On Sun, 8 Jun 2003 17:49:43 +0200, "Mads Hilberg" <
[email protected]> wrote:
>> AIUI trains are subsidised in most Western countries, which kind of implies that they are not
>> that profitable.
>No. It merely implies that the overall economic benefit of an efficient rail network (largely due
>to increased mobility of the workforce) is greater than the cost of subsidising it.
Hum. If the revenues exceeded the costs, subsidy would be unnnecessary. Not that I have any problem
with subsidies for rail, we subsidised the building of the road network out of general taxation
after all.
>Why this shouldn't also be the case for the UK I don't know. Perhaps the old age of the lines makes
>the cost so high that it's not worth maintaining them in their entirety, which would seem to be
>suggested by the plans to scrap so many smaller lines.
AIUI that's primarily due to the influence of Lord Cherwell in the 1950s and his infamous assertion
that the railways were obsolete and soon to be replaced by personal helicopters. Half a century of
neglect can be fairly expensive to repair, but I believethat railway doesn't cost as much as road
either to build or to maintain.
>In some countries however, instead of just scrapping them, they have been auctioned to private
>companies to own completely (tracks, stations, the lot)*.
Good idea - unlikely to be allowed here as it might allow someone to prove the Government of the day
wrong, and as any fule kno the Government of the day has the monopoly on wisdom and good ideas.
>I would suggest that this is a fairly optimal strategy if it has already been determined that on
>the whole these lines do not contribute significantly to the economy
That was Beeching's thesis for closing branch lines. And then they suddenly noticed that there were
no branch lines to feed the main lines...
Mind you, the post-Beeching cuts were done in a way which made it pretty clear that there was an
absolute determination not to allow any future Government to reverse them (sound familiar?). Bridges
were demolished, for example, and strategic parcels of land sold off, cutting lines in half. Still,
we have enough continuous trackbeds to make some quite pleasant rail trails I suppose.
I have noticed that some preserved lines have cycle tracks alongside. I can't help thinking that a
fenced-off graded path next to most branch lines would add to their utility. Thinking in particular
of the old Abbey Flyer in St Albans, I used to walk along the trackside (trespassing on the
permanent way) because it was a pleasingly direct route home from school. The bridges were a bit
dodgy though.
Guy
===
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