Fantasy: If National Rail was renationalised, how would YOU run it?

[21C101]

BR survived because of the staff, that I have no doubt about. In the end, the staff were pulling out daily miracles to have the service run. Thatchers government at the time was hell bent on privatisation but just missed out. The Tories then, quite unexpectedly, won another term. The writing was then on the wall for BR. After chronic under funding for years and years, we are lucky to still have a railway network.
Private companies did not cause a resurgence for the railways, that happened due to several things including a booming economy and chock o' block roads. All they have done is get very rich without actually doing much. Let's face it, if I had the funds and the go-ahead, I could lease a trainset and some on train staff, send it out each day to make money, bring it back in and service it for tomorrow. A very simplistic view I know, but this is actually what they do. Take the Sleeper contract. Serco won this with a tonne of fancy promises, but all they boil down to is an outsourcing of just about everything to other companies. Maintenance, hospitality, food & drink etc etc are all being farmed out to what they call 'our industry partners'. Serco take all the plaudits, but are in fact running the service with other sub contractors who are possibly paying a lot less to the staff than the going rate, although this of course, is pure speculation on my part.
This is business, pure and simple. Make money for everybody involved, especially the fat cats who broker the deals in the first place. The rich get richer and the Tories keep all their wealthy mates swelling the party funds to keep them in.
It absolutely stinks!

Thatcher was hostile to the idea of rail privatisation because it didn't stand on its own two feet without a subsidy, so would amount to government subsidising private companies to run it.

It was the idiots Major and Heseltine who privatised it.

Thatcher rejected Serpell and gave stable, if parsimonious, funding to the railways in five year plans, ending previous governments chaotic practice of varying funding year to year with little notice and authorised a hell of a lot of investment (East Coast Main Line, Southampton/Eastleigh-Portsmouth, Oxted-East Grinstead electrification; total renewal of provincial rolling stock etc. several very large resignallings), and also allowed a large amount of station and some line openings, including letting the private member speller experimental reopening act pass.

Her government also appointed competent businessmen to head up the company (the two Robert Reids) and generally left them to get on with it and make efficiencies such as sectorisation. In many ways it was a golden era.

Has to be said that the railways under Thatcher compared with the Railways under Heath/Wilson/Callaghan is a bit like comparing the NHS in England now with the NHS in Wales now.

 

[Bodiddly]

Thatcher was hostile to the idea of rail privatisation because it didn't stand on its own two feet without a subsidy, so would amount to government subsidising private companies to run it.

It was the idiots Major and Heseltine who privatised it.

Thatcher rejected Serpell and gave stable, if parsimonious, funding to the railways in five year plans, ending previous governments chaotic practice of varying funding year to year with little notice and authorised a hell of a lot of investment (East Coast Main Line, Southampton/Eastleigh-Portsmouth, Oxted-East Grinstead electrification; total renewal of provincial rolling stock etc. several very large resignallings), and also allowed a large amount of station and some line openings, including letting the private member speller experimental reopening act pass.

Her government also appointed competent businessmen to head up the company (the two Robert Reids) and generally left them to get on with it and make efficiencies such as sectorisation. In many ways it was a golden era.

Has to be said that the railways under Thatcher compared with the Railways under Heath/Wilson/Callaghan is a bit like comparing the NHS in England now with the NHS in Wales now.

I did say Thatchers government, not her. That was just another nail in her political coffin. Her ministers at this stage were conspiring to get rid of her.

 

[BR Class 1.618]

Inevitably, though with a large, government-run organisation, like BR, the competitive advantage for supply and demand is completely demolished. There is nothing like having competitors compete for a service. Although current service by the TOCs may be appalling sometimes (very often...), they compete to provide better, service. Indeed, the reinstatement of BR would have some wonderful advantages, but I cannot say that those completely outweigh the potential problems.

 

[Busaholic]

Inevitably, though with a large, government-run organisation, like BR, the competitive advantage for supply and demand is completely demolished. There is nothing like having competitors compete for a service. Although current service by the TOCs may be appalling sometimes (very often...), they compete to provide better, service. Indeed, the reinstatement of BR would have some wonderful advantages, but I cannot say that those completely outweigh the potential problems.

The only real competition I see is to win the franchise, which as they used to say about ITV was a licence to print money, all the risk side being with us, the taxpayers, in the knowledge that if the franchise proved to be less profitable than originally estimated it could be handed back at miniscule financial cost or, in the case of FGW, an extension could be renegotiated where the DoT pay you rather than the other way round. You don't even have to do anything as drastic as ditch the franchise, as there are so many ways of increasing the price of tickets, especially to the captive market i.e. those who depend on trains to get to work, which can run rings around so-called fare regulations, knowing that in 95% of cases with no competition in effect people have to put up with it.

 

[Helvellyn]

Well the first thing I'd want to avoid is a massive rebranding for the sake of it!

