3 ms·
Railways are also often unprofitable, even when a monopoly (because of inflexible ticket pricing and high amortisation, depreciation, and maintenance costs).
by qubex 7y ago
Railways are also often unprofitable, even when a monopoly (because of inflexible ticket pricing and high amortisation, depreciation, and maintenance costs).
- nogabebop23 7y agoha - maybe passenger service but not freight in north america!
- api 7y agoTransportation is critical yet often unprofitable, which is why it's usually heavily regulated and subsidized.
- mathieuh 7y agoFurther, it acts as a multiplier. Which is why I believe rail travel should be nationalised—very few people take a train for the sake of being on a train, people take trains to work or to spend money somewhere else. It makes no economic sense to insert competition into a natural monopoly whose main purpose is to multiply people’s productivity. Everyone loses out.
- api 7y agoThe only benefit and rationale for competition there is to prevent bureaucratic sclerosis. Its easy for any monopoly to become top heavy with corrupt or incompetent chair warmers who just extract from it and barely do their job.