Some mention has been made regarding the railways. Before, and immediately after World War II, most of the freight was carried on the railways. However, for small freight (parcels etc, but too big for Royal Mail) the railways were inefficient, and it could take weeks for a parcel to reach its destination.
Thus, these items, which were large in number, and contributed greatly to railway revenue moved onto the roads, and road transport grew. This loss of revenue was compounded by the increasing popularity of the motor car, which was becoming cheaper in real terms. This caused a reduction in "short hop" revenue
By the late 1950s, the railways were making huge losses, so Dr. Beeching was brought in by the government to look at the entire railway network and see where costs could be saved. His report became know as the Beeching Axe, which closed most of the branch lines around the country, and many of the smaller stations on the main lines.
Despite such savage cuts, the savings were below those anticipated, and during the 1970s contraction (of the network) continued.
Come the 1980s, and the Thatcher government franchised out the rail network by area, but with responsibility for the national infrastructure being placed with one company.
Even under nationalisation, passenger rail fares have never been "cheap" and although fares have increased year on year since privatisation, it is my opinion that the increases were no greater than they would have been under public ownership. Furthermore, any government cannot now dip into any profits, thus artificially causing fares to increase.
Urban sprawl and population increase has since shown that if some of the branch lines closed in the 60s were still operational, they would be well used by commuters going into the cities. Alas, with some of these old lines now built over, or used as cycle tracks, they can never reopen.
Thus, these items, which were large in number, and contributed greatly to railway revenue moved onto the roads, and road transport grew. This loss of revenue was compounded by the increasing popularity of the motor car, which was becoming cheaper in real terms. This caused a reduction in "short hop" revenue
By the late 1950s, the railways were making huge losses, so Dr. Beeching was brought in by the government to look at the entire railway network and see where costs could be saved. His report became know as the Beeching Axe, which closed most of the branch lines around the country, and many of the smaller stations on the main lines.
Despite such savage cuts, the savings were below those anticipated, and during the 1970s contraction (of the network) continued.
Come the 1980s, and the Thatcher government franchised out the rail network by area, but with responsibility for the national infrastructure being placed with one company.
Even under nationalisation, passenger rail fares have never been "cheap" and although fares have increased year on year since privatisation, it is my opinion that the increases were no greater than they would have been under public ownership. Furthermore, any government cannot now dip into any profits, thus artificially causing fares to increase.
Urban sprawl and population increase has since shown that if some of the branch lines closed in the 60s were still operational, they would be well used by commuters going into the cities. Alas, with some of these old lines now built over, or used as cycle tracks, they can never reopen.
(I'd better attribute that to Karl Marx before anyone accuses me of plagiarism 
)
)
