tbtc
Veteran Member
Since I don't want to take the "Why are foreign nationalised railways seen in a better light than British Rail?"
thread (https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...n-in-a-better-light-than-british-rail.160593/) off topic, I thought I'd start a new one for this.
Which Government period was best for the railways overall?
Each period saw some highs and some lows - e.g. you can cherry-pick to make the 1980s Tories looks bad (closed Woodhead, threatened to close the S&C) or make them look good (ECML electrification, opening to Mansfield/ Bathgate, massive investment in Provincial DMUs) - and you could argue that some things happened *despite* politicians, rather than because of them.
But which Government was best for the railway? Would you rather have a Government that did little (like Labour under Blair/Brown) to one that did lots of different things (many good, many bad) like the previous Conservative administration?
For me, as a (nominal) Labour voter, I'd probably argue in favour of the Cameron/Clegg coalition as being the best time for rail - lots of proposals, lots of investment, some of the worst excesses of privatisation were curbed... but there's something good and bad about every Government.
(probably goes without saying, but this is just about railways, rather than a chance to debate other things that those Government or individual politicians did)
thread (https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...n-in-a-better-light-than-british-rail.160593/) off topic, I thought I'd start a new one for this.
Which Government period was best for the railways overall?
Each period saw some highs and some lows - e.g. you can cherry-pick to make the 1980s Tories looks bad (closed Woodhead, threatened to close the S&C) or make them look good (ECML electrification, opening to Mansfield/ Bathgate, massive investment in Provincial DMUs) - and you could argue that some things happened *despite* politicians, rather than because of them.
But which Government was best for the railway? Would you rather have a Government that did little (like Labour under Blair/Brown) to one that did lots of different things (many good, many bad) like the previous Conservative administration?
For me, as a (nominal) Labour voter, I'd probably argue in favour of the Cameron/Clegg coalition as being the best time for rail - lots of proposals, lots of investment, some of the worst excesses of privatisation were curbed... but there's something good and bad about every Government.
(probably goes without saying, but this is just about railways, rather than a chance to debate other things that those Government or individual politicians did)