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The fact that there is no work for Alstom to do because our government refuses to invest in the railways is damning. I hope they have enough cash reserves to hold out till a labour government comes in. Though even they will not do anywhere near what is required.

Have we ever had a boring reliable railway? Going way back we have always had companies failing, merging, reorganised, nationalised, privatised, but never organised. I think we almost had it just before privatisation when BR was sectorised.

just been on my first train ride in Spain, the last train journey was from new street birmigham about 20 years ago. Couldnt believe how easy it was, car park at the station underground, walked out into about 6 rows of trains in a straight line, pretty much like boarding a plane with security checks etc. found right coach numner, seat number easily, nice and comfy, powwer sockets, wifi. Travelled 200km in 45 mins to cordoba from malaga in concorde nosed thing. perfect time to the minute. Id do it again haha. It did make me realise how it connects cities, I actually travelled 200km to buy a van, makes it feel practically next door.. oh cost 25euros, not sure how that compares nowadays

Hello Nigel and Richard, a "Rail" subscriber here. So this is where you Nigel have disappeared to. Green Signals fell into my feed a few days ago and I have started at the beginning and intend to work my way through all the episodes.This is wonderful stuff and the pair of you obviously have a chemistry which lightens the episodes and makes them thoroughly enjoyable. I don't know so I am only guessing that this project is extremely time consuming, especially at the rate of one a week. At the moment I have just viewed your Q & A at Christmas and that was terrific. I am so glad, but not surprised, that you both chose Sir Peter Parker as the person you would have most liked to have worked with. I think the word you were both struggling with to describe him was charismatic. He had such charisma that even the unions respected him which was unheard of. Nigel, your anecdote about him on the Windermere steamers I had heard from you before in the pages of "Rail" but it was lovely to hear it again. His son Nathaniel is a half decent actor also. This is a very informative and enjoyable watch so keep up the pressure on politicians (particularly HS2). I now look forward to catching up on all the episodes since Christmas. Nigel, what is that brew you sip very leisurely? Is it a local Lincolnshire brew? You do seem to be enjoying yourself and long may it continue.

"Which class of British Rail locomotives only had a single member of the class?" Class 89.

British Rail's policy of cascading stock, in my view, was excellent. I used to live in Burnham on Crouch and our line, the Southminster branch was electrified. The initial stock was old slam door units, but they were faster, quieter and the service frequency was doubled. We thus had a massive improvement over the old diesel service at minimum cost. The electrification works were completed quickly, too using the line as a test for a new piling method- thank heavens the DfT didn't stick their nose in. The fragmented railway today hasn't a clue. As this week's question specified BRITISH RAIL (not British Railways), 89001 Avocet has already been answered, otherwise there would have been loads, like E2001, All the gas turbine locos, and some pre-nationalisation locos.

On have a 'rolling stock strategy', the Hitachi 800s have become almsot the standard UK intercity train now. How come we never had a similar scheme to replace the sprinter (and networker series). Instead we've had a myriad of bespoke relatively small orders all with different couplig/mu standards, different maintenance regimes etc. its like the lessons of the pilot diesels has been forgotten. You think there would at least he some basic stands in place for coupling and MU working, cab layouts etc

Heard about you on the Times radio interview with Lord Vazey. Glad to be aboard.

Hello gentlemen, another entertaining episode. On the subject of Public/Private ownership I would like to make a couple of comments. Nigel, on your assertion that if services were brought in house as contracts expired then costs would inevitably drift upwards. Some knowledgeable reports that I have read in the last few years have stated that the cost of running the railways has increased significantly following privatisation with one report stating that the cost is double that of BR. Now we all know that BR was deliberately starved of cash but if it had been allowed the level of funding today? Inter-City was actually making a profit but sectorisation was only just gathering momentum when privatisation occurred. If Dft set up a Railways Board with a set budget and total autonomy with the likes of Lord Peter Hendy as Chairman surrounded by the likes of Chris Green, Alex Hynes, and Andrew Haines et al (today's personalities) and all income going to this Board, why would it not work better than it is today? The Government would need to be as generous in setting a budget with a public body as they have been with the private companies. If not then why not? Then all of the problems of trying to solve the competing interests issues would go away. Incidentally Nigel, I have watched most of these episodes from the beginning and I am surprised at how much credit you, and Richard to a lesser extent, give to the way BR used to do things and what they achieved. The latest in this episode was their very sensible rolling stock strategy. Yes, the railways had one under BR!!! If we had a BR, then how could things possibly be worse than they are today? Without you realising it I think you are both closet BR supporters!! I'm with Richard when it came to that bored expression. Absolutely priceless humour! I just love your channel, so keep it coming.

