A new vision for railways that's rather short-sighted
The government’s proposed model will just add more complexity to an already baffling franchise system
The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, unveiled his “new vision for our railways” a week ago and gained a few favourable headlines for the modest commitment to reopen a few lines closed in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. Forget that crowd-pleasing diversion, however, because it’s not what the rail industry is talking about.
Instead, rail bosses are dumbfounded that Stagecoach is being bailed out of its onerous contract on the East Coast main line. And they struggle to understand how Grayling’s new “public-private partnerships” are supposed to work. The model – to be adopted on some lines but not on others – just seems to add complexity to a franchising system that is already baffling.
Source: Guardian Transport
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