> Track is what defines the railway, maximum speed, 85% of maintenance cost, etc. > UK tried to privatise it, but the firm collapsed and had to be nationalised

> Track is what defines the railway, maximum speed, 85% of maintenance cost, etc. > UK tried to privatise it, but the firm collapsed and had to be nationalised. Yes, absolutely. > What do private companies add, if on a good day they earn the profit and on a bad day tax payer picks up the tab. I think the best way to run a railway is to either completely nationalize it all under one roof, or then have it completely privatized, with a single company being responsible for everything. Yes, this would create regional rail monopolies, but OTOH they wouldn't be completely free to extract monopoly prices since there's still competition from other modes of transport (cars, airplanes, buses, trucks). The current UK system with a myriad public and private entities with very complicated contractual relationships is just a mess. Unfortunately it seems the EU is hellbent on imposing the same model across the EU.