[danielf]

Originally Posted by homealone

I read an article recently that said the performance had increased since they took track maintainance back 'in house', so the Network run by the Govt. would seem to be a good idea.

I'm not sure about the franchises - the problems with running a public service using private companies is, imo, that the shareholders may get 'priority' over the customers & employees can get the worst deal of all? Having said that, the concept of competion improving efficiency can't be ignored.

Perhaps we could also think less about innovation - like higher speeds & tilting - and concentrate more on getting what we have now, working properly?

Frankly, one wonders how competition has increased efficiency. The British rail system is one of the most expensive (and dilapidated) in the developed world. And it's about a decade behind continental Europe when it come to high speed trains.