Title: Would it be realistic to renationalise the railways? - BBC News
Headings: Would it be realistic to renationalise the railways?
Would it be realistic to renationalise the railways?
Nationalisation of the railways
Rail services around the world
More from the Magazine
Have train fares gone up or down since British Rail?

Content: Would it be realistic to renationalise the railways? - BBC News
Would it be realistic to renationalise the railways? By Tom de Castella
BBC News Magazine
Published
3 March 2015
Share
close
Share page
Copy link
About sharing
image copyright
PA
East Coast main line train services have passed from public to private hands. But is it realistic to talk about the rail network ever being renationalised? A rare experiment in public ownership has come to an end. Supporters say that Directly Operated Railways, a state-run body, rescued the East Coast main line after the collapse in 2009 of National Express's franchise. The firm had been unable to deliver promised revenues to the government. Directly Operated Railways handed a billion pounds in premiums to the Treasury during its period in charge. But after the government decided to return the franchise to private hands a bidding process in November gave it to a consortium of Virgin and Stagecoach - called Intercity Railways. The unions and Labour have argued the line - which runs between London and Edinburgh - should have been kept in public hands.