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How bloody stupid do you have to be to believe this tripe?

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee concluded in April 2018 that overly optimistic passenger forecasts were to blame for the collapse of the East Coast mainline franchise.

The franchise’s repeated collapse highlights two key flaws with Britain’s rail model: it incentivises overestimating to win bids, and the government ultimately holds all the risk. Since transport plays too vital a role in keeping the economy going and all of us moving, the government cannot allow the railways to stop running.

The Franchise holder is taking a certain amount of risk, no? They’ve agreed to make payments, passenger numbers don’t turn up, they still have to pay.

Yes, they do. Stagecoach and Virgin are taking a thumping loss on the East Coast line. They’re being let out of future losses because Network Rail, the government owned bit, has fucked up over upgrades.

8 thoughts on “How bloody stupid do you have to be to believe this tripe?”

  1. National Express also took a thumping loss, but less than it offered to take because New Labour rejected the compromise that National Express proposed. Of course, NE’s loss was increased by its spending on customer service (something deemed unnecessary by its public sector predecessor and successor on that franchise – just look at the customer complaints data).

    The items at risk included – quite rightly – the job of the CEO whose error cost shareholders over £100m. How many £million did Sir Humphrey lose HMG (afocianados of “Yes, Minister” can probably tell me) without any punishment?

  2. In the current system the government ultimately holds all the risk, so the solution is for the government to….. hold even more of all the risk.

  3. OT

    Channel 4 News has lost the plot – tonight a special edition: Debate on RoI Abortion Referendum.

    You what? Why? RoI is a foreign country, does C4 think it’s still in UK?

    No surprise, pro-abortion message pushed hard with those against depicted as neanderthal deplorables.

    Most of RoI can watch UK C4, BBC etc. C4 trying to influence how the electorate of a foreign country vote?

  4. Pcar – you didn’t catch the media in the UK covering the multiple candidates for US president for quite some time, then covering the 2 candidates right up until campaigning stopped then covering them again when the vote for president happened in December 2016?
    Were the media here trying to influence the few hundred electors in the US months and weeks in advance?

  5. So Much For Subtlety

    Martin – “Were the media here trying to influence the few hundred electors in the US months and weeks in advance?”

    Of course. But the BBC in particular has gone overboard and is no longer reporting but openly supporting a pro-abortion vote.

  6. @Martin

    Covering/reporting a vote is very different from actively supporting one side and denigrating the other.

    Furthermore, USA voters can not turn on their TV/Radios and watch/listen to BBC TV & Radio, ITV, C4, C5 etc as those in RoI can.

    Thus UK MSM impartiality is as or maybe more important than in a UK vote.

    Disclosure: I am pro abortion, but support those against. NI/RoI not allowing is fine by me and I want the legalise side to lose as they’re the same prod-noses we detest.

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