Let Them Use Ryanair

The Association of Train Operating Companies has come up with a brilliant idea for resolving the expensive chaos which has resulted from the breaking up and selling off of Britain's national railway system; namely, that the remnants of Britain's national railway system should be broken up and sold off, preferably to further the aggrandisement of the Association of Train Operating Companies. "There are many precedents in other utility sectors of national monopolies being commercialised and broken into standalone regional companies," glibs its proposal to the Secretary of State for the Motor Industry, Porker Hammond. No doubt there are many precedents for the commercialisation and dismemberment of such utilities resulting in lower prices and greater efficiency, although specific examples - water companies, energy companies, PFI hospitals - were apparently too numerous to mention. The Association also suggests "vertical integration", i.e. trains and tracks being operated by a single company, if only in certain places. There would be no need to worry about this making the network any speedier or safer, because ultimately these units could be broken up and sold off as well.