Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDaddy
May require customers to pay more, iirc virgin have increased prices twice already, cut staff and messed about with the times you can book a cheaper ticket. Just because things were bad before most of us were born there's no reason nationalisation today has to echo the bad old days.
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Sorry, but as a regular user of the west coast mainline since the very earliest days of privatisation, I have had a chance to see, up close and personal, what state BR left it in and how Virgin has turned it round. They didn't mess about with the WCML; they rescued it. They are in rail to develop sustainable business models for the long run (unlike the last two companies that took on the ECML who greedily over-bid for a franchise arrangement that carried very little risks if/when it failed to come off). Yes, if that costs more, then those who use the service are going to have to pay for it. If it was over-manned (a common problem in state-run concerns) then some people are going to lose their jobs. If the concession tickets are excessively generous, then there will be fewer of them. The railways have a social purpose but they must pay their way as far as possible, and my experience of Virgin on the west coast is that they are going to be able to deliver that.