Should the railways be nationalised.

[williamp]

An interesting period piece called "railwatch" from 1990.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBvUT5VFOAU

You deicde if the railways have got better or worse in the 22 (!) years since this was filmed.

(extra points awarded for counting the number of ski jackets and shell suits worn...)

[BlackVanDyke]

AJS- said:

thinfourth2 said:

AJS- said:

I'd replace them with motorways. Trains seem pretty well redundant in the age of cheap flight and pneumatic tyres. And since we're a clear 100 years into that age, let's just get rid of trains?

Go to a country with decent railways and you may think differently

I've been to plenty. They're alright but still very limited compared to the flexibility of cars, or even buses and taxis.

Less flexible but faster, safer and cheaper than most of those - for some, easier too. It took me 2 hours and 5 minutes to get from London to Manchester this afternoon, give me a way to do that as quickly and easily without substantial extra cost and we're talking... I hate getting the train but the diesel would have cost more than my ticket and the fatigue from driving would have taken almost an entire useful week off me.

[RichB]

BlackVanDyke said:

...the fatigue from driving would have taken almost an entire useful week off me.

you take a week to recover from driving London to Manchester? Lightweight

[miniman]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

My point being - could that continue in a nationalised situation?

[Podie]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Train driving is only a tiny part of running a railway - and better paid than other safety critical posts.

[BlackVanDyke]

RichB said:

BlackVanDyke said:

...the fatigue from driving would have taken almost an entire useful week off me.

you take a week to recover from driving London to Manchester? Lightweight

Correct.