How to solve Britain’s rail crisis? These companies may have the …

Almost a year into the railway strikes and the scenes around the country this week have been wearisomely familiar.

Thousands of football supporters crammed into 120 coaches laid on for the FA Cup final yesterday, while most of the rail network was at a standstill^[1].

But not all of it. At King’s Cross, one electric blue train after another nosed its way into London, having completed the 330-mile journey from Edinburgh — with passengers paying £37 on average.

The railways have cost the taxpayer about £40 billion in subsidies since the start of the pandemic and the average subsidy per journey is £7.51, higher than the average fare of £6.12. Yet our train system is in crisis.

How, then, to explain the success of

References

1. ^{^} rail network was at a standstill (www.thetimes.co.uk)