the best of both worlds?
This ain't the 1970s. The power of the unions has been broken. The days of Jack Jones, Red Robbo, flying pickets, and Big Jim Reid, are long gone.
There is nothing to fear from the unions, despite what the Daily Mail says about Len Mcluskey.
Future War Cultist wrote: I would like to see British Rail returned. With red livery and everything. My only concern is the unions. I can see them taking the country hostage, like the way the underground takes London hostage but on a national scale. I saw first hand the ugly side of unions in my old job. But I'm sure a way can be found to make it work.
For energy, wouldn't it be cool if the state could take control of production and leave supply to the private sector. So that we can get the best of both worlds?
By best of both worlds you mean the state having to fund all the actual production of energy whilst the private companies just gouge the public in order to make profit?
We let the banks get away with doing that to the taxpayer with the bail outs, so I'm surprised the energy companies haven't tried something similar.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/24 21:19:59
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Right now, generation and supply are done by the same group of companies.
They literally sell themselves the power they've generated (via power stations built by tax payer money). And then pretend their profits are all off shore.
If wholesale rises, prices go up. If it dips? The prices go up.
That's a broken economy right there.
Water, Power, Transportation. All should be publicly owned, on account they're national necessities. And I'm especially vocal about public transport.
Here's the scenario I always fall back on, because it actually happened.
2012, I went for my current job, which of course I got. But it was in London, and I'm in Kent. That meant commuting.
Now at that point, once all my bills were paid, I had around £200 a month.
That first month's train ticket? Yeah. £432....
If it wasn't for my parents being willing and able to help, I wouldn't be where I am today, earning triple what I was on (previous job paid peanuts), with the resultant reduction in my economic activity.
And why is it so high? Well, there's only one train line where I am, the London to Hastings. And it's operated by a single company. A company who seem to have figured 'charge what we want, it's not like they have a choice'.
The whole argument that competition improves efficiency and tackles prices is therefore utter bunkum. Hell, prices have risen so much in the past five years that my employer has had to scrap the £5,000.00 season ticket loan cap.
£5,000.00.....consider that. That's money that doesn't benefit the economy.
In 2016, Southeastern doubled their profits from £13.3m to £26.8m, despite running a piss poor service. And to really kick us in the balls? They received £42.8m in subsidies and revenue support that year, paying back only £24m....
Why are we subsidising a private, for profit business? One that would regularly stop my train before they got me to my destination? One that would cancel trains at the drop of a hat?
It's utter insanity. If they're turning any kind of profit, why in the name of Satan's 23' of throbbing red gristle are we subsidising them?
The Government took back one of the main lines a few years back when it's operator seemingly couldn't be arsed. And when that happened, it was run at a decent profit, so cost the tax payer sweet f.a.....until it was sold on again...mmmmmm, love those subsidies.
It really is time for a wholesale rejection of the myth of privatisation. It doesn't do what it promised. It brings a shonkier service for a higher price, all to line the pockets of the CEO and board.
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
But public sector workers are lazy, can't be fired, sit around drinking tea and have gold plated pensions!
Non of which is true, but is the belief of many that are anti public sector. My experience has been that most in the public sector have a deep belief in the work they do and are fighting against under funding and pointless regulation from the top. People like to claim the public sector is inefficient. From my experience this is mostly down to either having to change what you are doing all the time based on the whims of the latest politician in charge or not being able to afford to make change. Imagine working in a company that had a new CEO every two years who decided to change the whole ethos of the business but invested nothing, or hugely less than your accountants say you need to run, how long would it be until you went bust.
insaniak wrote: Sometimes, Exterminatus is the only option.
And sometimes, it's just a case of too much scotch combined with too many buttons...
Kilkrazy wrote: Personally I think they should start again tomorrow.
My argument would be that the objective of the terrorists is to disrupt western national life. Halting an election is a pretty big disruption, and our best weapon is to carry on as we intended.
But one day does not make a huge difference.
Local campaigns restart Thursday with activists.
National leaders Friday.
True. But if peoples lives where genuinely at risk from the terror cell worthy of critical, the police so stretched in counter terror that army is filling in static guard. Its a good idea stabilize first.
As it stands teresea may or any senior minister will be quite a security drain for where they go. Corbyn slightly less but still not easy.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/25 07:17:57
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
Steve steveson wrote: But public sector workers are lazy, can't be fired, sit around drinking tea and have gold plated pensions!
Non of which is true, but is the belief of many that are anti public sector. My experience has been that most in the public sector have a deep belief in the work they do and are fighting against under funding and pointless regulation from the top. People like to claim the public sector is inefficient. From my experience this is mostly down to either having to change what you are doing all the time based on the whims of the latest politician in charge or not being able to afford to make change. Imagine working in a company that had a new CEO every two years who decided to change the whole ethos of the business but invested nothing, or hugely less than your accountants say you need to run, how long would it be until you went bust.
