http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/network-rail-lose-control-tracks-chris-grayling-a7458041.html Network Rail to lose complete control of tracks in Government shake-up Another half baked scheme from a government tinkering with the peripheries of a problem and coming up with yet another "opportunity to secure private sector investment". In any other words, an opportunity for some private companies to have access to vast sums of taxpayers (that's us) money and milk off huge profits for the benefit of their share holders and of course that all important "bottom line". The only solution solution to the growing difficulties of the railways, from the point of view of the travelling passengers and of the tax payers, is for the entire railway network, the rolling stock, the operators, the infrastructure the stations and everything else to be brought back into public ownership. For far too long, the private companies have enj...
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/hs2-cost-of-london-to-birmingham-leg-of-proposed-new-railway-a-third-higher-than-previously-a6734746.html Cost of London-to-Birmingham leg of proposed new railway a third higher than previously estimated Campaigners against the proposed HS2 railway line This insane waste of tax payers (that's us) money has not even started, and already we are being informed that the cost has increased to an estimated £80 billion. Osborne has promised "austerity" for the next 20 years in order to control government spending and "bear down"on the deficit, and yet the amount to be spent on this lunatic project increases almost monthly. Apparently, vast sums of money can de found for "prestige projects" to satisfy some politician's (and some business men's) ego's, but the country cannot afford to allocate, what in comparison, are modest sums for the provision of care for the elderly, or working tax cre...
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/aug/19/labour-transport-campaign-fight-rail-fare-price-rises?commentpage=1 Campaigners step up rail fares fight as prices rise again Fare to rise by another 6% Average ticket price has gone up 25% under coalition government. So has the subsidy that the taxpayer gives to these privatised parasites. Bring Back British Rail. If we are going to give subsidies, then at least we should be giving them to an industry that we own rather than pouring our money into the pockets of private businesses and their share holders.
What a good idea! . Bring back British Rail! "The train companies receive huge sums of taxpayers money in the form of grants every year. The train companies receive huge sums of money in the form of ticket charges, and every year inflate this ticket revenue with fare increases way above inflation levels. Every year, the train company "bosses" siphon off a large portion of this income to pay themselves six figure salaries and bonuses and to provide large dividends to their "investors". The rest of this taxpayer funded (one way or another) income is explained as being necessary for "investment projects" on the rail network. The only purpose of the privatisation of British Rail was to provide a bottomless pit of income for private companies and investors. It had nothing to do with "improving services and driving down costs" nothing to do with "providing value and saving money for the taxpayer" and it had nothing to do w...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/03/rail-state-control-ed-miliband?guni=Keyword:news-grid%20main-1%20Main%20trailblock:Editable%20trailblock%20-%20news:Position1:anchor%20image Bring rail under state's control to win back power Renationalisation of the rail network. "Bring the rail network back into national ownership if Labour wins the next election" A very good idea and a step in the right direction. The problem of course is that today's Labour Party, at least the leadership and the hierarchy of the party, lack the political will to take the necessary steps to bring about the return of this asset to public ownership. There are some industries which are far too important to society to be left to the vagaries of private enterprise. Privatisation has failed and penalised the consumer, the tax payer and the public in all of the industries privatised to date. For complete failure, we need look no further than British Rail. For exploita...
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jan/02/rail-fare-price-increases-condemned-passengers Consumer and campaign groups join passengers in condemning increases Let the train take the strain The train companies receive huge sums of taxpayers money in the form of grants every year. The train companies receive huge sums of money in the form of ticket charges, and every year inflate this ticket revenue with fare increases way above inflation levels. Every year, the train company "bosses" siphon off a large portion of this income to pay themselves six figure salaries and bonuses and to provide large dividends to their "investors". The rest of this taxpayer funded (one way or another) income is explained as being necessary for "investment projects" on the rail network. The only purpose of the privatisation of British Rail was to provide a bottomless pit of income for private companies and investors. It had nothing to do with "improv...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/09/rail-transport-transport Season tickets for part-time workers and cheaper fares out of rush hours are part of a new look for the rail fare system Too little, too late. This "sweetener" does nothing to address the fundamental problem of the train companies abusing their monopolistic position in constantly raising fares above and beyond the level of inflation and at the same time taking more and more money from the tax payer in the form of "rail subsidies", most of which goes directly into the pockets of the rail companies shareholders.
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/04/29/ed-miliband-these-are-the-six-bills-labour-would-push-right-now/#comment-444521 Ed Miliband: these are six economic Bills Labour would push right now Ed Miliband will today set out six of the key economic Bills that would appear in a Labour Queen’s Speech next week. Sorry Ed. Just more of the same old tinkering with the problem.There is nothing here to inspire me to rejoin or vote for the Labour Party. Try these instead. Housing: Local Councils in conjunction with Housing associations, to commence building of social housing for rent. Banking: Retain existing publicly owned Banks within public and re nationalise Bank of England. New State controlled bank(s) to provide low cost (interest) loans to small business employing less than 500 employees. Energy: To take back into public ownership the providers of Gas and electricity and water. Transport: To return to public ownership the former elements of British ...