5 ms·
The elephant in the room is that UK rail is too complex to be managed in siloes and it should be renationalised for the national good and to save money.
by flarg 5y ago
The elephant in the room is that UK rail is too complex to be managed in siloes and it should be renationalised for the national good and to save money.
- kmlx 5y agoJapan managed to do it just fine. Completely private, excellent service, fastest trains, huge infrastructure.
- theYipster 5y agoAs far as I've seen, Japan is the only country that can make a complex rail system work with private actors. There are many factors for this, including: 1. Japanese rail operators are in most cases multi-industry conglomerates that own land, surrounding infrastructure, hotels, retail, and more. 2. The national investment in rail in Japan is much greater than that in the UK. 3. Modern post-war Japan was literally built around the rail network, and this was not accidental nor a matter of happenstance. Rail access is ubiquitous across urban and suburban areas (not just in Tokyo,) and even rural rail services are in a different category than those in the UK.