railtrk

This is my own opinion. I do NOT hold any shares in Railtrack.

This is the daftest move so far by the current administration. We the taxpayers will foot the bill for it regardless!

Nationalisation by a Byers fiddle! See first entry below too.

Select Option.

Comment

A little history from BBC Ceefax

History repeats itself?

Does KS of North Wales suffer from selective amnesia or is he/she just too young to remember? (Webmaster born 1946).

In 1946 the Labour government confiscated the privately-run, efficient, but war torn railways and paid the shareholders a pittance. (Presumably in the National interest?) The results were 67,700 jobs lost: £16.5 M lost; 270 stations closed and the rail network cut by half. This was done by the red flag waving and singing Labour party and the railways are still struggling to recover.

Author

HN Buckinghamshire.

Reply

Could I please point out to HN of Buckinghamshire (17/11) that the 67,700 jobs lost on the railways were lost in the early 60's under the axe of Dr Beeching, hired by the then Conservative Government. I therefore implore him/her to stop accusing others of selective memory.

Author

DW Hampshire.

Webmaster

Can we therefore assume that the state the railways were in by the early 60's was also a result of government policy from 1946 to that date?

Privatisation Under priced.

Carried out by the TORY administration admittedly, but under a climate of total opposition by the Labour party. This caused the resulting flotation price to be set at too low a level, in order for the flotation to "succeed". The result of this was an initial soaraway share price and a lot of short term "Stagging" gains, but LESS starting cash for the company itself. This was for a company which needed a huge cash input.

Regulation misplaced demands

The major demand put on the company, particularly by the present Government was for a faster and more punctual service. This was hammered out again and again. It is NOT the easiest thing to do this AND repair tracks as well. They were also fined for the "failure"! This took cash out of the system. Just think back to what happened to timekeeping after Hadfield when the government DID push for safety!

Cash needs.

The initial flotation raised less cash than it should have done. There was an initial need for so called "Government Cash" which still remains. After all, there had been a long period of underinvestment. Why? The period of labour unrest, strikes and other disruptive actions had hardly inspired investment into a Nationalised British Rail when it was at the mercy of "wildcats" or other official disputes. If there had been more cooperation earlier, much of the traffic now on the roads would still be on the railway system! The downward pressure on the shareprice as a result of "regulation", fines etc. made a "rights" issue a virtual non starter, hence the requests for yet more from the taxpayer.

The "Trust" idea.

"Non profit, for passengers, not shareholders" is a great "soundbite" but that's all it is! Byers (He of the Cammell Laird disaster) expects to get "City cash". What about all those Railtrack workers and other pension holders he is insulting? The TAXPAYER will still get the bill for certain. City institutions will ignore any further "public/private" ideas by this lot! They can't be trusted. There are too many idiotic moves, this one just being the latest example. Byers should GO now, and the decision should be reversed forthwith.

Company performance.

The company has performed worse since the announcement (hardly a surprise) and if, as Sunday Business suggests, Administration could last 2 YEARS! We can't afford to wait that long! Action Blair, not soundbites. Leave Dubya and Powell to sort out Bin Laden!

Comment November 18

Nothing that has appeared since this page was written has convinced me that Byers' decision was either correct or fair. Similarly I still feel he is totally unsuited for this post. Send him packing Blair! And Don't give the man another cabinet post!

Page set up 15th October 2001 Edited November 18th. 2001

This is my own opinion. I do NOT hold any shares in Railtrack.
	This is the daftest move so far by the current administration. We the taxpayers will foot the bill for it regardless!

Comment	A little history from BBC Ceefax
History repeats itself?	Does KS of North Wales suffer from selective amnesia or is he/she just too young to remember? (Webmaster born 1946). In 1946 the Labour government confiscated the privately-run, efficient, but war torn railways and paid the shareholders a pittance. (Presumably in the National interest?) The results were 67,700 jobs lost: £16.5 M lost; 270 stations closed and the rail network cut by half. This was done by the red flag waving and singing Labour party and the railways are still struggling to recover.
Author	HN Buckinghamshire.
Reply	Could I please point out to HN of Buckinghamshire (17/11) that the 67,700 jobs lost on the railways were lost in the early 60's under the axe of Dr Beeching, hired by the then Conservative Government. I therefore implore him/her to stop accusing others of selective memory.
Author	DW Hampshire.
Webmaster	Can we therefore assume that the state the railways were in by the early 60's was also a result of government policy from 1946 to that date?

Privatisation Under priced.	Carried out by the TORY administration admittedly, but under a climate of total opposition by the Labour party. This caused the resulting flotation price to be set at too low a level, in order for the flotation to "succeed". The result of this was an initial soaraway share price and a lot of short term "Stagging" gains, but LESS starting cash for the company itself. This was for a company which needed a huge cash input.
Regulation misplaced demands	The major demand put on the company, particularly by the present Government was for a faster and more punctual service. This was hammered out again and again. It is NOT the easiest thing to do this AND repair tracks as well. They were also fined for the "failure"! This took cash out of the system. Just think back to what happened to timekeeping after Hadfield when the government DID push for safety!
Cash needs.	The initial flotation raised less cash than it should have done. There was an initial need for so called "Government Cash" which still remains. After all, there had been a long period of underinvestment. Why? The period of labour unrest, strikes and other disruptive actions had hardly inspired investment into a Nationalised British Rail when it was at the mercy of "wildcats" or other official disputes. If there had been more cooperation earlier, much of the traffic now on the roads would still be on the railway system! The downward pressure on the shareprice as a result of "regulation", fines etc. made a "rights" issue a virtual non starter, hence the requests for yet more from the taxpayer.
The "Trust" idea.	"Non profit, for passengers, not shareholders" is a great "soundbite" but that's all it is! Byers (He of the Cammell Laird disaster) expects to get "City cash". What about all those Railtrack workers and other pension holders he is insulting? The TAXPAYER will still get the bill for certain. City institutions will ignore any further "public/private" ideas by this lot! They can't be trusted. There are too many idiotic moves, this one just being the latest example. Byers should GO now, and the decision should be reversed forthwith.
Company performance.	The company has performed worse since the announcement (hardly a surprise) and if, as Sunday Business suggests, Administration could last 2 YEARS! We can't afford to wait that long! Action Blair, not soundbites. Leave Dubya and Powell to sort out Bin Laden!
Comment November 18	Nothing that has appeared since this page was written has convinced me that Byers' decision was either correct or fair. Similarly I still feel he is totally unsuited for this post. Send him packing Blair! And Don't give the man another cabinet post!