David Benton wrote:there are also parrallels in the telecommunications and electricity industries , where private companies are forced to let competitors use their lines .
I dont understand how allowing more competition is somehow a "socialist idea " . and so what if it is anyway . you simply think if you can label something socialist , then its a bad idea , regardless of its merits .
I preferred the British Rail set-up. But it was starved of funds. Hence it ran its services very efficiently, the most economical system in Europe. Investment was difficult. They did electrify the East Coast mainline and a few other lines, but it turns out rather too cheaply as the overhead tends to blow down during gales.
The system introduced by the John Major government from some ideological motive has had positive and negative results. Positively the owners of the rolling stock have invested in new carriages. Almost the whole stock has been renewed. Negatively, the cost of using these new carriages is high, to make a profit for the banks that own them.
In general the cost of running the whole system is a lot higher and fares are very expensive, for walk-on fares. The cost to the tax payer is much higher than it was for BR.
But even with the higher fares, trains are full, demand keeps on increasing.
One factor in all European states is that they have to follow European Commission rules which require a division between the companies operating the trains, and the companies owning the tracks. This is required even if both are state owned. Thus British Rail would have had to be split anyway. In Italy, as in Britain, a company can propose a service on the track authority's tracks. Several examples of this can be found in Britain - such as Grand Central and Hull Trains.
A definite drawback to these new rules is the proliferation of contracts and legal documents and a loss of flexibility. Under BR a train could be diverted by simple internal procedures. Now the Operating company has to deal with the track owner and negotiate with other entities.
