UK: East coast main line taken back into public ownership again

[smurfy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44142258

The third time a private franchise has collapsed on the east coast mainline, and the second time the state has had to take control. The system is working!!

[SaintBaron]

Getting the ouija board out to summon the spirit of Attlee

[AxeI]

Meanwhile, Macron's government wants to open up French railways to private competitors.

[Reagy]

Really says something, should have never let the private sector run the lines.
Our rail service is horrible due to it, but it does make me wonder if it'd be any better being nationalised again if it ends up that way.

[Sableye]

but privitization has to work because the government cannot be better than the private market driven economy!

that or blind ideologically driven assumptions might be wrong

[Burro]

It'd be a hilarious move if they just let all the train operators fall through and return to public ownership, there goes most of Labours manifesto. Checkmate Corbychev, Mayrxists unite, you've got nothing to lose but your trains, etc.

[Papkee]

It's interesting because in America our rail service is government-run and is pretty much utter shite. Not profitable at all. Amtrak took over after the interstates killed off most of the private passenger lines and then ran the remaining public interest in rail travel straight into the ground.

Recently there have been a few attempts at private-public partnerships. Where I live, a private company took over operation of a line using Amtrak crew and facilities and both ridership and profits shot up enourmously. Then Amtrak stepped back in and said "hey you should give us more of that money you're making" and that was the end of that.

I'd love to hear what's different about UK rail travel that makes it so difficult for private organizations to keep passenger rail afloat. Here in America our freight rail is entirely privatized and (for the most part) runs pretty well.

[Clovis]

Fuck yeah! Most of our private rail franchises are owned by foreign companies anyway, so there's no reason not to invest in a public infrastructure.

[Fate]

It was actually exceptionally good during under public ownership when it was previously nationalised.
East coast mainline

[Resonant]

Maybe I can go visit my friends and family who live 150 miles away without taking out a fucking loan.

[Fulgrim]

nationalise if~