I'd look at replicating the NR/SWT style alliance as regional companies within the nationalised whole.

Greater Anglia
Current franchise would be branded as 'Great Eastern Railway' within new structure. New 5-car InterCity EMUs for London-Norwich, with galley kitchens for First Class and a small cafe bar for Standard. Current c2c franchise would become partof the GER organisation to help reduce back office costs, but would have a separate brand identity to the public (Essex Thamesside Railway).

East Coast
I'd allow the franchise to be branded as 'Great Northern Railway' and be made up of the current East Coast. In addition, the TSGN services remaining in/out of King's Cross once Thameslink is complete would transfer to GNR, operated with 5-car InterCity EMUs - in essence non-stop to Cambridge and limited stop to Peterborough. I'd also consider transferring from Northern the regional services for the North East (Durham/Northumberland plus Newcastle-Carlisle).

East Midlands Trains
Pretty much as now but rebranded as 'Midland Railway' to renew historic link. Norwich-Liverpool would be split and not remain with with MR.

London Midland/West Coast/TransPennine
Operation revives 'London Midland Scottish' brand. Encompasses current Virgin operation plus LM's Class 350 operations plus the services through New Street. TransPennine services from Manachester to Scotland would also be added to the company. I'd also consider transferring Cumbrian Coast, Leeds-Carlisle, Leeds-Morecambe, Lancaster-Morecambe and Windermere services (cut back to Lancaster) to LMS to allow Northern to focus more on the central TransPennine belt (this assumes North East services have gone to GNR too).

CrossCountry/TransPennine
Combine the rump of XC and TPE minus the services transferred to EMT (XC) and LMS (TPE). Would also operate Liverpool-Nottingham (taken on from EMT), but route would be split. Not sure of a single name for the company - CrossCountry Railways or even Regional Railways! This is one company that wouldn't have an infrastructure side being just a train operating company. Some route changes: -

• Liverpool - Nottingham
• Cardiff - Leicester (Current Cardiff - Nottingham cut back to Birmingham and combined with Birmingham - Leicester)
• Birmingham - Norwich (Remnant of Cardiff - Nottingham from Birmingham combined with Nottingham - Norwich)

Chiltern/London Midland
Current Chiltern operation plus Snow Hill/Moor Street operation of LM. Again, not sure of a brand name for the company - Great Central? (But may not please everyone!)

Great Western
Branded as Great Western Railway, and largely as now. Exceptions being Cardiff - Portsmouth (which I'd transfer away as Bristol - Portsmouth) and Reading - Guildford - Gatwick Airport.

South West Trains
Take the NR/SWT internal branding and the company becomes 'South Western Railway' to the public. As now, but takes on Portsmouth - Bristol (curtailed from Cardiff from GWR) and Reading - Guildford - Gatwick Airport. As primary operator of Salisbury - Bristol route option to run more Waterloo portions.

Thameslink/Southern
The Super franchise would remain, but would lose services already mentioned under East Coast to GNR to restrict North of the River to Thameslink core plus the Hertford Loop into Moorgate. Operation branded as 'Southern Railway' for all operations.

South Eastern
Remians as now being the 'South Eastern Railway' and including the High Speed 1 services.

Scotrail / Welsh Railways
Pretty much as now but would be under Welsh and Scottish Government control.


Priorities
Well I wouldn't be a dictator, but the National Railways Board would set guidance and direction, plus take on the role of ATOC for products.

Ticketing - Bite the bullet and bring in a new structure whereby All journeys booked as Singles, unless you buy Season tickets. Means that pricing would reflect when you travel. Standad Peak/Off Peak/Super Off Peak rules, and allow Off Peak to exist for arrivals into key cities say before 07:00.

Infrastructure - Look at the bottlenecks and have plans to eliminate over time. For example, on the South Western Railway plan for rolling scheme of flyovers - Woking, Basingstoke, St Denys, Barnes, Whitton, Feltham. Look at electrification on regional basis to fill the gaps logically. Again, using South Western Railway as an example do the in-fill third rail electrification of Wokingham-Ash and Shalford Junction-Redhill. Complete the electric spine a.c. conversion of Basingstoke to Southampton, but also electrify the SWR diesel lines on a.c. overhead. Would mean that Basingstoke - Laverstock - Redbridge is electrified as freight diversionary route. Plus allows Portsmouth-Bristol to be electric service.

 

[w0033944]

Greater Anglia
Current franchise would be branded as 'Great Eastern Railway' within new structure. New 5-car InterCity EMUs for London-Norwich, with galley kitchens for First Class and a small cafe bar for Standard. Current c2c franchise would become partof the GER organisation to help reduce back office costs, but would have a separate brand identity to the public (Essex Thamesside Railway).

5 cars would (as I understand it, being disabled and therefore not a rail user but merely an enthusiast) barely suffice for off-peak Ipswich-Norwich. You'd have to have two units for a large percentage of the time, and more so on the southern section.