Bring Back British Rail: Meet the group who want to renationalise UK railways

IBTimes UK speaks to pressure group Bring Back British Rail about re-nationalising Britain's railways.

[thomaslauffenberger]

Anybody notice that the group got the logo backwards?

[Keithbarber]

Even when nationalised, b.r. put fares up by 50% in 1975

[vincitveritas]

British Rail had a good research department including bringing in coasting boards to save energy back in the eighties before anyone else was really taking it seriously. There is a video on YouTube of how effective this was.

[AdamSmith-gsdv]

British rail had awful passenger numbers, say what you will about privatization but at least a ton of people are.riding trains!

[johnclayden]

Have to be out of the EU to permit nationalisation.

[Legend]

The cost of doing this would be so big why wouldn’t you increase regulation of the privatised industries

[devon]

If it failed why did passenger numbers grow to the point the system was actually busier than it had ever been before? If it wasn't working people wouldn't use it.

[louiejonesponation]

Imagine seeing Pendolinos and other Intercity Express Trains in the Intercity Swallow livery

[Trainlover]

If BR were to ever come back, I wanna see more loco-hauled passenger trains.

Of course, I'm American, and therefore, at the mercy of Amtrak and its CEO who seems to have been instructed by Trump to sabotage Amtrak from within to justify shitcanning it and funelling everyone onto airlines, but of all the rail networks in the world, I hold a special fondness for the Britain's railways, probably because I grew up watching ALOT of Thomas & Friends.

[bwilliamson]

The rail is nationalalised, we subsidise it. Rail will never be perfect in this country but its as good as it will get.

[Isochest]

Politicians have sought to destroy private rail companies. Railways were not originally formed as monopolies but by citizens and businesses in local towns in many cases. NR is state owned anyway.

[mohammedzulk]

British Rail was far better than the nonsense that replaced it.
Multiple changes, tickets higher prices, tickets are not open returns, have to declare which coach which seat which way facing, stupid repetitive safety announcements by post menopausal women, pressure on workforce etc etc

[tortie]

British rail was only unsucsessful not as they got worse but the invention of the car. But now adays the cars are nightmares as of traffic but if we brought it back, it would be making a fortune

[martinreid]

it is nationalised railtrack went bust. we just subsidise private companies to badly trundle a few trains up and down

[wvjproductions]

Bring back the Big Four which would be better. It true that the LNER, LMS, GWR and SR kinda worked better than BR.

[theflippedpacer]

60% of people live where there trains are rubbish

[davidbrewer]

I would guess those who want to simply renationalise British Rail to the "treasured institution" never had to travel by rail back in the 70s & 80s...It was AWFUL. Yes it was cheaper because it was subsidised but it was still a horrible service. There probably needs to be a better mix of private & public ownership for profit plus there needs to be a lot more people using the train across the WHOLE country not just commuter routs into London.

[theflippedpacer]

Lets say this went ahead vigin and first would not be happy nor arriva

[grahamdavidcowley]

The railways ARE nationalised. They are owned by Deutschebahn (Arriva and Northern Trains), Abelio, the dutch owned company, subsections of SNCF, Italian Railways (FS)

[TheElDoctoro]

Can’t wait for curled sandwiches and 50 year old rolling stock