Re: Re-nationalisation of Rail in Britain?

[Barry Campbell <barryC@qimr.edu.au>]

Ian Jelf wrote:
> 
<snip>

> When I last posted to aus.rail, urgin Australia *not* to follow the UK's
> way of doing things too closely, I was taken to task for not recognising
> the differences between operating conditions in the two counties.
> However, when it all goes wrong (and I sincerely hope it won't), don't
> say you didn't see it in the Northern Hemisphere first.......
> 
The best example in the UK to compare with is EWS. If the entire non
commuter rail passenger network was closed in Australia it would have
negligible impact and the only place commuter services are ever likely
to be privatised here is in Melbourne.

EWS does seem to have made a difference. The aspect of UK privatisation
that Australia needs to avoid is the Railtrack type setup where the
infrastructure company is separate from the main operating company(ies).
While there is some of this happening here, I believe it is only an
interim step and vertically integrated rail systems in private hands
will ultimately become the norm.


Barry Campbell