The priority should be the reintegration of the railways into one arms length body owned by the state but given autonomy to manage its own affairs similar to DSB Serbia Voz or any of the host of nationalised railways around the world All talented individuals should be recruited into it and any retired should be encouraged to come in as advisors until it gets going The contracts should just be terminated instantly and the Rolling stock companies should be seized

Green Signals came up as a recommendation on KZfaq and I'm glad it did. Great to hear two people with a wealth of knowledge talking about the rail industry. The boom and bust of rolling stock replacement is nothing new, in the late 90's there was the thousand day famine leading up to privatisation where we lost Metro-Cammel and before that there was the great lull in the late 60's following modernisation. Richard is right that a rolling stock strategy is needed allowing the cascade of units and coaches but currently the TOC's wand new tailored to there own niche needs which makes these useless for other parts of the network, Mark 5 coaches the perfect example.

There is 1 HUGE Difference between West Coast and the others. For the exemption then you need a PLAN and TIMESCALE for fitting. West Coast have NO Plan for CDL and NO Timescale. West Coast argument is that we do not need to fit CDL as Secondary Door Locking is enough. As such they have no plan or timescale so don’t get the exemption. What West Coast SHOULD have done is prepare the plan and timescale and submitted to ORR. Whilst doing this then also sought a review as to wether CDL needed at all. However whilst seeking that review they would still have the required Plan and Timescale to meet the exemption requirement.

Duke of Gloucester71000 and Lickey Banker 58100 were both sole members of class.

Hey guys! Another brilliant episode. Thanks for the shout-out regarding my comment, that really made my day! 🙂 Any news on Huw Merrimans' availability for his interview, I'm really looking forward to that one! 🤞

Another great episode guys - Thank you

Another great episode guys, hugely interesting and on topic. Your banter is brilliant too. All the best

I found this episode very interesting i found this post by chance and have now subscribed to your site 👍 For several years now i have been following NODROG on utube Anyway its interesting to hear your points on rail investment in not only Derby , but also in rolling stock procurement , I always try to watch parliament channel especially when its transport questions having watched last Thursday's debate 16th may , a majority of majority of question were about anything that goes on down south I remember 1 question about the northwest - about the option of re- opening the burscogh curve that comes out of southport i think it was hew meeiman that answered and said its down to the local authority Anyway ill be watching more of your posts from now on Regards Andrew A northerner

By chance this popped up in my feed, subscribed!

Just so you know the super duper new mega rail terminal in the post of Southampton was ummmmmm always there, all they have done is move the fueling area to the other end and extend the loading platform so container trains don`t need to shunt to fit in, yes the track work has changed but not much, you still can`t get longer trains in or out as the line of route determines this NOT the terminal, The terminal in the Western dock already handles the max liner length which is around 104SLU

I'd take the comment about the Health Service currently as not being valid. Part of the reason it has gone downhill is because so much of it is now privately contracted out. The problem is you don't know which bits are franchised or contracted. For example, all ambulance services are private contracts but an ambulance still looks like an ambulance and you still ring 999 to get it. Worth saying too that in 2010 the NHS had its highest user satisfaction rating since records began, 14 years later its at its lowest and it isn't even costing less.

Enjoy the banta very much . Having read the comment its amazing how much people engage with heratage and steam trains ( still) but good to see viewers/subscriber going up .

Another great show keep up the good work

How are we defining 'British Rail'? the 89 is one answer but Falcon did sneak into the British Rail era even if it didnt actually carry its tops number.

What I think is needed is train companies themselves along with the DfT need to be open about new trains, when they are expected etc… I asked Northern and they said last year Sprinters have been refurbished and not being replaced and DfT said “all 15X trains are to be replaced” but they also later said when asked further about North East that some areas in Northern may not see new trains but diesel trains cascaded from elsewhere and refurbished. Thats from an FoI. The mixed messaging and lack of transparency really damages the public debate.

Either class 89 or the unique 8P Duke of Gloucester steam engine. Both were built by BR, but perhaps the 89 was built by British Rail, whilst The Duke was built by British Railways!?

Two answers spring to mind for the quiz. Class 89 electric Avocet. BR Class 8 "Duke of Gloucester". I'm sure there'll no doubt be some sneaky way that neither of these counts.

You could argue that the class 87/1 only had one member i.e. 87101 but 53 and 89 are probably better answers!

