No, I expect clarity from those that know. I expect accountability with billions of other people's money and I expect those trusted to deliver to simply do that. All you're doing is attempting to tell me I don't know anything - I am assuming you therefore are closer to the railway than a mere customer. Why don't you have a go at explaining why NR fails to deliver so consistently.... why not try to correct my misconceptions and misunderstandings, instead of just rubbishing them.
FWIW, and I have worked with many companies, from 100K + employees in fifty countries down to 1 (And I have acted on investments in, and acquisitions and disposals of, railways, airports, leasing companies (ships, planes, trains and lots of lesser transport assets, the problems in NR seem to stem from lots of things, poor quality leadership, a lack of accountability, little penalty if it goes wrong (financially or timewise they don't suffer), an enormous workforce that seems to be mainly subcontracted out, unrealistic expectations placed on it, but, if I liken it to BL and Ford and the British car industry in the 1970s, the problems were endemic and those inside refused to accept that they were the cause of, or at least not facilitating the solution to, many of the problems..... that is an outsider. If I am wrong, then why not suggest why I am wrong and maybe suggest some corrections.... but I suspect all you will do is give it that knowing "oh, look he's a fool, he hasn't got a clue...." approach - and not see that this is part of the problem.
Where I deal with NR professionally, I find them useless (And I chose the word carefully) - they are never available, they specialise in not being drawn on any point and everything takes longer than it should, with no explanation.
As for how management go home, you extrapolated into nonsense. Presumably in an attempt to divert, again. Many of them simply must go home and know what they are doing it substandard, but some don't change it (whether because they can't, or aren't bothered enough) and others no doubt genuinely do go home and say "you know what, this isn't good enough, what can I do and what will I do, to change it?". Which one would you be ? (even if your (notional your, not personally you) lucrative day rate depended on it ?)
Oh and some of them go home with knighthoods, for overseeing ridiculous cost and time overruns and horrific disruptions.
I completely agree with you