Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
No, not Dr Goldfish but that other much hated figure Dr Beeching, an equal fish out of water in the wrong industry.
BBC Parliament will be screening a whole evening about him on Sunday. He was the man from ICI who decimated the railway industry on erroneous statistics. For example, the busy summer holiday lines in the West Country were closed solely on the ticket receipts for one week in early April!
Granted some of the loss making areas should have been closed but not the wholesale slaughter that he wrought.
Re-nationalise the railway!!!
Terry
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
How is that an answer? - the railways were nationalised when he closed them...
Perhaps if they had not been so foolishly nationalised in the first place the name Beeching would not have entered the lexagon of the English language. Beeching, a monument to the folly of a nationalised monopoly and the beaurocratic mindset.
Terry Nunn- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
Serves me right for digressing. I was referring to the idiotic situation where you have different T.O.C's operating over the same lines. Having different railway companies isn't competition, it's lunacy.
Terry
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
# 1......Get`s my vote Terry..........
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i used to travel on the east coast line a few years back - 2 operators and could only use my railcard on one!!
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
a report out today states that the private sector trains are out dated,dirty,over crowded and run late.
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
The Beeching families come from the Lydd/Romney areas of Kent in the 1800s, Bob (on his mother's side) has got Angelica Beeching on his family tree, who is a direct ancestor, and Dr Beeching comes off another branch of the same tree!
And strangely enough, Bobs DAD worked with him on the Maidstone newspaper in his early career!
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 904- Registered: 21 Mar 2013
- Posts: 312
Ha 'Branch' - I see what you did there Kath
The vilification of Dr Beeching is unjustified in my opinion - he was asked to produce the report based on usage and traffic figures of the day, provided by the Department of Transport (it actually makes for good reading - google it if you haven't got a copy).
He wasn't personally responsible for axing the lines (the vast majority of which were running at a huge loss) and indeed, many lines had been closed down prior to his report (like the East Kent which had struggled into nationalisation).
Scotland fared really badly by the axe, only now are steps being taken to put right the situation.
Terry Nunn- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
................with the Waverly Line coming back into use Paul, or at least a part of it!
Going on from Howard's comment, how about this? My wife had to go to Sheffield for a meeting one Monday morning. She went to the Priory the day before to enquire about times and buy the ticket. Getting to St Pancras she went through the barrier and got on the train. Before it left her ticket was inspected. The inspector told her that her ticket wasn't valid. She could either pay a couple of hundred pounds or get off and get another train 45 minutes later. There was also a dark threat about a fine for not having "valid" ticket. Having allowed for a hiccup she got the later train.
I would stress that the duff ticket wasn't sold by our esteemed Councillor
Terry.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
Our railway system is the most privatised in Europe (it is imposible to say fully) and the most expensive.
We susidise it more now than we did when it was nationalised.
People must realise that to keep such a service financially viable to the customer, it is not going to make money. Therefore to suggest that the private sector should continue to run it is a waste of time and our money.
Even Margaret Thatcher believed it to be a privatisation step too far!
It makes you realise why so many people oppose the privatisation of other services that are fundemental to the well being and prosperity of our country. In the cases of people getting to work, their well being and protection of their liberties; their is no profit to be made as these things require every penny to go back in.
Our railway system is an expensive joke and people are profiting from it. This 17 year experiment has proven that the promise of choice and competition to benefit the consumer, can sometimes just be an illusion. You can apply the concepts of Friedman to the sale of sausage rolls (have you ever bought one on a train?!) But some things still prove to be too sacrosanct to the general public to mess with and this proves why.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Totally agree....
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
On the subject, just found this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/18/east-coast-rail-line-taxpayer-subsidy
Interesting term 'state run' - Pretty interesting, though still trying getting my head around it.
About time we cut the train lines from the dead hand of the private sector I say.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Gets my vote...........
