I’m appalled. I was not aware of this. I would like to raise the case of the NE rail line which was handed back to the Govt. by 2 rail franchise operators who couldn’t make a profit. I think the line gave £4billion to the exchequer. Greed perhaps?
Also, I lived in Germany for a few years and if it was going to be a nice weekend the Govt. would make sure extra trains were laid on and discounts offered. Contrast that with the UK where Railtrack charges the train operators more money if they put on more trains. And privatisation wasn’t the explicit instruction from Brussels. That’s why our utilities and railways have foreign nationalised companies running/owning them
“The total amount of money wrongly claimed by the train operating company stands at a staggering £64 million—resulting in a £23.5 million fine”
This has made me rethink bank robbery, seems like a good idea now.
I assume if I manage to bag £100k the fine will only be £38k.
£62k profit, sweet!
Every government for the last 30 years has been clear: they will subsidize and bail out private TOCs but not public ones. I don’t know why. I don’t care why. If they weird pretence of privatisation is what’s needed to get railways working, I’m ready to make my peace with it.
3 comments
I’m appalled. I was not aware of this. I would like to raise the case of the NE rail line which was handed back to the Govt. by 2 rail franchise operators who couldn’t make a profit. I think the line gave £4billion to the exchequer. Greed perhaps?
Also, I lived in Germany for a few years and if it was going to be a nice weekend the Govt. would make sure extra trains were laid on and discounts offered. Contrast that with the UK where Railtrack charges the train operators more money if they put on more trains. And privatisation wasn’t the explicit instruction from Brussels. That’s why our utilities and railways have foreign nationalised companies running/owning them
“The total amount of money wrongly claimed by the train operating company stands at a staggering £64 million—resulting in a £23.5 million fine”
This has made me rethink bank robbery, seems like a good idea now.
I assume if I manage to bag £100k the fine will only be £38k.
£62k profit, sweet!
Every government for the last 30 years has been clear: they will subsidize and bail out private TOCs but not public ones. I don’t know why. I don’t care why. If they weird pretence of privatisation is what’s needed to get railways working, I’m ready to make my peace with it.