Should the national railway be privatised?

The operating companies need to be held to account on prices and service and penalised if they don't meet standards

Companies operating rail franchises should be held accountable for failures to deliver services. Travel fares should be capped and profit maximisation should be obtained by the franchises becoming more efficient and eliminating waste. Failure to deliver set targets agreed with government when setting up the franchise should result in big fines.

The trains should be run on a cooperative and profit should be funnelled into staff with personal invested interest in the service.Maintenance and money should be dependent on each bough and need of local demographic

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

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

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

The tracks are already nationalised (Network Rail). Many of the train companies are also already nationalised. But yes, the remaining train companies should be nationalised.

Contracted systems haven’t worked. I believe in privatisation but regulation needs to be stricter on service industry’s to prevent corporate greed

Depends who will do the better job at maintaining them and keep cost to an affordable price for everyone.

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

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

dont really have an opinion. If privatisation meant the workers would be fairly paid it is good. However it would then mean they could charge however much they want for fairs etc which I disagree with. I dont really have an opinion on the matter. I just want a fairly paid and reliable service as a commuter

Yes. Our Government cannot be trusted with investing into National Rail correctly, have private firms operating under regulations with contract terms and KPIs with Government and Local Authorities. This will encourage increased quality and competition between firms in order to improve costs and efficiency.

Yes, but ensure government oversight on ticket prices, service delivery standards and value for service.

In part yes it should. But also keep it partly privatised with financial limits on what customers can be charged. Currently way too expensive

Yes if only their frequency and time keeping improves. The charges /costs shouldn’t increase, but decrease.

Infrastructure should be owned by the state. There could be a national train operator but it must compete with private operators

No, the government should hold a decision making stake in the national railway to allow better regulation and control.

A balance of both nationalisation and privatised, the government should nationalise the franchises they can afford and sell the tracks to the private franchises that believe can provide a better upkeep

Make GWR and London Tube nationalised and cheap. Other train services can remain privatised, but increase regulation and funding to provide cheaper fares in the private sector too.

Yes, but add high fines for poor performance so there is consistent investment in infrastructure. Also allow multiple companies to run on the routes.

No however encourage public transport and rail further with the viewpoint of cash drain however net social gain

New public private system that reduces costs

yes in order to improve quality and consistency of services

Yes, keep trains privatised, but increase government regulations to ensure quality of service is at a good standard

Whatever is cheaper for the people but also if that is private make sure the goverment can make sure that private corporation can take advantage of the people

Public transport in the main should not be considered as a profit driven industry. Transport is an important link that let people to move and this overall impact the productive and the economy. More movement = more creativity = better economy

Diffecult this one, it was bad enough when under public control, arguably no better now.

Do what Japan did and have privatisation but not with such government micromanagement they had before

Yes but there should be more control over feeding profits to shareholders and management pay increases, especially when performance and customer satisfaction is low. The current gaming of the system should be stamped out.

Privatise the trains but not the tracks

I thought that it was.

Dependent on circumstance, it’s the fault of the Thatcher administration from the very beginning

Use private companies where they can demonstrate added value to the taxpayer.

Only if it makes it more efficient and allow more local control

Make the train free

No, the nature of railways makes them natural monopolies that cannot be privatised fairly.

Yes, Infrastructure is a national resource

I believe nothing should be privatised

Yes, but limit private profiteering

no i should be

I am now neutral. Whatever delivers best value/services. Uneasy about taxpayers subsidising the train travel though - especially as those travelling by train tend to be wealthier than the average person.

A government managed, privately run system would be optimal.

The tracks should be nationalised and British rail should be nationalised, but private companies should be allowed to operate as well

There should be both privatised and government operated operators.

yes, but should be cheaper

If i trusted my government with funds then yes, with who runs my country i wouldnt let them touch it xxx

yes but keep costs the same

The tracks may be nationalised while the Government allows Private companies to “lease” the rights to use and operate on those tracks for a set period of time

Yes, follow the precedence of energy markets

Either all private or all public

Only where this makes travel more accessible to the general public

Depends on which makes travel more affordable and run more efficiently - assume government running makes it more affordable but private makes it more efficient

Yes. And pay back Railtrack shareholders who lost money under Blair's regime

At this point it would cost far to much to buy railways back but there need to be better regulation (nationally) and control of railway (locally) as some railway are using train the sound of been replaced year ago and others are constantly late or cancelled

Only if the government can make rail services dependable, clean and safe

Have better aligned and clearer incentives for train and tracker operators with clear accountability

Privatisation jeans profit which is counter intuitive to inexpensive green travel ... however without investment from fares needed upgrades cannot be achieved. Privatisation happened because the government did not up grade do there has to be a balance between government and the franchise holders ... what we have now nay be he fear if both worlds even if not perfect

Increased privatisation and increased subsidies

No, it’s called ‘national’ for a reason

Not wholly, make it more efficient whether private or public

There should be a more cohesive approach, probably by one partially state-owned company that is also partially owned by British companies.

Yes if it can improve efficiency

No, because transport should not be run for profit.

Subsidise masivky

privatize it but involve government officials in decision making processes

Unable to comment

if it's going to benefit greater number of people

Yes but issue longer franchises to encourage investment and regulate more tightly and fine for poor levels of delivery

Yes but greater controls or prices and bonuses

We already have privatisation but it doesn’t work because it’s a monopoly. You need investment but also reduce cost to incentive people to use train travel

no becouse how will people die

Privatised, but very well regulated to increase competition and higher quality services.

Yes, but only privatise the service of the trains, not the infrastructure.

Yes but prices should be regulated by the government

Indifferent - will be bad either way

It will be bad either way - private or gov run

Either privatise everything or make the government in control of everything

No, but preferred local suppliers for maintenance

I don't understand what privatised means

Private trains, public tracks

The pertinent question is value for money for the service received. The public pay extortionate rates for a horrific service. The government quite frankly cannot be trusted to get anything right, and although private companies are likely to run efficiently to achieve profit, there are no sanctions if they fail to keep a service that runs well and is value you for money

Yes, and reduce regulations to allow more private railways to be built

New hybrid overhaul

60 with state and 40 with private

Only nationalise those lines which are not profitable

Should not be entirely government control, ultimate veto and oversight but a consortium of companies, railway passenger representation bodies, public, experts and govt

Allow privatisation, but allow licensing to be much more accessible and cheaper so as to increase competitiveness. Also enact firm regulation.

No, semi-privatise.

Tracks and signalling should remain under public control

Keep it at the way it is now. However make it free travel on trains, buses, tubes and trams until the age of 17.

If the government can fund it then yes

Yes but make sure the fares are fair

No, but the railways should be managed by several smaller state corporations to reduce bureaucracy

Privatisation hasn’t led to better service so far so less privatisation and more government control but with better infrastructure

The important thing is to improve the service so whether it is privatised or not I don’t really care. I just care about the improvement of services

Couldn’t care less

The rails should be run privately but the govt should heavily regulate prices and cover costs for elderly and low income workers