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Well as you know, I also work for the railway and I also think it is better now than it was when it was government owned.
The most important thing that happened under privatisation was a shed load of dead wood was cleared out. I remember having a saftey brief at Doncaster just after Ed took charge of EWS and for lunch we all went to a cafe in the works called The Mallard. I was in the queue with a driver from Worksop and he got talking to a few guys he knew who were bosses. He asked them how things were and they all replied in unison "I'm out of a job." Now, while part of me thinks its always horrible when someone loses their job, I just got the impression that these guys all had very well paid jobs but were probably doing bugger all to actually earn any of the wage they recieved, so therefore the railway would be much better off when these guys were sent packing, and to me, I think that points been vindicated.
The added competition from the likes of Frieghtliner HH and GBRf has cut down how successful EWS could have become, but at the same time its made them tighten their belts even harder and for me is still doing quite nicely. I also believe that once DB get to grips with the company they'll be even better.
I'd also add that the extra tight safety regime thats in place has helped to cut down the costs by a shed load cos there's nowhere near as many collisions and derailments as there used to be.
Its still not a complete bed of roses by a long chalk, and it probably never will be, but the bottom line is that people on the railway now have to "earn" their money, whereas in years gone by there was always the queens silver shilling to bale them out.
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29th April 2008, 15:33
