Hi everybody.
Pleased to see there are people on here who appear quite happy to pay some of the highest fares in the world to subside the state railways of France, Holland, Germany and now China. Truly, the British must be the most generous people on earth. Or the most stupid!
Paul
So, British rail commuters are possibly "stupid" for not caring who owns the train operating companies which they travel on. As many commuters have little alternative but to use the railways for their daily commute (especially in the south of England), then it should not come as unexpected that what those commuters most care about is the service they receive from the train operating companies by way of punctuality, the cleanliness of trains they travel on, and expectation that they will get a seat on those trains.
In the above, there is gross overcrowding on many rail services within the British rail network again especially in the south of England due to the economic growth of the country combined with the rising population. Therefore, no one regularly travels on Britain's railways unless there is little or no alternative.
Some make those journeys on Britain's railways regularly do so for the benefit of the businesses they own or work for, so as to meet customers and secure business transactions.
Some make those journeys on Britain's railways regularly do so to maintain their employment and in doing that support themselves and their families
Some who make those journeys on Britain's railways regularly do so to meet hospital appointments or attend treatments so as to support their lives for as long as possible into the future.
In the above, there are on a daily basis many other reasons why British people regularly travel on the railways. As those people travel about their daily business it is little concern to them who owns the train operating company that is providing their travel or where the profits (or losses) from the ticket price they pay is destined for or to. In the foregoing, it is not "stupid" that those people do not concern themselves with who owns the train operating company, for they have their daily lives to support and get on with, and without doubt consider rightly that it is for others to concern themselves with all aspects of rail ownership.
Of course, there are those who believe that the whole British rail network should be brought once again into the utopian days of nationalisation. However, those who believe the foregoing conveniently forget that a nationalised British rail network had more than 45 years to bring forward those hessian days so longed for and believed in by the "disciples of nationalisation" but never could. Those of us who remember railway rationalisation will also remember the wholesale incompetence, dirt, grime and waste that went with that government ownership.
For those who wish to see an example of a nationalised organisation at work need look no further than Network Rail. The foregoing organisation has time and time again wasted billions in tax payers money on various modernisations and upgrades to the network always with huge cost overrun. Their latest triumph is the electrification of the Great Western Mainline in which 3 billion pounds of taxpayers money has been spent by way of incompetence and waste on a project that Network Rail now declare they will be unable to finish.
Therefore, if there is any "stupidity" surrounding the operations of the British rail network it is undoubtedly among those who believe that any nationalisation would bring about a utopian cure to the problems that do undoubtedly exist. However, rail history clearly demonstrates that those problems would not be solved by government ownership of the network, and in all likelihood would be made worse.
Bill