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[Lizzie_Zoom]

Some threads have been asking about the railways being affected by snow.  In each I have made a post indicating some of comparisons with yesterday year.

The main factor always to be considered is pre-WW2 there were legions of dedicated railway staff, born of generations of loyal railwaymen.  It was their pride to keep the railways running, and provide the loyalty to their railway company so that they could be the best.

In 1939 there was a total of 582,814 employed directly by the  Main Line railways.

These railway staff kept traffic moving over a total route mileage of 19,273 miles.

Todays railway employs directly 112,000 to cover around 11,000 route miles, allowing for the latest lines.

Therefore in 1939 there was 30.24 members of staff employed for every route mile.

Today in 2010 there is just 10.18 members of staff per route mile.

Post war, before the massive cuts to our railways, this is what the extra staff meant to getting trains going when even steam engines were stuck in exceptional and extreme snow conditions:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymz6D8eFeUg&feature=related[/media]

Staff numbers, and their dedication coupled with loyalty made all the difference then! 8-) 8-) 8-)


.......and my earlier link on the 1962/63 winter steam revival
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4pJwcE7JI&feature=related[/media]
!

[Dishevelled Den]

There is something radically wrong if we can't even keep our national transport infrastructure intact.

This goes far beyond the present cold snap however.

It's becoming obvious - across the board - that things are stretched to the limit within that infrastructure and that future difficulties loom as there seems to be a determination to put profitability before all else.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

There is something radically wrong if we can't even keep our national transport infrastructure intact.

This goes far beyond the present cold snap however.

It's becoming obvious - across the board - that things are stretched to the limit within that infrastructure and that future difficulties loom as there seems to be a determination to put profitability before all else.

That is THE vital question with public transport Zulu indeed!

Should Public transport be run as a service subsidised by the government?................or............
A business run to make a profit?

The railway companies pre-1939, before war again intervened, in the main made a profit, although the LNER in particular was struggling due to its freight receipts (mainly coal and steel) being decimated during the years of depression, and never really recovering.

Now, with the huge investment required* due to the backlog still being suffered the railways cannot be in true profit for perhaps decades to come!!


*The pre-war Big Four railway companies had invested around £317 million during the late 1930s, which was halted by war and nationalisation on the 1st January 1948 and never repeated as was required.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

There is something radically wrong if we can't even keep our national transport infrastructure intact.

This goes far beyond the present cold snap however.

It's becoming obvious - across the board - that things are stretched to the limit within that infrastructure and that future difficulties loom as there seems to be a determination to put profitability before all else.

Capitalism....

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Why do we the tax payer subsidise private rail companies Lizzie?....

Surely they should stand entirely on their own two feet......That's the Capitalist way.....Or is it?...

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Why do we the tax payer subsidise private rail companies Lizzie?....

Surely they should stand entirely on their own two feet......That's the Capitalist way.....Or is it?...

The problem is Optimist that the nationalised, British Railways, from 1948 were gradually run into the ground with limited investment that never brought the railways up to pre-1939 standard, or modernised it thereafter!

Therefore when privatisation took place the government of the day were handing private companies a sick organisation, and had to tempt tenders from the private sector by offering large huge subsidies. 

The railways are still in the process of re-investment and re-building for a new railway age, but regretably it is not being carried out fast enough due to financial restrictions, and lack of government investment to the level required.  So the British public will have to continue to pay for the decades of neglect, through pay ticket prices and taxation.  If we want again the best railway system in the world, capable of moving passengers and freight in ever greater quantities, then the extra money must be paid.

Eventually the private companies will become like the 'Big Four', even merging to be the same number again, and will be able to commercially stand on their own two feet.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Why do we the tax payer subsidise private rail companies Lizzie?....

Surely they should stand entirely on their own two feet......That's the Capitalist way.....Or is it?...

The problem is Optimist that the nationalised, British Railways, from 1948 were gradually run into the ground with limited investment that never brought the railways up to pre-1939 standard, or modernised it thereafter!

Therefore when privatisation took place the government of the day were handing private companies a sick organisation, and had to tempt tenders from the private sector by offering large huge subsidies. 

The railways are still in the process of re-investment and re-building for a new railway age, but regretably it is not being carried out fast enough due to financial restrictions, and lack of government investment to the level required.  So the British public will have to continue to pay for the decades of neglect, through pay ticket prices and taxation.  If we want again the best railway system in the world, capable of moving passengers and freight in ever greater quantities, then the extra money must be paid.

Eventually the private companies will become like the 'Big Four', even merging to be the same number again, and will be able to commercially stand on their own two feet.

Possibly Lizzie................but not in my lifetime.....and I'm only 25....