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@joe_bloggs* wrote:

"The government paid £5.7 billion worth of loans to Network Rail in 2016/17, which isn’t included in the government support figures."

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Again true, but what about indirect subsidies via payments by the rail operators to use the system?

If the government subsidise the operators by £x billion and they then buy services from Network Rail with that money then who is being subsidised and by how much?

The rail system is in a mess, much caused by the rail operators and much by Network Rail.  The ticketing system is a mess, the timetables are a mess, the capacity is woeful.  It needs to be sorted - I just don’t see how anyone can believe politicians are the best people to sort out that mess.

Just look at some of the other privatisations - anyone remember BT when it was part of the GPO? - Would any right minded person really want them to be renationalised.

What about the docks, the closed shop with jobs passed from generation to generation - the frequent strikes, overmanning, lack of investment - again, what right minded person would want to go back to that?

As I said earlier, the rail system is in a mess but the idea that nationalisation would solve the problem is simply rubbish.