You make good points, but you'd also change your mind if you saw some of the binmen of Belfast inaction. And emphasis on inaction.
Yes, the management from the very top down are terrible too. But justify this. They're paid from 7:30 to 3:30, with a 45 minute break. Yet they'll go out, do only some of their run, come back in between 11 and 1 (some of the garden and food waste squads come back in at 10!) with hours of work left to do and go 'we're done for the day. Didn't get this this and this done. Sort it out. Bye.' And then they go home, swiping out at a council facility of their choosing. Meanwhile, the council is then forced to use agency workers (who cost them three times as much an hour as their own) to go out to finish the work not done. This is on top of the work they've already had to do anyway. Due to the costs, they are effectively paying four people to do one persons job. And they do this because when pressured, the workers (I use that term losely) immediately threaten union action.
I could tell stories of what they do; going back to the yard to ship off, then returning to their area to work for 20 minutes only to then return to the yard again to take their break, turning that 45 minute break into a 2 hour one. Refusing to leave the yard until they've cleaned their lorry from top to bottom. Stopping work to argue with each other over bs, then threatening the mangers who ask why the tracker in the lorry shows them rooted to the one spot for half and hour. I won't even tell you about the 'golf bag' incident because it's so disgusting.
Point is, sometimes in some places the horror stories about unionised public sector workers are true. I'm up for nationalising but only if we can avoid union bs like what I've witnessed here.
Steve steveson wrote: But public sector workers are lazy, can't be fired, sit around drinking tea and have gold plated pensions!
Non of which is true, but is the belief of many that are anti public sector. My experience has been that most in the public sector have a deep belief in the work they do and are fighting against under funding and pointless regulation from the top. People like to claim the public sector is inefficient. From my experience this is mostly down to either having to change what you are doing all the time based on the whims of the latest politician in charge or not being able to afford to make change. Imagine working in a company that had a new CEO every two years who decided to change the whole ethos of the business but invested nothing, or hugely less than your accountants say you need to run, how long would it be until you went bust.
You make good points, but you'd also change your mind if you saw some of the binmen of Belfast inaction. And emphasis on inaction.
Yes, the management from the very top down are terrible too. But justify this. They're paid from 7:30 to 3:30, with a 45 minute break. Yet they'll go out, do only some of their run, come back in between 11 and 1 (some of the garden and food waste squads come back in at 10!) with hours of work left to do and go 'we're done for the day. Didn't get this this and this done. Sort it out. Bye.' And then they go home, swiping out at a council facility of their choosing. Meanwhile, the council is then forced to use agency workers (who cost them three times as much an hour as their own) to go out to finish the work not done. This is on top of the work they've already had to do anyway. Due to the costs, they are effectively paying four people to do one persons job. And they do this because when pressured, the workers (I use that term losely) immediately threaten union action.
I could tell stories of what they do; going back to the yard to ship off, then returning to their area to work for 20 minutes only to then return to the yard again to take their break, turning that 45 minute break into a 2 hour one. Refusing to leave the yard until they've cleaned their lorry from top to bottom. Stopping work to argue with each other over bs, then threatening the mangers who ask why the tracker in the lorry shows them rooted to the one spot for half and hour. I won't even tell you about the 'golf bag' incident because it's so disgusting.
Point is, sometimes in some places the horror stories about unionised public sector workers are true. I'm up for nationalising but only if we can avoid union bs like what I've witnessed here.
That's some 70's stuff right there...
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
So literally some are lazy, therefore all are lazy?
Pull the other one.
See, all I ever hear about is 'the 70's...unions. Grr! Terrible man, Terrible man. Terrible terrible terrible man'.
But I wasn't there. I was born in 1980. And let me tell you what I've seen.
The systemic stripping away of any and nearly all Nice Things my parent's generation enjoyed. I can't afford to buy a house, despite earning more than the national average. I'm lucky to have a decent pension plan through my work - but if I leave here I can't pay in anymore. Many of my colleagues are in a financial rut because of ridiculous Uni fees imposed on them by those who enjoyed the largesse of others, then claimed 'why should I pay for someone else's'.
And it's time for that to come to an end. We're a wealthy country. We can afford Nice Things for our populace. It's high time the myth of austerity was exposed.
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
See, all I ever hear about is 'the 70's...unions. Grr! Terrible man, Terrible man. Terrible terrible terrible man'.
But I wasn't there. I was born in 1980. And let me tell you what I've seen.
