Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "The UK DIDN'T "Privatize" the Railways" video.

  1. Railtrack was a group of private companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and stations of the British railway network from 1994-2002. It was privatize by the the then Tory government. It was listed on the Stock Exchange, and in the FTSE 100 Index. In 2002, after losing money most of Railtrack was transferred to the state-controlled non-profit company Network Rail. Private train operators run services on the tracks. Virgin may give a clue. The Tories in the early 1960s decided to get rid of the the railways except inter-city lines - called the Beeching Axe. Over one third of the railways were shut down. Closed was the fast, and straight Great Central mainline which was only just over 60 years old being designed to enter a proposed Channel Tunnel. The Tories built motorways encouraging buses and cars. The man in charge of this was Tory minister Earnest Marples who owned construction companies building roads and flyovers. He fled to France to avoid the courts. The history of private rail in the UK is one of private companies creaming off and then allowing the rail fall into disrepair then fall into the arms of the state, because rail is essential for the transportation of the country. Many of the private companies that operate British railways are owned by state owned European rail networks. We pay extortionate fares while theirs are subsidised by us. Private rail rip-offs are not new. Look up George Hudson the railway fraudster of the 1800s.
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