Cross Country train

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Privatisation

ruination of our trains

profiteers clean up

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by Scooj

* The trains in England are a disgrace and an embarrassment. Visitors from overseas must be utterly bewildered by how bad our train services are.

Underfunded, with profits being creamed off by shareholders.

Why on earth do we put up with it? People will pay hugely inflated prices only to stand on a train, sometimes for several hours. Oversubscription is the norm, which must have implications for health and safety of passengers.

Surely if every passenger had to book a seat, sales would be curtailed when the train was full. I believe that is the system in America.

Delays, cancellations and reduced carriages are the norm. Often the electronic booking systems are broken. Encountering a ticket inspector/guard is a rarity.

Even if you get a seat, trains are grubby and cramped. Food and refreshment services patchy and expensive. The whole thing makes for deeply unpleasant experiences. It wasn’t always like this, and people used to mock British Rail!

Nationalise and subsidise the trains or set higher standards/penalties for operators.

The Privatisation obsession of Thatcherite Britain has failed its people but made a privileged few unimaginably wealthy. Disgusting.