trainspotter

Sky News announced the Network Rail's 'profits' of just over a billion pounds with great fanfare and much repitition this morning. At last a business success story! It's bollocks of course. Notwithstanding all the egineering hold-ups and delays the 'company' has imposed 7% pay increases and its punctuality figures are products of creative accounting. [see Private Eye].

Reuters notes that" Network Rail took over the running of Britain's railways following the collapse of Railtrack in 2002. Part funded by government subsidies, it must reinvest all profits into the network or reduce debt.
The 26 billion pound figure, down from 28.1 billion earmarked for investment in the five years through 2009, is included in a document of preliminary findings published by the ORR ahead of final price settings in October.
The regulator also said Network Rail should cut operating, maintenance and renewals costs by 21 percent by March 2014."

Below this state backed company (State capitalism?) lurk all the crummy little rail companies that leech out a profit from the public. And these parasites are hungry - Virgin fares up on some lines by 150% National Express fares up 63%Arriva 10%. The evidence is plain as the profits are unjust - the rail privatisation was a last minute piece of Tory revenge/sabotage that the Labour Party hasn't the guts or political nouse to remedy. The whole network should be renationalised with compensation - for the passengers, that is, in the shape of the redistribution of the illgotten gains of the CEO's and shareholders' goods and property.