Yes, this is according to a BBC report.
"According to Hassard Stacpoole, media relations manager for the Association of Train Operating Companies, the value of improvements to punctuality is greater because the network is getting more crowded.
He said: "You will find that we are running 20%-plus more trains than we were under British Rail, in what is a busier network.
"Overall we would say punctuality is much better than even under BR. We have one of the most punctual railways in Europe.
So the doomsayers are wrong, railways in Britain are carrying more people than they have for over 50 years, and more reliably.
"Mr Stacpoole adds that commercial incentives, which did not exist under the nationalised BR system, work as a safeguard to improvements.
"If the trains are not going to run on time that's going to cost you money. Network Rail will have to compensate the operators or vice-versa (depending on who is at fault).
"There's an incentive to get things right. People expect their trains to run on time. "
You see if it is the fault of the track owner (Network Rail) the train operator, which pays to use the track, gets compensated. If the train operator is late in using its slot, then it pays more to use it later, as others are disadvantaged by the change.
Now there remains mistakes, massive subsidisation of major infrastructure projects that should have been financed directly. Political subsidisation of uneconomic lines and projects, but by and large, it has been a success going this far. Another loony leftwing legend about "good old British Rail" (which closed more railway lines than private railways ever did) is blown away by the facts.
No comments:
Post a Comment