Privatisation of British Rail - Criticisms

Criticisms

The rail franchising system has in the past been a subject of criticism from companies, passengers, union leaders and some MPs. It has been said that the system is too complex and involves too many companies, some of which were sub contracted. This has led to confusions in responsibilities, incidents and incurring of high costs for companies and passengers. This is one of the reasons which led Network Rail to take in all responsibility of maintenance, whereas previously the company had subcontractors. Another example of a problem with the system involves GNER who went into bankruptcy protection after huge losses in money due to various payments.

Some observers — such as the rail journalist and author Christian Wolmar — argue that the whole idea of separating track from train operations in this way is fundamentally misconceived being based on the model of air transport, where the infrastructure, engineering and operational considerations are entirely different.

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