>For me rail pre-privatisation was terrible. By the end of WW2 the railways were worn out and the the response was to close half of the network!
Did you really just try to blame WW2's effect on the rail network on nationalization?
>However, now there is a huge increase in passenger numbers on UK rail. This is a success story.
The housing crisis caused people to move further out and commute leading to a huge increase in passenger numbers. The housing crisis is not something I'd characterize as a "success" - unless you happened to own inner city property, in which case, congratulations on your unearned payday.
>Did you really just try to blame WW2's effect on the rail network on nationalization?
No. I think you are stretching that a bit. The response too the post war disrepair by the nationalized BR was to close the network rather than make investment needed to put it right. Britain is criss-crossed by closed railway lines. The attitude of 'lets close stuff until we can afford the upkeep' was not reversed until privatisation.
>The housing crisis....
The housing crisis may be part of the issue. Another part is London centric planning. Why do so many of the workforce have to travel to the centre of London to sit at a computer screen and answer the phone? I recently had to pay £200 to catch a train to London to meet an ERP consultancy who had moved into The Shard for prestige...but practically they could have been anywhere with decent internet...The same point to the poster who mentioned London Overground. Yes loads of money is thrown at London transport, and because of that public ownership has been successful, I just can't see it happening the same way in the midlands. You mention Livingstone, didn't his transport czar try and sell private bonds in London underground? It was blocked by Blair/Brown if you remember. Again this was ideological rather than practical.
Up here, a couple of hours out of London, the trains are much, much better since privatisation. I have no ideological view on either method of ownership, just my experience of riding on them. Yes the government keeps making a hash of awarding franchises. But if they can't award a franchise properly, how can you ask them to actually run it.
Now perhaps we can agree on one thing, can we cancel HS2 and get Hyperloop instead?
Did you really just try to blame WW2's effect on the rail network on nationalization?
>However, now there is a huge increase in passenger numbers on UK rail. This is a success story.
The housing crisis caused people to move further out and commute leading to a huge increase in passenger numbers. The housing crisis is not something I'd characterize as a "success" - unless you happened to own inner city property, in which case, congratulations on your unearned payday.