Curiouser and Curiouser! on railways http://matt.blogs.it/ RSS feed for topic railways Copyright 2006 Matt Mower Squib/0.1 self@mattmower.com self@mattmower.com en-gb Away with your railways Mon, 19 Jan 2004 13:50:02 +0000 <p>It's funny, for years I have been a strong supporter of renationalizing the railways in the UK. As I listen to the government talking about bringing management of the railways back <em>in house</em> and talk of the public subsidy required to <em>to do the job</em> I realse I don't believe it any more.<p> <p>A subsidized railway is not free. It is paid for by our tax money. The goverment takes it from us, by force if necessary, and hands it over to companies over whom we have no control. More and more of it disappears into the sinkhole that is the British rail system every year. Yet have you heard even a single passenger trumpeting the improvements they have made?</p> <p>The government and the industry say it will cost billions of pounds and take many years just to get back to the levels of service everyone was complaining about before the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/hatfieldtraincrash/story/0,7369,995134,00.html">Hatfield rail crash</a>. I don't believe they will do it. I believe it is good money poured after bad.</p> <p>I think a significant aspect of the problem is that the Railway companies aren't as interested in the passengers as they are in pleading to government for more subsidy. In effect pleading for the government to rob us of more money, to hand over to them. Well I don't want to give it to them.</p> <p>Let me repeat that: <b>I do not want to give the government any more money for the railways!</b></p> <p>I think that the state cash supply for the railways should be turned off and as soon as is practical. Let them turn instead to their <em>customers</em> for their revenues. Let them persuade customers to pay for their services on a fair basis. All that tax money should be immediately returned to the tax-payer in the form of a cut in the basic rate of income tax, VAT, or National Insurance. Whichever will benefit the most number of people.</p> <p>To those who argue that prices would go up I say "I agree." If you want to use the railway then pay them. And you should have a little more money in your pocket to do so.</p> <p>To those who argue that the poor may not be able to afford it I say "I agree." This could be a problem. But I think that there are solutions to be found. Maybe people could come together to create purchasing blocks to force a better price from rail companies? They're surely going to need their business.</p> <p>And if, after all this, the railways can't survive. Then <b>let them die</b> and be replaced by something more fit to serve us.</p> <p>But don't keep lining their pockets with my taxes. It's not fair.</p> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00001837.html