I’m going to go for the class 140 prototype pacer built at the factory under discussion litchurch lane in Derby while BREL no 140001 now under preservation at Dufftown

Love these, been trying to figure where I know the voice from.... was it the model rail dvds from a number of years back

Great episode again. For the class of locomotive, I would say it was the class GT3!

Competition: Steam: 71000 Duke of Gloucester Diesel: 05 001 ( others were built but only that one received the TOPS number ) I am discounting the various one off prototypes because they all remained in the ownership of their manufacturers. Electric: 89 001 Now, out of those three... the the question specifically stated "British Railways" therefore 71000 has to be the answer since that formal name had changed before the TOPS numbering scheme made the 05 unique - let alone the 89...

It's quite nice in Edinburgh this evening. Tomorrow is however forecast to be very dreich.

Class 89. Quiz answer. Duke was British Railways, not British Rail. Vince C

Quiz question... Duke of Gloucester was built by British Railways, not British Rail. I think the only one-class-member loco built by British Rail was the class 89 electric loco No. 89001. And as usual, a great listen, albeit a rather depressing one for someone who spent his working life in Derby. Cheers, Rob

If the manufacturers also serviced the trains at some of these building sites, that would help with long term? Look at Hitachi on the east coast, there isn’t enough room at Doncaster & Edinburgh to service the trains, why not use Acliffe too?

Can you have a "Sole member of a class", since only one was built it failed to be a class? and he did say British Rail (not railways).

There ought to be a simpler means of fitting central locking which can be done on overhaul. Mark 1 EMU stock had three window bars at the end of its working life.

Another great episode. Are West Coast Railways ever going to be out of the news this year? 😅

I can think of 2, Class 89 and Class 53 each had a single member. Avocet and Falcon respectively.

Really impressed with your subs and views uplift, shows people are appreciating your content and wanting more. The rolling stock situation is very depressing but can't see much changing soon. Attitude of Mark Harper was pretty poor. Agree with Richard that the right people make all the difference to an organisation. Leadership can enable staff empowerment which benefits morale and improves customer engagement. Noticed that scot gov has stopped freight grants to enable transfer from road, going against climate change policy. Especially poor after good publicity of highland spring sidings. Quiz answer seems likely to be class 89 to me.

Pity we can't get Siemens to sub-contract the building of the new tube trains to Derby. That could give us two benefits - work in Derby and new trains for the Bakerloo a lot quicker than might happen with production only in Germany. Yes, I know it's as much a question of who's going to pay, but travellers in NW London are a bit sick of having the oldest trains on the network. It happened with the A Stock on the Met and now it's the 1972 stock on the Bakerloo (plus of course the 1973 stock into Rayners Lane etc.). I suppose the North of England equivalent was having to ride in bus-style Pacers for yonks after they were due for the scrapyard.

APT-E - only one trainset was built, where 3 of the APT-P's were constructed.

You two are one hell of a double act, keep it up guys.

North Norfolk Railway sometimes run a rake of MK1s to Cromer as a special even and to my knowledge they don’t have CDL either

One has to ask the question how much land that was previously used solely for rail traffic has been gobbled into this new Solent terminal, which will now gain more than its fair share of road access for HGV s to come and gazump the traffic before the leftovers are reluctantly loaded to rail.Someone needs to pass law's to stop this plundering of the facilities that are built for rail traffic by the road industry , lorries should only be used for the last 25 - 30 miles of any shipment to get trucks off the roads for all to benefit .

Hello Richard & Nigel, another great podcast. I do think Alstom in some respects are shroud waving & have to question its management in getting themselves in to such a mess. Stadler seems to be doing well, selling to all & sundry, why can’t Alstom? I feel deeply sorry for the workforce at Derby who havre been let down so badly by the firm & DfT it’s not the workforce’s fault. We’re supposed to have a ship building strategy, a defence procurement strategy, we don’t even have a manufacturing strategy as all governments have failed in this regard. I remember watching the manufacturers at a Transport Committee hearing talking about accessibility, they were all talking about jam tomorrow in regard to level boarding. It seems the new CAF trains for LNER come in a lower floor model,so level boarding is possible but LNER haven’t chosen them nor Avanti with their Hitachi trains. I’m afraid the whole U.K. rail industry needs sorting out in regards to level boarding & accessibility in general. On a new WMR train to Worcester the other day the information screens had orange letters on a white background more style of substance & not accessible. Thanks once again for a great podcast.

