British rail come back.

[motorbiking]

In the press today. Sounds like good plan. Network rail will absorb the operation as well as infrastructure, though operators will still largely be used as outsourcers. Should save the tax payer some cash

 

[Notch7]

Labour policy.

 

[Mottie]

Labour policy.

Kiss of death then.

 

[JohnD]

It had tremendous popular support because the split-up and sell of of the railways was a stupid idea that has gone badly wrong.

Right-wing extremists derided it as communism or a return to the 1970's

luckily for the Cons, hardly anyone read the actual Labour manifesto in 2017.

 

[JohnD]

In the press today. Sounds like good plan. Network rail will absorb the operation as well as infrastructure, though operators will still largely be used as outsourcers. Should save the tax payer some cash

Britain has quite a number of state-owned railways. The British taxpayer subsidises them, and the profits flow back to the government and taxpayer who owns them.

Unfortunately, due to the policies of a previous UK government, the governments which own some of our railway companies are foreign governments, and the taxpayers who benefit from the profits are foreign taxpayers.

Most UK citizens disapprove of this, when they are asked, and support renationalisation of the railways.
https://yougov.co.uk/opi/surveys/results#/survey/43cbbab5-0e78-11e9-811d-93e4b06174ec

 

[EddieM]

British rail never went away.

 

[motorbiking]

If they could just get rid of the unions. It might be possible to run it efficiently

 

[Lower]

If they could just get rid of the unions. It might be possible to run it efficiently

It'll never run efficiently whilst the militant rail unions still have such power.

Their intransigence even migrates down through the private companies associated with the rail industry. They are nightmare to work with.

 

[SirGalahad]

It's papering over the cracks calling it Great British Rail.

It was idiotic policy to privatise it and its reform now is still idiotic. Railways tend not to be profitable so to entice private operators to run contracts means they need return on their capital ergo the subsidies.

Accept the fact that some industries the market system is not the most efficient way to co-ordinate resources. Let it be public and let the positive externalities filter into the economy. But that's going against ideology and mantra.

 

[SirGalahad]

It'll never run efficiently whilst the militant rail unions still have such power.

Their intransigence even migrates down through the private companies associated with the rail industry. They are nightmare to work with.

Can you tell me the exact impact the rail unions have had on the efficiency of the railways - I have heard this repeated often and there may be truth to it, but it needs evidence and facts rather than a decription lacking details.

 

[EddieM]

Can you tell me the exact impact the rail unions have had on the efficiency of the railways - I have heard this repeated often and there may be truth to it, but it needs evidence and facts rather than a decription lacking details.

Well the RMT is a pretty good example. It's been possible to run the London tube system for years without train drivers. Further, Tube driver jobs are never externally advertised.

 

[SirGalahad]

Well the RMT is a pretty good example. It's been possible to run the London tube system for years without train drivers. Further, Tube driver jobs are never externally advertised.

RMT is the Rail and Transport workers Union. Which driverless trains are there on the tube? Or you you mean DLR?

As to Driverless Tube trains.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/driverless-tube-trains-tfl-boris-johnson

One example of these legacy complications is shared track between different lines and level crossings," she says. "This is the case on the oldest parts of the London Underground, where Victorian thrift led to the District, Metropolitan and Circle Line sharing track and running different routes. Another added complication is winding tunnels. Retrofitting any new system – take the example or new signalling to increase train frequency – is complicated and expensive."Those challenges mean that an entirely driverless Tube may be impossible if not just prohibitively expensive; no wonder then, that TfL says it hasn't even looked into the idea.

 

[EddieM]

RMT is the Rail and Transport workers Union. Which driverless trains are there on the tube? Or you you mean DLR?

As to Driverless Tube trains.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/driverless-tube-trains-tfl-boris-johnson

One example of these legacy complications is shared track between different lines and level crossings," she says. "This is the case on the oldest parts of the London Underground, where Victorian thrift led to the District, Metropolitan and Circle Line sharing track and running different routes. Another added complication is winding tunnels. Retrofitting any new system – take the example or new signalling to increase train frequency – is complicated and expensive."Those challenges mean that an entirely driverless Tube may be impossible if not just prohibitively expensive; no wonder then, that TfL says it hasn't even looked into the idea.

None of the tube system is driverless, but even if parts of it can't practically be driverless. Much of it could be

 

[ellal]

Labour policy.

Funny that...

Although not quite since the actual train operators will still be private companies.

If they could just get rid of the unions. It might be possible to run it efficiently

So I guess you'd get rid of the unions in all industries then?

And leave workers to the mercy of employers!

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

 

[SirGalahad]

None of the tube system is driverless, but even if parts of it can't practically be driverless. Much of it could be

It's been possible to run the London tube system for years without train drivers.

But again, this lacks detail. Which parts? It also seems contradictory. The claim was that militant unions have caused the ineffcienies - that may be true but no one has provided details other than broad descriptions.