Comments by "" (@Bungle-UK) on "Wendover Productions" channel.

  1. For those who think nationalisation in itself provides some sort of magic solution, take a look at Scotland where the Scotrail franchise is now in the hands of the Scottish government and, after just a few month, is cutting services by the largest amount in decades. The issue is how the system operates, not who operates the system.
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  2. Complete nonsense and does little to explain the boom in leisure travel.
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  3. Love the content but please learn how to pronounce ‘leisure’ and ‘route’ correctly. It really grates on me!
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  4. Why can’t some Americans pronounce the word ‘route’ correctly? It sounds the same as ‘root’, not ‘rout’.
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  5. The is only because the UK government reduced fare subsidy so that the passengers pays more of the cost of their ticket. Rail subsidy in the UK is focussed on infrastructure, not reducing fare costs.
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  6.  @duckydae  I agree, but my point is that many ideologues present nationalisation as some magic solution, which it isn’t. A change of ownership doesn’t alter the underlying issues within the industry. Ironically, there have probably been fewer strike days lost since privatisation as wages for train crew have grown hugely compared to British Rail days.
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  7. I’ve flown all sorts of aircraft types as a passenger over the years, but you couldn’t pay me to get on a MAX. A classic example of how poor management takes a business from the top of their game to the bottom
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  8.  @truedarklander  which oil crisis has there been for the past 20 years to drive up rail travel?
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  9.  @truedarklander  happy to agree to disagree. Petrol prices in the UK have only dramatically risen over the past year, they have not been consistently high over the 25 year period where rail usage went up. Indeed, with petrol prices currently at their highest ever levels, rail usage is still lower then before the pandemic. I would suggest fuel prices would have to go up a lot more before large numbers of people switched from the convenience of the car.
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  10.  @philiprufus4427  or maybe the reality that too many diesels of too many different types were ordered meaning non-standard types were disposed of early. Also, demand for locos dropped through the 70s and 80s with DMU/HST introduction and a big drop in freight traffic. The car economy you describe grew because private transport, for many journeys, offers a level of convenience the railway can never match. People voted with their feet for this reason, not some conspiracy against the railway.
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  11. There is no comparison possible between rail and air fares, the business models and associated infrastructure costs are completely different. It’s the same as comparing rail and coach travel. The rail operator has to maintain the infrastructure they run on. The coach company doesn’t have to maintain the roads they use.
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