The tragedy for UK manufacturers nowadays is that they don't seem to be able to create overseas orders to bridge the gap. Virtually all other manufacturers outside the UK have created significant export business.

I would echo prevoius answers of the class 89 as well. Built after "british railways" became "british rail" in 1965 and only one of the class exists 89001. Do we gets marks for showing our working out? 😄

Much as its encouraging to hear about the new railfreight terminal in Southampton, it is somewhat discouraging to think that it will likely be served exclusively by diesel haulage- both due to electrification gaps between the south coast and the west midlands and due to the absence of locomotives allocated in the area that could work around these gaps... Perhaps there might be a use for an electro-diesel design (effectively a class 73 on steroids) to get freight moved from Southampton at least as far as Reading (where presumably a class 88 or similar could take over)

My considered guess for the quiz is "Duke of Gloucester" 8P steam locomotive. I enjoy watching Green Signals. Thank you.

If public ownership is so bad why did they keep Transport for London under Gov control - because they needed it to work

What a great question I think I know the answer but I’ll leave it till later allow someone who doesn’t listen at my pace

We store loads and loads of unwanted cars on airfield sites…. We store loads and loads of somewhat unwanted trains on ex. M.O.D sites….. over production of non realistic needs.

Fastest finger on last week ooh the quiz good this week my first thoughts are ATP class 370 but that had 6 units built and formed. Back to the drawing board at the RTC

There's plenty of scope to undercut the competition. The real cost of a train is 3 or 4 times what it was in 1954, and from the passenger's point of view it is 3 or 4 times worse in terms of space, comfort and ambience. And a lot of modern trains are track bashers. Why? Do we really need large fleets of new trains? Stock should have a working life of 45 years - the last of the BR stock should still be around for another decade.

89001 for the quiz, led to the fleet of cl91’s.

SRPS & nymr mk 1’s (mainline stock) have bolts fitted to the doors. Secondary door locks.

I'm assuming CDL doesn't apply to heritage lines where the line speed is 25mph or less?

EMD supplied 250 locomotives in just two years and were put in service " out of the box " the UK can't do that anymore . With that fantastic effort, that manufacturing facility was run down . In Wales we have electric trains being built, no toilets and are so lightweight they will loose traction in the Autumn weather and will slide .

Gov attitude is clear. Rail investment inside London is completed. Rail investment outside M25 is patchy and frequently incomplete.

They can do what they want, PPE Procurement - Baroness Mone etc!

Derby has the disadvantage of being inland. There's no possibility of exports because of our small structure gauge and importing components is more expensive than to the assembly lines in Newport, Goole or Newton Aycliffe.

Are bogies still made in Derby or in the UK for Derby? Traction motors and electrical transformers for train already gone with Alstom's closure of the Preston plant 10 odd years ago now. What will happen is Derby will be run down for several years and when it reopens to fulful new orders all of the really valuable design and manufacturing will have gone and we'll be importing it from France and Germany while 600 people bolt bits and pieces together like they do at Hitachi.

Do you mean UK train manufacturing or train manufacturing in the UK because as far as I know UK train manufacturing ended decades ago?

