This from report on a Labour Party conference fringe meeting...
While Labour didn’t want to “recreate British Rail”, Mr McDonald asked the audience not to decry the old days too much, arguing BR did an excellent job despite declining passenger numbers and low investment in its latter years.
Captain Deltic snorts, "the man's a crypto privatiser parroting the well-worn line of a declining industry!
"Ridership in 1983 stood at 18.3 billion passenger miles, Ridership in 1988/89 was 21.3 billion passenger miles. The ridership graph clearly declining rapidly upwards.
"As for low investment. East Coast main line electrification, new freight locos and wagons, 4500 new passenger vehicles ordered in the 10 years before privatisation etc etc.
"However, on reflection this resurgence did happen under Margaret Thatcher so I can see a certain sensitivity."
