CHANGES

Pan Up

Reacting to changing markets is supposed to be what private industry is good at, but governments are bad at. Unfortunately, the Government is in charge

Laying down third rail: that’s the ticket. This is work underway on replacement rail on the Ouse Valley viaduct in October 2018. Courtesy Network Rail

There are some big changes going on which affect the rail market, or at least they would do if we had a free market. The UK’s so-called privatised railway is in fact entirely controlled by the Department for Transport, which sets up franchises; these are then awarded to those who made the least realistic proposal. We could live with this if the franchise specifications moved with the times, but they really come down to one question; how many seats can you move for how little money?

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