Southern Rail

[starvin marvin]

So Aslef and RMT are sticking together.....for the time being. Lets see if this squeezes a result out of the employer, thats good for everybody.

[antony1969]

Not good for the poor rail user ... Pathetic waste of time once again by outdated unions ... Lock em up ... Lock em up

[malc d]

Not sure what the problem is.

 

Put a driver and a guard / attendant on every train. Sorted.

 

Why not ?

 

( It won't make any difference to fares, as they will still be extortionate anyway + will reduce unemployment ).

 

 

:-|

[Bulletguy]

 

Part of the problem is people believe UK rail network is solely run by private companies when the reality is Network Rail is financed by the tax payer.

 

Foreign companies have also privately invested in many of the rail companies so take a slice out for their shareholders. Kelios has a 35% stake in Southern rail and a 45% stake in Trans Pennine. Kelios is French. London Overground is operated as a joint venture with Deutsche Bahn and a private company MTR. Arriva is also part owned by Deutsche Bahn which wholly owns Cross Country rail. Netherland has a stake in Merseyrail and Northern Rail.

 

Dream on Brexiters. (lol)

 

http://actionforrail.org/the-four-big-myths-of-uk-rail-privatisation/

[Dave225]

Maybe not totally the way you think it is.

 

If we are no longer bound by the rules of the EU then there is no reason why all monies earned in the Uk could not remain there. That would be a decision for the UK Government to make...not the EU Would that make these Companies wish to leave?? Well, not according to Peugeot who are trying to buy Vauxhall to, yet closed their own Plant in the UK. I cannot explain their thinking but obviously there is one. It is not as if French Companies are the masters of economic success, or do the bail outs from teh Government not count? Keeping a so called nationalised industry going si abit like holding back the tide, you will always fail in the end.

 

All I am trying to say is that things are not as simple as they may seem.

 

As for the railways one has to look at various factors. Passenger numbers are at record highs, yet rail lines are at their lowest mileage, and there is no doubt good old British Rail would have needed huge investment to match the current infrastructure. Would they have got it?? That depends on your belief in politics but somehow I doubt it. The Unions such as the RMT have a different agenda as well that they want to follow, and customer service is not on their list. People regardless of nationality, status or whatever will only put money where they see a return. Otherwise nobody would have a deposit account or buy a Company’s shares. Do I agree on so many overseas Companies buying railway franchises? No, but again the market will determine the result. Obviously no UK Companies were willing to bid the required amounts to get these franchises apart from Branson and Stagecoach and First. Virgin’s fares are amongst the highest so are we all complaining about being screwed by a so called UK Company. On the other side travellers vote Virgin as among the vest for service, so you put your money where...etc

 

The basic problem is very simple. If you keep increasing population and reducing infrastructure then things get rough all over the place, not just railways. You do not need a degree in science to know that one. Solving that equation is another matter though.

 

[Colin Leake]

We should have started recruiting drivers and guards from Eastern Europe years ago. Seems to have worked for the fruite farmers round us in Kent. Also courier drivers even with limted vocabulary though my wife was a little puzzled when one asked her to sign with her skin. Turned she needed to use,her finger!