Quote:
Originally Posted by jfman
They don’t have a manifesto yet, as has been pointed out to me so you are just speculating.
Simples is your understanding of macroeconomic theory, as I’ve been pointing all round this forum for months now.
Actually nationalising the railway can be done quite cheaply - the most costly chunk is already state owned - Network Rail.
The franchises can be replaced by state run TOCs as and when they come up for renewal. Saves the risk of the state bailing them out anyway and could reduce costs in the long run with a joined up approach to rolling stock. We could even build the trains here and pay British workers!
Of course your simplistic understanding of socialism vs capitalism wouldn’t comprehend this!
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The only part of the national railway network that remains fully privately owned is the rolling stock. Nationalising that wouldn’t be cheap. The information is hard to come by, but the combined value of the three big rolling stock leasing companies seems to be in the region of £8-9bn. Government could simply stop placing new rolling stock orders through the ROSCOs and in recent years has indeed placed some orders direct with manufacturers. But when you consider how much ex-BR stock is still on the network, it’s clear that privately-owned and leased stock is going to be part of our railway for many years. The stuff isn’t going to wear out any time soon and it would be a work of ideological folly to compulsorily purchase it. How many hospitals can you build for £9 billion?