On 5 Jul 2016 at 8:06pm Jonjo wrote:
I think it's about time the government decided to nationalise the southern train service ,it as become a fiasco and if they can prop up the banks then they should do the same with an important part of our infrastructure. Thoughts please
On 5 Jul 2016 at 8:29pm slackbladder wrote:
I agree but... only now that the electorate has voted to leave the EU we will be legally able to - this isn't possible under the current EU rail liberalisation directives. Jeremy Corbyn is committed to this I believe so a vote for him in 2020 means it's doable. No other route is likely to achieve it.
On 5 Jul 2016 at 9:49pm Yasmin wrote:
Not allowed under EU law ! Like curly cues and bananas !!
On 6 Jul 2016 at 7:07am Clement Attlee wrote:
@Slackbladder - Unfortunately just not true. East Coast traisn were put in public ownership a few years ago (before being re-privatised), so there is nothing to stop the government doing the same to Southern - apart from their willingness to do it of course.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 7:38am Merlin Milner wrote:
Let's not stop at the railways. The utilities should also return to public ownership too. However this terrible government is seeking off more than happened under Thatcher. This will increase dramatically post Brexit.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 9:44am another train sufferer wrote:
I agree that Southern are awful, but privatisation isn't really the cause of the current problem. In fact, it's the Department for Transport that's behind the current industrial action, because (as I understand it) they're forcing Southern (Govia) to act as they currently are.
So it's not really a good argument in favour of nationalisation, since the problem is government made! It's convenient for the government to hide behind their management contract with Southern but your MP is to blame.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 10:12am Govia shareholder wrote:
Leave it alone. I'm doing very nicely thank you.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 12:07pm ar10642 wrote:
I agree with "another train sufferer". There's a large body of evidence out there that the current industrial dispute is a calculated move by the DfT, so nationalisation would do nothing to solve it. When they've finished with the TSGN franchise, they'll move onto another one, using TSGN as a test case. Northern looks like it might be next.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 12:51pm Thomas wrote:
Of course everything was fine and dandy back in the day of British Rail wasn't it?
Rose tinted specs and all that. In truth the service was pretty horrific back then too.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 1:39pm another train sufferer wrote:
One massive difference, Thomas - the service might have been bad, but it was priced accordingly. It's the combination of first class fares and third class service that kills me. Fares have increased massively (even allowing for inflation) over the last decade or so. I often think about this as I queue ten minutes for a ticket, checked without fail at both ends of my journey, and then have to stand on a late, overcrowded train without air-conditioning, functioning toilet or any trolley service.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 2:09pm DFL's and Remainers wrote:
Suck it up - suckers. LOL.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 2:42pm Mark wrote:
I'm curious. Why are the dft orchestrating this?
On 6 Jul 2016 at 4:11pm ar10642 wrote:
I'm assuming they want guards off trains so they can reduce the staffing bill of the railways, and therefore the public subsidy.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 4:26pm Echo beach wrote:
Talk about kicking a man while he's down, these guys are genuinely off sick with flu and stress related illnesses, you need to give them a break. Once they are well and fit for work I expect that the services will resume as normal, we all get sick from time to time. Southern do all they can to maintain services and apologise when a train is cancelled, it can't be helped.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 4:52pm Merlin Milner wrote:
No one sensible is suggesting that we go back to the British Rail of the seventies when nationalisation is suggested. However public ownership of the entire rail system is best way forward, run effectively and accountable. Currently operators have to lease trains via using often foreign finance. Profits go to foreign companies rather that being put back into the system. Mountains of companies, operators, quangos, finance houses / foreign pension pots are involved plus the government. Kafka would find it amusing. All this for satisfying Tory dogma. Most other European countries have state owned rail systems and they, plus their state owned utility companies, own many of ours!! This type of privatisation is failing us the public. This will only increase post Brexit with the Tories.
On 6 Jul 2016 at 8:29pm Bert wrote:
I recall the Green Party saying well over 20 years ago that their policies would one day be seen as mainstream. Things like nationalising the trains and utilities, and ideas like the living wage, and universal income. Funny how other parties are catching up.
On 7 Jul 2016 at 7:53am commuter wrote:
I agree with your posts Merlin. Is there any group in Lewes working on the current fiasco?
On 7 Jul 2016 at 10:07am ar10642 wrote:
Merlin, all that *might* be true but it rather depends on who is actually in government. If you get a government that actually cares about running a decent train service it might be better, but with a even more right-wing Tory government coming it's unlikely they'll see the railways as anything other than a cost that can be cut. I agree that getting rid of the ROSCOs would be a good start. The DfT should take that in-house, they're pulling almost all the strings with regard to rolling stock procurement anyway.
If they put the same amount of energy and cash into getting services running well that TfL have in the form of the London Overground, it could work well, but BR was pretty much run into the ground by the early 1990s.
On 11 Jul 2016 at 7:56pm astrid wrote:
Echo Beach are you being serious?? they are absolutely taking the piss. taking time off on purpose. Its going done the same road as what happened with Thatcher and the miners where she had to over ride the unions authority and with brexit these selfish twats are the least of uk problems!!! its disgraceful they should all be sacked and those very few that actually want to earn a wage be allowed to get on with it. you just cant give up. If everyone in there current position did that then the uk will come to a complete standstill. they know exactly what they are doing. and they don't care how it is effecting peoples professional and private lives
.