I havent had time to read the entire thread so I apologize if I'm going over ground that has already been covered. I would also like to add that I'm not sure whether I'm in favour of renationalisation or not but I wanted to talk about the comments that say it would be an organisational nightmare.
What is wrong with just doing it quite gradually? As Franchises are up for renewal they are just not put out to tender and pass automatically into a government controlled body. This could either be further subcontracted just for operations (for instance LOROL) or operated directly. I know perhaps there are political problems with changing governments on that long term approach, as until a majority of franchises pass back it is vulnerable to being re-franchised but I don't think it would be very messy or difficult.
As for ROSCO its really just a form of finance lease (note that the ROSCOs originally were just divisions of Banking Groups) What I mean by this is that ROSCOS dont just speculatively buy rolling stock and then find people to lease it, they simply provide the capital for specific requests from DFT / TOC. In this way its not that different to some other ways the government finances public spending while keeping the borrowing off the government statistics. (Note its not just governments that do this, many companies use finance leases instead of mortgages to make themselves look less geared) In fact theres no reason the ROSCOS couldn't continue - stock could of course gradually be replaced as it need to be renewed, or they could just be used as they are now as a method of financing which is essentially what they are.
Anyway just my feelings about how nationalisation could be pursued if someone had the desire.
What is wrong with just doing it quite gradually? As Franchises are up for renewal they are just not put out to tender and pass automatically into a government controlled body. This could either be further subcontracted just for operations (for instance LOROL) or operated directly. I know perhaps there are political problems with changing governments on that long term approach, as until a majority of franchises pass back it is vulnerable to being re-franchised but I don't think it would be very messy or difficult.
As for ROSCO its really just a form of finance lease (note that the ROSCOs originally were just divisions of Banking Groups) What I mean by this is that ROSCOS dont just speculatively buy rolling stock and then find people to lease it, they simply provide the capital for specific requests from DFT / TOC. In this way its not that different to some other ways the government finances public spending while keeping the borrowing off the government statistics. (Note its not just governments that do this, many companies use finance leases instead of mortgages to make themselves look less geared) In fact theres no reason the ROSCOS couldn't continue - stock could of course gradually be replaced as it need to be renewed, or they could just be used as they are now as a method of financing which is essentially what they are.
Anyway just my feelings about how nationalisation could be pursued if someone had the desire.