In introducing the Williams-Shapps programme for Britain's railways (pdf here), Transport minister Grant Shapps admitted to the House of Commons today that franchising was a big mistake. In drawing attention to the disputes which constantly arise, he validated the arguments against John Major's model of privatisation which arose from day one. It was obvious that Major and his advisors were creating a bonanza for lawyers and for few others - except the train leasing companies, of course.
There are over 100 references to freight in the Williams-Shapps plan, which is encouraging. Beeching has been rightly criticised for his failure to see a future for local passenger services, but he had progressive proposals for investment in freight. It is desperately sad that the government of the time (Conservative, one should remind Shapps) enthusiastically endorsed the former but rejected the latter.
So, a cautious welcome to the plan in its simplification of British rail administrative structure and, one hopes, elimination of opportunities for private contractors to game the system, abundant under franchising. However, I look forward to the assessment by the experts of Railfuture.
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