Vip News : Report blames bureaucratic bungling for railway mess

LONDON - A report by the Adam Smith Institute has blamed the inept bureaucracy for the current mess that the British railway system finds itself in.

The report says that the railways had a chance to redeem itself after privatization, but bureaucratic bungling has put paid to that prospect as well, "Privatization offered a chance to break the vicious circle of under-investment and poor performance in the public sectors. But the opportunity was missed," said Iain Murray, the author of the report. The report feels that the Tory government’s over-complex structure at the time of privatization was responsible for the failure of the move, "Bureaucrats forced an over-complex structure on the industry and having too many regulators made it worse. The combination of over-regulation, over-complexity and public ownership of the infrastructure makes it impossible for private train operators to improve the service to travelers," Murray added.

The report says that the remedy to the problems lies in handing more freedom to train companies in matters regarding the management of station and track improvements, "If Britain's railways are to play a future role in meeting our transport needs in the foreseeable future, they must be freed from their regulatory straitjacket," Murray commented.

However, these comments have invited flak from rail organizations, Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, slammed the report and said, "This is another bankrupt idea from a crackpot rightwing organization. This is the same think tank that once wanted to concrete over Britain's railways and turn them into motorways. Every penny that goes into our railways comes ultimately from the pockets of the fare-paying and tax-paying public, and it is only right that every penny going in should be spent on improving the railways." Keith Norman, general secretary of train drivers' union Aslef agreed with Crow's views, "The experience of privatization has proved that the railway cannot be run safely except under public ownership," he commented.

Posted on : Sat, 27 Aug 2005 07:05 GMT | General News
By : Salim Patel