Railway nationalization refers to the act of nationalizing rail transport assets, taking them into public ownership. Several countries have nationalized part or all of their railway system at different times.
More recently, the international trend has been towards privatization. In some areas, notably Great Britain, resultant problems have led back to a more mixed solution.
National characteristics influenced the structures under which their respective rail networks originally developed. Some national railways were always under direct State management, some were State-planned but privately operated (as in France), others were wholly private enterprises lightly regulated (as in Great Britain, Ireland and Spain). Nationalisation was therefore a bolder step to take in some countries than in others. While ideology has played a role, so too has the need for systematic reconstruction of vital infrastructure devastated by war, often following a period of State control over private companies initiated during the conflict.
Read more about Railway Nationalization: Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
Famous quotes containing the word railway:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)