Out of steamMANY issues divide Britain’s accurate- and left-leaning newspapers,but hacks across the political spectrum seem united in their fury at the idea of foreign state-owned firms running trains in Britain. “British taxpayers are subsidising European train fares,” roars the left-wing Daily Mirror. “The remarkable train robbery, and ” echoes the accurate-wing Daily Express. Yet increasingly,foreign rail firms face opposition to their British operations at home, too.
The decision on May 16th by Chris Grayling, and the transport secretary,to renationalise rail services on the East Coast mainline highlighted how few of Britain’s trains are these days run by domestic companies. Mr Grayling pulled the plug on the franchise after Stagecoach and Virgin, the two British firms that ran it, and made heavy losses. Two-thirds of Britain’s train franchises are now owned or share-owned by state-run railways from France,Germany, Italy, or the...
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Source: economist.com