You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
Train owner pays £150m dividend while passengers swallow ticket price hikes
Chief executive Mary Grant's salary jumped by £200,000 to just under £1.4million last year
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/train-owner-pays-150m-dividend-while-passengers-swallow-ticket-price-hikes/ar-AA1scjkt?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NMTS&cvid=57bd6e5096c24ca2a0c3609d3d59f338&ei=91#
Comments
If it were not for the ridiculous mess Government has made of "managing" or Rail services, there would be no need for Rolling Stock Leasing Businesses.
However, at present it's IS a necessary evil die to short-termism & Government interference.
If you gave me a list of 20 organisations to run ANY business, the Government would be 20th on every one.
Leave business to businesses, it's what they do. And competition ensures they do it well. And if they make a few bob along the way, good luck to them. Profit generates spending.
Let's start with the Railways. Essentially, we have 3 different sets of businesses here:-
1. The Rail Track
2. Running the Trains and charging the passengers
3. The leasing of the trains themselves
None of this involves the sorts of businesses where there is any meaningful competition. There is 1 lot of Rail Track. The end. There is precisely zero competition between any of the Rail Franchises. And zero competition when it comes to the Leasing arrangements.
There is 1 thing worse than a Monopoly. And that is an Oligopoly with zero competition. Same snouts. Only more of them. Coupled with losing economies of scale.
Governments don't run businesses. They appoint Managers to do that. And are no better-and no worse-than Shareholders/Owners at that. Where I agree is the need to limit the amount of interference from Govts.
There have been privatisations that have worked brilliantly. And the Railways are most definitely not 1 of them.
Ha, well I think we can agree with your final sentence.
For those not au-fait with Rolling Stock Leasing businesses, railway rolling stock (carriages, mainly) are very expensive & last a long time, certainly 40 or 50 years, so the cost can be written down over that period. However, TOC's (Train Operating Companies) are typically awarded short-term franchises, 5, 6, 7 or 10 years say. So they are kind of obliged to lease their rolling stock.
As a further aside, most of these Leasing Businesses are actually banks, or subsidiaries of banks, as the business does require huge amounts of cash up front.
Scotrail (government owned) is so expensive its a joke, ah can travel from carlisle to Newcastle with northern rail (government owned) for £3.20, its roughly 50 miles, from ma home town to Glasgow is £9.90 and thats 25 miles.