Rail Link Nationalised

It’s a disgrace that National Express have relinquished the London to Edinburgh route now they are having a tough time of it. When times were good National Express reaped the benefits of running the line. I’ve always thought that privatisation of the railways was wrong and that a poorer service has resulted for passengers. I worked in various roles for West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive for 14 years so saw first hand the disastrous effects on our transport of first the deregulation by the Conservatives of the bus services and then the privatisation of the railways. Now the government has had to pick up the pieces. The transport secretary, Lord Adonis, said the contract will be put back up for auction to private companies at the end of next year but it is expected to fetch much less than £1.4bn, leaving the state with a gap in its rail budget.  I’ve been astounded at the prices charged on this line, the complicated booking system which means that to get the cheapest fares, not only do you have to book online but also need to split your journey! At least we can celebrate it being in public ownership in the short term, even if it might have to revert back to the private sector.