This from Rose Hill...
In the very week that the European Commission publishes its Recast of the First Railway Package, is it any co-incidence that ATOC publishes its proposals to re-monopolise the UK rail sector?
Around a third of UK franchises are now owned, or partly owned by European state owned railway companies, who make no secret of their dislike of liberalisation.
Imagine the joy if the UK turned its back on it after all and went back to those heady days when we all worked together in a single company in a low cost, cheap and cheerful, kind of way.
Except of course there would have to be more regional companies now – a German one, a French one, a Dutch one and so on.
Of course that would be ok, because they’re all used to working together.
The French and German governments in fact met recently to discuss their opposition to the Recast and by sheer chance, SNCF have now discovered that it will be far too expensive to operate passenger trains in Germany after all. Just fancy that!
Mind you, at least the state owned passenger operators have extensive experience of managing track and signalling, unlike the bus companies who run the other two thirds of the franchises…
