Northern Rail operations to be brought under Government control

[Mr Moose]

Failing private rail company fails once too often.

Northern: Rail firm brought under government control

The government is to take control of the troubled train operator after two years of passenger chaos.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[UrbaneFox]

It was totally crap. I felt sorry for the staff.

 

[stavros]

No doubt Grant Shapps has assigned his deputies Michael Green and Sebastian Fox to manage things in the interim.

 

[friedaweed]

What about the Southern Shambles and the West Coast Wankers, The Arriva Divas? Is it only the North that should be made an example of?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

What about the Southern Shambles and the West Coast Wankers, The Arriva Divas? Is it only the North that should be made an example of?

South Western Railway looks like it will be next. Just to spite you.

When this has happened before they wait till it’s working and turning a profit before handing it over to a bunch of spivs to suck the cash out and run the service down again...

 

[Mr Moose]

South Western Railway looks like it will be next. Just to spite you.

When this has happened before they wait till it’s working and turning a profit before handing it over to a bunch of spivs to suck the cash out and run the service down again...

Sadly yes. Hopefully enough time for Labour to get its act together and prevent it or for politics to change so no one would want to or dare.

 

[Lefty1992]

Great news. So glad I drive now and don't have to pay for overpriced, overcrowded, cold, always late and always cancelled trains. Northern are beyond terrible and so are rail services in the North. Hope this will now start a catalogue of train operators stripped of their contracts and taken into public ownership until we eventually see a fully re-nationalised British rail industry. Privatisation and the greedy companies that run our trains have failed. Now Mr Corbyn was not wrong about this one!

 

[AmateurAgitator]

‘We’re nationalising Northern Rail’, explains government that spent last month insisting nationalisation was ‘Marxist nonsense’

The government has announced it is nationalising Northern Rail, just a few weeks after telling the nation that nationalisation was nothing more than socialist nonsense proposed by a ‘magic gr…

newsthump.com

Just couldn't resist posting this

 

[ruffneck23]

Isn’t this just a drip drip of labours policy?

 

[weltweit]

My understanding is changing things with a railway is glacially slow (things like extending platforms for longer trains, or adding new services to take more passengers) so anyone hoping for a quick improvement in services might be rather disappointed.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Things like extending platforms for longer trains is not down to the operating company, that's down to Network Rail, which has been owned by the government since 2002.

 

[weltweit]

Things like extending platforms for longer trains is not down to the operating company, that's down to Network Rail, which has been owned by the government since 2002.

Aha, I just remember a tv programme about improvements on the railway, for example putting on more services or extending platforms and the like and these things all took years to achieve.

 

[The39thStep]

Aha, I just remember a tv programme about improvements on the railway, for example putting on more services or extending platforms and the like and these things all took years to achieve.

Successive Tory govts have been promising extensions to platforms at Piccadilly Manchester for years .

 

[muscovyduck]

There's something going down with the trains in Brum too, they got their PCC involved due to public safety concerns and everything

 

[brogdale]

Tories love the trains...you can tell...just look at their faces...



"...north England..."

 

[Smokeandsteam]

There's something going down with the trains in Brum too, they got their PCC involved due to public safety concerns and everything

Yes. Street has threatened to ask DfT to strip West Midlands Railway of their franchise unless the service improves. The last I saw he was inviting members of the public to give him their views. As Ruffneck suggests - taking Northern Rail into public ownership and threatening the same in the West Midlands - is smart politics. It moves the Tories firmly onto Labour territory on a popular issue and will play well with their new voters ('we are keeping our promises to the red wall etc').

It's also, by the way, the right thing to do.

The questions are: why haven't they done it in the last 10 years, will they use taxpayer money to improve services and then outsource it again and will they go further? The vacuum of power in Labour has been evident in their muted and incoherent response.

 

[Dogsauce]

.

The questions are: why haven't they done it in the last 10 years, will they use taxpayer money to improve services and then outsource it again and will they go further? The vacuum of power in Labour has been evident in their muted and incoherent response.

They have, East Coast was renationalised twice. Stay awake at the back!

First time they did it the government did a pretty good job of running it, before giving it to Branson who put up fares massively and still fucked it up and ran away when the losses mounted. It’s been taken back again but think they are using a third party to operate it on a contract rather than taking direct control as before.

 

[cupid_stunt]

They have, East Coast was renationalised twice. Stay awake at the back!

First time they did it the government did a pretty good job of running it, before giving it to Branson who put up fares massively and still fucked it up and ran away when the losses mounted. It’s been taken back again but think they are using a third party to operate it on a contract rather than taking direct control as before.

It's operated by London North Eastern Railway. which is owned by the Department for Transport.

 

[stavros]

James Cleverley seemed to trip over himself on Question Time last night, implying he would advocate for public transport nationwide to be set up like TfL. I suspect he may be getting a tongue-lashing from Dominic Cummings as a result.

 

[The39thStep]

James Cleverley seemed to trip over himself on Question Time last night, implying he would advocate for public transport nationwide to be set up like TfL. I suspect he may be getting a tongue-lashing from Dominic Cummings as a result.

If the Tories are clever then they’ll want to focus on keeping the W/class votes they won albeit on their terms in direct competition with Labour . Didn't Cummings recently come out with ‘we are going to implement a socialist economic programme centred on the working class.’ Or some other guff ?

 

[redsquirrel]

James Cleverley seemed to trip over himself on Question Time last night, implying he would advocate for public transport nationwide to be set up like TfL. I suspect he may be getting a tongue-lashing from Dominic Cummings as a result.

Why do you think that? Cummings politics are strange and less easy top pigeonhole than more Tory MPs.

 

[stavros]

Why do you think that?

Why do I think he'll be up for a bollocking? Because it sounded counter to Tory policy for the last thirty years, and from what I know of him Cummings is quite disciplinarian.

 

[redsquirrel]

Well whatever one thinks of Cummings he's hardly someone that is in harness to Tory policy for the last 30 years, see The39thStep's post

 

[Supine]

Tories love the trains...you can tell...just look at their faces...

View attachment 197171

"...north England..."

I hate those train cunts who sit on the outside seat so you can't sit next to them.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I hate those train cunts who sit on the outside seat so you can't sit next to them.

i think i'd sooner stand up than sit next to any of that bunch of twunts

 

[Artaxerxes]

i think i'd sooner stand up than sit next to any of that bunch of twunts

I'd listen to music and eat crisps really fucking loudly.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Why do I think he'll be up for a bollocking? Because it sounded counter to Tory policy for the last thirty years, and from what I know of him Cummings is quite disciplinarian.

Yeah but he's not a tory. If I had to guess I would say he's a fan of Xi Jinping; high-tech corporate fascism with a socialistic veneer.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I hate those train cunts who sit on the outside seat so you can't sit next to them.

Do you want to sit next to Javid?

 

[BigTom]

West Midlands Railway not going to be nationalised yet: West Midlands Trains to keep railway franchise for now