Long answer as want to explain how got there. 71000 Duke of Gloucester has been pointed out cannot be the answer as whilst a one off it was built by British Railways and the question says British Rail. I personally don't have any issue with that as a reason. There were numerous one offs built in Britain over the years anyway. 89001 was indeed the sole member of Class 89. There is also however only a single BR Class 19 built as well so wouldn’t make class 89 the answer as both classes have single members and both are British Rail Classes. So the BR Class 19, 19001 is a tricky one in that is it a British Rail Locomotive? Well for that need to do a history lesson and apologise for getting really into Sir Humphrey Territory here 1470 and 1471 were the first of the Gresley A1 Pacific's with 1472 Flying Scotsman being the 3rd in the Class. The Difference between 1470/1471 and the rest of the Gresley A1 is that they were built by the GNR not the LNER as built before the LNER was formed. So if we take the argument given that 71000 built by British Railways not British Rail then would also be that 1470/1471 is a GNR locomotive not an LNER. 71000 transferred from British Railway to British Rail when the company changed its trading name, however it is argued that as built by British Railways then not a British Rail Locomotive. Indeed there is even the argument to be made that as the British Railways Board was the Company that owned and operated the railway network from 1948 until Privatisation however in 1965 they changed the Trading Name as opposed to the company name from British Railways to British Rail that the locos made whilst traded as British Rail are still actually British Railways loco's. The Railways Act 1993 (c. 43) was introduced by John Major's Conservative government and passed on 5 November 1993. It provided for the restructuring of the British Railways Board (BRB), the public corporation that owned and operated the national railway system. A few residual responsibilities of the BRB remained with BRB (Residuary) Ltd. Told you Sir Humphrey was about. Now the reason for going back to the Gresley A1 Pacific's is that they were also renumbered. 1470 becoming 4470 and 1472 Flying Scotsman being renumbered as 4472 and later to 60103 however everyone agree's are the same engines even though renumbered. 4471 was modified in 1948 by British Railways into a Gresley A3 Pacific. 4472 Flying Scotsman modified in 1928 by LNER. So would A3 4471 be a British Railways Locomotive or if it is argued that is when built is it still a GNR engine. Even though it had its Class Changed, Gresley A1 to Gresley A3 and has been renumbered. As a class with A3 modification process started by Gresley under LNER would be hard to argue that the A3's were a British Railways Class of Locomotive. However 4471 was still built under the GNR as an A1 before transferring to the LNER and renumbered as 4471 and then transferred again to BR where modified into an A3. But is is recognised as being the same item. It is generally accepted that a Locomotive Identity is it's Frame not its number, thus why even though Gresleys A1 Pacifics were renumbered and reclassed they still identified as the same locomotive Which is why it quite amusing when someone on KZfaq argued that Flying Scotsman should be returned to "As Built" and a wag (not me someone beat me to it) pointed out so you want it rebuilding as A1 1472 which wasn't what the person actually wanted. Basically they wanted the A3 Apple Green 4472 without Smoke Deflectors and SIngle Chimney. However Flying Scotsman then locomotive was indeed built as an A1 Class Locomotive with a number of 1472 and has had it's Number and Class Changed. 6202 Princess Anne was converted from Turbomotive Locomotive to a "normal" Princess Royal locomotive but was still seen as the same locomotive identity, so another big change in the loco but it retaining identity. So the argument here is that even though a locomotive has had it's number and class changed then as it has the same frame then is still the original item. So BR Class 19 19001 was built as 82134 by BREL the same company that built 89001 however it has been converted into a BR Class 19 Locomotive and had its Class and Number changed but the frame is still the same frame so it is the same machine in the same way that A1 1471is the same as A3 4471 even though had it's number and class changed. So on that basis then BR Class 19001 is indeed a British Rail Class of Locomotive as the original frame was built by British Rail in 1988 and there is only one Class 19 Locomotive. If 71000 is a British Railways Locomotive because built under British Railways not British Rail, and the identity of a locomotive is it's frame, then indeed British Rail Class 19001is indeed a British Rail Locomotive as it's frame which is its identity was built by British Rail and it is a locomotive. and on that basis then the Class 89 is not the only British Rail class of a single member. The Class 19, 19001 is also a Class of British Rail locomotive with a single member in the same way as 89001 is. Sir Humphrey Lives! As such my answer to the quiz would be BR Class 9. There was only a single Class 9 member, 92000’s/BR Standard 9F. BR class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 all have more then 1 member. Class 9 has a single member the BR Standard 9F, whilst many BR 9F built then a single member of the class 9. Yes you have variants of the 9F with the crosti boiler however js accepted that there were 842 LMS Black 5 built and think of the variations in that number. Number of 9f built is given as 251 which includes the crosti boiler variants.

Duke of Gloucester which was a BR class 8 p.

Has it not been a deliberate policy of the French and German states to close down British manufacturing? I refer to Longbridge, Ryton on Dunsmore, Washwood Heath among other sites. Just for interest I'm Anglo German with fluent French and German and with friends across the continent who have pointed this out themselves.

From the Country that brought you the railways. We are a shower of…Couldn’t run a Hornby train set.

I enjoyed the video , how much should a new railway station cost.

Listened to you on Today this morning Richard,thought you put your point very well, Class 19 Mk3 DVT by any chance ?.

Further to my answers of Lickey Banker 58100 and 71000 I add the 4-6-4 class W1

Class 89 only had one member of the class.

Quiz answer guess: Was it the Class 53 on the western region? Or class 155 DMU?

