Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

In many European countries trains do make money.

The model should be that rails are public and are leased to private operators.

The private companies pay for the maintenance and such, and then are free to do what they prefer.



That is the UK. The big issue has been:

* Government is unable (for various reasons, the primary one being massive levels of corruption) to invest in expanding capacity. Demand on certain routes is multiples of the capacity that exists. * The trains are owned by private companies, this was a bad idea. * Operating companies have had to put prices up because of all the things outside of their control. Government has been happy to let them take the blame, it has allowed things to be moved into public ownership, more power, more control. * No-one is making any money because the idea is for no-one to make any money. Making money is dirty so operating companies make no profit, and prices are sky-high.


> In many European countries trains do make money.

Only if you discount the infrastructure subsidies, I think.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: