UK Rail services to come under unified state control
 

The government has announced the biggest shake-up in the UK's railways since privatisation in the mid-1990s.

It will see the creation of a new state-owned body, Great British Railways (GBR), which will set timetables and prices, sell tickets in England and manage rail infrastructure.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it aimed to offer more punctual services and cheaper tickets.

But private operators will still be contracted to run most trains.

Next month, flexible season tickets will be available for some people who commute two or three times a week.

Thanks for that Philip.

If our wonderful government had said something like..."To fix the problem of late running trains, we pledge £150 bilion to renew the run-down infrastructure", I might possibly have believed them to be serious.

But changing the name of the railway and pledging even more "Government Control" doesn't fix anything.

The things that cause my trains to be delayed are ....
* A lack of Police to deal with drunken passengers
* Repeated Bridge Bashes by overheight vehicles
* Kids trespassing on the railway in school holidays
* Level crossing abuse by road users
* Points failures
* Signal failures
* Overhead Line Faults
* Software faults on the crap trains that the DfT chose.

Nothing the government has pledged will fix these problems.

So, if services become punctual as a result of this new 'Shake Up', I will happily eat my underpants.

Don't think I'm in any danger though. "A rose by any other name.....", as the good Bard used to say.

Feel free to disagree, this is just my 2P. ;)

Cheers, John

Well the way the government has mis-managed the present situation, I for one won't hold by breath.

Boris might be attempting to prevent a potential Scotexit.
Give them mob north of the border a better rail service to keep them in the union.
The NSW state gov are to improve rail safety here, it has been announced.
More security fencing is to be built to prevent the unwashed masses from trespass.
Not to bother us gunzels, as there ain't much rattling around here to get excited about.
Though, I did go up the hill to Tumulla this arvo to take a pot shot at a stupid train.
I stood in the frigid breeze for 150 minutes until after sunset.
Yep, typical privatized railways here DON'T run according to time table.
But, AH that sound, it was worth the frost bite.
No photo possible, but I did get video plus audio.
A pair of dinky toy 48 class DL531 aussie alcos battling up the 1 in 40 with a rail set job.
Yes, I would go as far as the Moon to snag them beasties.
And launched the car up the big hill at the moon to chase them to Gresham for another audio snippet.
Steve.