The systemic stripping away of any and nearly all Nice Things my parent's generation enjoyed. I can't afford to buy a house, despite earning more than the national average. I'm lucky to have a decent pension plan through my work - but if I leave here I can't pay in anymore. Many of my colleagues are in a financial rut because of ridiculous Uni fees imposed on them by those who enjoyed the largesse of others, then claimed 'why should I pay for someone else's'.
And it's time for that to come to an end. We're a wealthy country. We can afford Nice Things for our populace. It's high time the myth of austerity was exposed.
The myth of austerity has been exposed, trouble is, they still going to vote in the party that gave them austerity because Corbyn met the IRA in 1974 or something...
Yes, my home was flooded, and yes, the Tory government cut funding for flood defences, but I'll vote Tory because Corbyn went to East Germany in the 1970s
Yes, the Tories are slashing police budgets at a time of heightened terror threat, but I'll still vote Tory, because Corbyn never wore a shirt and tie in the 1980s...
Our trains are rubbish, they should be re-nationalised, and damn the Tories for privatizing them, but I'll still vote Tory because Corbyn...something...something
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/25 09:51:16
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Yeah, so he won't eat British Lamb, which I suppose to the Daily Mail makes him unpatriotic.
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
He didn't just meet the IRA in the seventies. He was their active cheerleader for decades. He opposed the Anglo Irish agreement and at first he opppsed the Good Friday Agreement too because he didn't think that republicans had to compromise. He calls himself a man of peace but he's a fething lair.
Future War Cultist wrote: He didn't just meet the IRA in the seventies. He was their active cheerleader for decades. He opposed the Anglo Irish agreement and at first he opppsed the Good Friday Agreement too because he didn't think that republicans had to compromise. He calls himself a man of peace but he's a fething lair.
I don't disagree with any of this, but this is what gets my goat:
The same people who criticise Corbyn are the same people who were:
Happy to deal with the apartheid South African government
Happy to deal with Saddam in the 1980s
Considered Assad a key ally against terrorism pre-Syrian civil war
turn a blind eye to Saudi Arabia's actions in Yemen etc etc
It's the double standards that annoy me
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Future War Cultist wrote: He didn't just meet the IRA in the seventies. He was their active cheerleader for decades. He opposed the Anglo Irish agreement and at first he opppsed the Good Friday Agreement too because he didn't think that republicans had to compromise. He calls himself a man of peace but he's a lair.
I don't disagree with any of this, but this is what gets my goat:
The same people who criticise Corbyn are the same people who were:
Happy to deal with the apartheid South African government
Happy to deal with Saddam in the 1980s
Considered Assad a key ally against terrorism pre-Syrian civil war
turn a blind eye to Saudi Arabia's actions in Yemen etc etc
It's the double standards that annoy me
And General Pinochet. Don't forget him and his human right abuses.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/25 13:23:17
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
I had forgotten about General Pinochet and Thatcher.
Anyway, Craig Murray, IMO, has written an excellent article about troops on British streets and what it means for the election. YMMV
As always, I'll point out that Murray is pro-Scottish independence, hates the Tories, but on the plus side, he worked for years at the Foreign Office, including a stint as ambassador to Uzbekistan, before getting the boot for blowing the lid on suspects being tortured there in order to provide intel to the UK and USA.
So he does have good insights on the inner working of Her Majesty's Government.
Note: it doesn't really get started until half way down.
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
And now that we'll be out of the eu it'll be nice and legal too. Up yours Junker.
Hate to break it to you, but most if not all big EU countries do have national rail.
France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy.... even your neighbours across the border have Irish Rail, fully government-owned.
All the EU requires is separate magament of tracks and rail operators and that the tracks are open to private competition, but of course the Thatcher-Major governments saw this as a fitting excuse to push their privatise everything agenda.
How can you have national railroads if you aren´t allowed to have nationalised railroads and tracks? And how can it be nationalised if it's open to private competition
You have several misconceptions there.
EU rules do not prevent public ownership of tracks or railroads. They do not allow a single, public company to own the tracks and operate the railroads at the same time.
The way most countries did this in the continent was to split the old state monopoly into two different companies.
One owning the tracks, which is obligated by law to offer the same conditions to anyone wishing to operate trains on their tracks, and another one that operates the trains, which has to compete in the open market against private operators (and public operators from other countries).
There's nothing wrong with public ownership as long as competition is permitted.
I'm a tory leaning voter and I think a re nationalisation of public transport could be a good thing. For Rail its the passengers that effectively subsidise improvements and developments through fares. It seems to make sense to put the entire network under public ownership. I could imagine a service that could actually turn a profit for the exchequer AND provide a relatively pain free experience for commuters.
Though it would rely on routes not servicing the south East and London being viable. Which comes back to the long term issue of moving reliance away from the south.
The Northern Powerhouse was supposed to move things away from the South, but that seems to have went down like the Titanic.
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