I remember the old days when trains were constructed at a similar speed to withdrawals and they were based on Mk1, Mk2, Mk3 and Mk4 carriages, keeping spare parts to a minimum, yet enough to be able to place economic orders for parts that were no longer in regular production. Then John Major, a truly moronic man killed our train building industry overnight on the altar of being a good European, the German and French train builders must have thought all their Christmases had come at once. The best trains on the rails today were built in Britain, the 158's and HST's being the best examples. Now we have short production rubbish trains from all over the world, especially the GWR IEP's made in Italy. Imagine the massive stockpile of spares that will be needed to keep all the different incompatible trains going, or more to the point, most recent trains will be scrapped early because the spare parts are too expensive. The people responsible for purchasing todays trains are utter morons. It's time to nationalise the train building industry to keep the skills in Britain and reduce the number of types of trains down to what we actually need - Suburban, inter-regional and express. The best place to start is with Bombardier because they get closest to the way things used to be. Clearly those who procure trains hate Britain and the British, sack the lot of them and start again with people from the industry who actually know and understand what is required. I'm an engineer and I'd love the job of sorting out train procurement, I would clear all the idiots out and base the new train building industry on the one John Major so successfully killed off.

I was going to say Class 89 (designed by Brush and built by BREL) as only Avocet (89001) was built and operated as prototype of a fleet that never came. But then I wondered if BR had single members of steam loco classes.... so, er, "pass"

"task force" - kicking the can down the road

Yes the se old story put foreign workers first before ours

You can replace virtually any train in the UK with a battery train, the country isn't that big. It just needs to be designed as a BEMU with much lower drag and some more efficient structural and electrical design following EV practice, this allows more battery to be fitted. Works best if ~10-20% of the route is electrified.

Another great episode. Can’t help but think Nigel has answered his own question when he says transport is never an election issue. Just need to wait for the manifestos and analyse those. Also need to get away from simplistic notions of private and public ownership- plenty of good and bad examples of both. Just need to bear in mind that essential public services can never be allowed to fail and need the public to support them.

I should also point out that franchising led to an escalation in driver salaries.

Would the one off Class of locomotive be BR 8P 71000 Duke of Gloucester?

What about Falcon, wasn't it a class 53.

Quiz answer: 05 shunter

Another thought provoking episode. Thank you again. It's critical for Derby and Newton Aycliffe...so critical decisions need made. Cut the red tape...and get trains ordered! They are needed.....2nd generation dmus won't go on forever ! Would like yo think we will learn from past mistakes....but we won't. For example....there should be a time stamped date for Caledonian sleeper as an example,we need to have procured by this date,ordered by this date for delivery in whatever year....to replace stock which has served for 25/30 years....but I bet there is nothing like this in place. I genuinely think this government don't care about the railway and want open access to take over it all. Great thought provoking discussion. Thank you

only br single loco class was 71000 Dukeof Gloucester

the only way UK manufacturing of trains can survive, is reOrganising it under a werker collective model, and quick!!

Nigel's comments regarding private vs public are way off the mark, ignoring the benefits of an integrated and publicly owned railway network, and the waste that exists in the corporate world, including the railway. If if it was down to me, the first thing I would do is set up GBR as an arms length body to operate the passenger railway and maintain and upgrade the infrastructure, with government relegated to setting the strategic direction of the railway and provide sufficient budget to operate it. Secondly I would collapse the TOC system and structure the railway regionally. Then I would rationalise back office functions and management structures, getting rid of duplication. How much of a difference would it make to reliabilty and staff satisfaction if staff are signed for multiple routes and traction, and employed by the same employer? It's not feasible or affordable to take the ROSCO's into public ownership, but I would use public money to fund future rolling stock, publicly funded capital is always cheaper than private capital, leasing charges etc end up being absorbed into revenue costs, thus making the railway more expensive to actually run (remember the PFI fiasco).

Shame on successive governments for allowing such a situation to arise ….. Spanish French Romanians … they’re luvin it

The reality is boys the public entities on the continent are almost all outperforming anything our private sector tocs have been able to deliver. Whatever is set up doesn't have to be another arm of government - the government and therefore the public has to be its main stakeholder. Give our railways direction, give them scale, give them the ability to connect to each other properly with real cohesion. Take out the private contracts, the divided priorities the dearth of responsibility for the network. The 'private is more dynamic than public' argument is old hat

class 89 ...only one made

71000 Duke of Gloucester

Class 57

Railways to be run by railwaymen and women? Isn't it always the case that if you find energetic people who are good at doing something, it'll run better - regardless of what the something is?

NHS is well run. We spend less per capita than other G7 nations. US system has 30% more managers and medical mistakes is 3rd biggest killer of adults

Rail industry source, MY LEFT foot. Network work rail.

Duke of Gloucester.

Competition entry: Class 89

Got to be Class 89.

Standard class 8