Why the hell is such a massive publicly funded project being pimped out to multiple overseas corporations?! I know a public body that has train drivers, engineering staff, ticket staff etc called the TFL… Oh right yeah, I forgot, it’s all about the £££. Privatise the profits, socialise the investment/risks
The Uk is like this.
I have to laugh when debating at work about nationalising services and my colleagues will just say “no, government can’t be run efficiently”. Yet half of our services are run by governments from around the world. Like The Manchester Metrolink was / is owned and operated by Keolis which in turn is 70% owned by the French government. The same is true of trains, energy companies, and likely a lot more.
It’s kinda wild and we have Thatcher to thank for this.
Many of our airports are also owned by foreign companies. My local airport is owned primarily by the Canadian public pensions fund…
I think some would accept it more if public transport was good, but getting the train into London is so expensive I could literally put a deposit on a flat up north for the price of a season ticket. I’m literally self-funding a visa to the US for a third of the price of my train ticket to London…
TIL the tube is operated by private companies. I already knew that the buses are too, but this was a surprise.
I think most of the “underground”, at least the older lines are operated by TFL. The TFL also operates some of the “overground” lines as a franchise owner. This line runs on national rail lines out to Reading so maybe it if more like “overground” than “underground”. I thought this project would fall under TFL regardless so it is just a joke really.
By the way, for national rail trains, private companies also own most of the rolling stock which the franchise owners lease. The whole British railway system is an absolute mess…
The Lizzy Line is my line when I go to the office, so I hope they don’t fuck it up more than it can be. It’s usually reliable, but when it isn’t, fuck me it’s a nightmare…
