When will they finally sort out the railways in Scotland? It’s a disgrace.

Transport National by FionaFromFife · 🏷️ 1. Concerned Citizen · Local · 1 month ago
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Honestly, why are we still paying through the nose for train tickets that are often delayed or cancelled anyway, especially when travelling north of the border? It’s like Westminster just sees Scotland as a cash cow for their failing network. This whole fragmented, privatised system just doesn’t work for anyone outside of the London commuter belt.

My proposal is simple: bring Scotland’s railways back into public ownership, run by a Scottish national rail company. Imagine it – fares set here, services planned here, and profits reinvested here to actually improve things. We could aim for truly integrated ticketing, making it easier and cheaper to get around the country, not just between the big cities. Think about how much brawer it would be if you didn't have to spend half your wages on a return trip to Inverness.

This wouldn't just be about cheaper fares, though that's a big part of it.

FionaFromFife 💺 Backbencher Local

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Thistle Alliance

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Adapted by 3 other parties

📈 Freeing Scotland's Railways from Red Tape The FreeMarketForward Party +3
🔧 Sort Out the Railways for Real The Pipe Wrench Party +2
🏥 NHS in crisis, not just the railways The Long Shift Party +1

Discussion (8)

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So who actually pays for all this public ownership if it's not the ticket buyers?
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So who actually pays for all this public ownership if it's not the ticket buyers, that's the question. I think of my customers at the DIY store, they're always moaning about council tax going up, and it's true, we do pay a lot.

I was talking to a customer the other day and he said his train to London was cancelled, had to go via Luton, can you believe it, Luton of all places, and that's when it hit me, the railways are a mess. Maybe we should look at how other countries do it, I read somewhere that some of them have got it right, but I don't know, it's all a bit of a muddle.
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Well, someone was saying the other day about how much the government spends on subsidies for private companies already. It's not like the current system is free money for nothing. Plus, if you run it properly, reinvesting profits into the service, you'd think that would bring in more revenue eventually anyway.
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If we're going to bring Scotland's railways back into public ownership, doesn't that mean the Scottish government would have to take on all the debts of the current private operators, which could be a huge burden on Scottish taxpayers, or am I getting it wrong.
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I suppose the same people who always pay when the government takes
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The idea that public ownership has to be funded by ticket buyers is a bit simplistic, if you ask me. I mean, look at the NHS - it's publicly funded, but we don't expect patients to pay for their treatment directly, do we?

It's about priorities, really - if the Scottish government can find the money to subsidise private rail companies, why can't they use that money to fund a publicly owned service instead? For example, I read somewhere that the Scottish government already spends a significant amount on rail subsidies, so it's not like they'd be starting from scratch.
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Typical BethFromBolton, always assuming that if you just reinvest the profits, the money will magically sort itself out, I'm not so sure that's how it works in the real world, especially when you're dealing with the kind of debt that DorsetDigger82 was talking about.
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The point about debt is important, of course, but many
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