I have touched on the problems of the rail industry on this blog before and the whole area surrounding Privatisation vs. Nationalisation. Well I think to someone in the Labour party may have been listening. We have a policy! And it’s crackin’ good un’ at that. An effective re-nationalise the Rail industry.

To remind you why this is such a cracking idea, here’s some reasons why:

1. The UK already has the most expensive rail fares out of any European nation
2. The UK is the only nation in Europe not to have a nationalised rail industry
3. UK rail users pay 10 times that of their Italian counterparts
4. The UK already subsidises Virgin by £1.4 billion (a company that should not receive a penny in my books)
5. For those who say Privatisation leads to better organisation, think again
6. Estimates figure that £1.2bn of public money has been lost each year as a direct result of privatisation and fragmentation, money that could have allowed fares to be 18% lower than at present.

In a nutshell, Privatisation has indeed failed for the rail industry. There’s no real ‘choice’. If I want to get a train from Birmingham New Street to Manchester Picadilly I can only go via CrossCountry and if I want to get a train from Birmingham New Street to London Euston I can only go via Virgin trains.

As a semi-regular train user, this is a brilliant step in the right direction for Labour and the rail industry. Hell extend it to Buses as well!

Max