Should the national railway be privatised?

It should be privatised but the operating companies need to be held to account on prices and service

If you want people out of cars the rail has to be an affordable effective option for travel, so the government must take view on what that means. It cannot abdicate responsibility to the private sector who are driven to pay dividends to shareholders

No, eliminate any privatisation and allow local workers to opperate the transport and make the stations publicly owned

The trains are utterly ridiculous costs. You want us to use less cars and more public travel, and yet the costs are outrageous. In other countries I can go to the other end if the country for less

Partial Nationalization to ensure ethical prices for those commuting and to make more effective train schedules

No,. But stricter regulation required to stop operators stripping cash out annd not re-investment and Inflated price setting.

Yes, but the operation of rail lines should be more competitively tendered and contracts shorter term to encourage better management and funding

Privatisation of railway is essential to reduce all costs to the public purse but the government should impose stricter controls to remove the possibility of strikes

Yes, but ticket fares should be adjusted to the needs of the local people to allow fair use and reduce congestion/emissions from road users. Make trains cheaper to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles.

It should definitely only owned by UK companies and managed at a national level. Sovereign security

If we are going to have a national transportation plan then I'd support a nationalised approach for the whole network

Some level of privatisation can be accepted, provided that private companies invest in the development of the railway and service and that there are set conditions with the public entities. Public transport mist be preserved, especially in areas that are not commercially viable for private companies

It’s more important that they are run efficiently, safely and provide a high level of service than who owns them

It should be nationalised but be run by people who know what their roles include. People who have worked in the roles they would be in charge of

Privatise if increases the quality The government do not efficiently operate the trains but retains local control so strict criteria would be required to privatise fairly and not increase cost for consumer

Have railways owned by a single company in a constituency, that must co-operate with the local governments.

Whichever option reduces the cost of travelling sustainably, improves the efficiency and timely-ness of services and prevents disruption

Create a partnership to ensure the best people run and operate the service with stiff penalties for failire

Yes but govornment to set terms of service for private companies to tender to operate with fines which get invested in infrastructure managd by govornment to tender but not allowed same companies to operate and do infrastructure

I'd prefer publicly owned rail networks and stations, with both private and public train operators competing across the country

Definitely, corporations have tried and failed to make the rail network work but buy taking huge profits to the detriment of the users. It should never be less expensive to use your own car versus public transport.

Private is fine but it should be owned by British firms as it stands we're mostly owned by the German railway and where do you think our moneys going it's ridiculous

There’s no need for the government to run the trains. The problem has been that they implemented privatisation badly.

I think the government should start there own company to increase competition and allow for a cheaper alternative

Yes, but add a watchdog and set a maximum profit limit to encourage reinvestment into clean energy developments of public transport and reinvestment into infrastructure

Yes, but only if enough competition is created to force the organisations to innovate and provide the best service at the cheapest cost

Fines on rail services companies that don't achieve sufficient performance criteria. Fines given back to service users

I'm divided on the topic, as a big trainspotter there are benefits and downsides to both privatisation and nationalisation.

Yes, the current privately owned sections run better than they did, the issue is the infrastructure that is still owned by the government

A balance to ensure that the most utilised regions are accommodated for and works take place, rather than going to the highest bidder who strips them for profit.

It just needs to be improved and priced to encourage the mobility of people - levelling up more areas.

Complex, get top business people to consult on whether it would be more cost effective. Tap the profits they are allowed to make?????

UK trains are an embarrassment. Can anything change that? Where's HS2? After all that time and money!

Either privatise it or nationalise it but make one company responsible for the rails & the trins & simplify fares

Should never have been Privatised. I worked for British Rail for close on 14 years, but had a feeling that it was never going to be the same when it was Privatised, and accepted voluntary redundancy

No, but harsh penalties must be in place and higher compenation paid to consumers when trains are cancelled due to failed service, repairs and/or strikes

Yes, but on the model of European countries where the parent holding company is owned by the national government.

Maybe It should be privatized but the operating companies need to be held to account on prices and service.

No but they should be held to account for expenditure, price raises and fined for insufficient service levels

As private lisences expire the govt takes the contracts and runs them as arms length publicly owned companies

No, stop privatisation. Have them be run by the government but beholden to regular checks so that they are not left to disrepair

Yes, however impose stricter regulation on late travel, prices, bonuses to staff. Furthermore, subsidiaries from UK tax should not be allowed.

I think the railway is to fragmented and needs more central management not necessarily privatisation

No, Trains are no longer an affordable cheaper method of transport. The system needs investment and changes to bring costs down considerably.

It’s useless and unreliable under current conditions it needs to change so it’s more reliable and cost effective

Yes, but only if it will improve service and infrastructure and that safety critical jobs are protected and paid correctly

There should be a feasibility study into of nationalising the railway would result in better value for money for the state. If it would not benefit the state then keep it privatised and regulate the businesses so they invest in the system.

Yes but only if they are held under strict guidelines that they must invest a % of their profits on maintenance & services without hiking prices up disproportionately

Yes, but introduce much robust and stricter service rules so that poor service can be dealt with easier