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I've never understood how railways can be privatised; it's a natural monopoly. I can't decide I want to compete with this rail line and build my own rail line (
by askvictor 8y ago
I've never understood how railways can be privatised; it's a natural monopoly. I can't decide I want to compete with this rail line and build my own rail line (at least in most circumstances). And a London-Edinburgh line is not in competition with a London-Newcastle line.
- gkya 8y agoI'm not from the UK so maybe I am mistaken but AFAIK the railways belong to the govt but they outsource the operation of them and of trains, stations etc. And if they limit operation times too (so that you get some certain amount of time then everybody bids), I think that is a good model.
- askvictor 8y agoThis is how it works in Melbourne (actually, there is now a single company that runs the entire Metropolitan railway). Initially they split it into two companies each running half the city because competition. Because a train line on the east side of the city can compete with a train line on the west side. Now a single company runs both halves. I can't see how this is better than the government just running it.