Re: Westrail : comparison to F.A.

["Reuben Farrelly" <reuben-news@reub.net>]

"Brown Family" <pcc@ocean.com.au> wrote in message:
> privatising the railways in Victoria was his idea that Labour fought
> hard against. There now seems to be some recognition in both parties
> that railways under private ownership is a good thing, and that
> government bureauocrats don't know how to buy a tram ticket let alone
> run them. Bracks and Batchelor seem to be exploring further
> possiblities that Kennett started and most likely would never have
> thought of.

...and now sits back and waits for our friend Rod Young to comment on how he
thought Kennett & the liberals was a good thing for railways afterall ;) ;)
<g,d,r!>

I don't think that Kennett had visions of railways being as succesful as it
looks like it might be.  I don't think he could have cared less whether it
did well or not since railways doesn't fit in with the popular and wealthy
image that he wanted Victoria to have.  After all, trains won't attract
nearly as many tourists as a Grand Prix ;)

 I also believe that for any sort of rail operation in private hands, they
have to run things efficiently and be somewhat customer responsive, unlike
the system under the old "Government days" where rail was a service to the
employees rather than the passengers {see the postings about extra services
for the sports which has been held recently as an example of where some
thought has gone into providing a better service).  Perhaps Kennett was
smarter than we thought though.  With the Government out of railways, it's
now not his job to make tough decisions such as to "increase efficiency"
through cutting jobs!

reuben