Back to the Future

Let the train take the strain

Gov.uk reports:

[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/journey-to-great-british-railways-gathers-steam-with-landmark-legislation]

The Railways Bill, which will be laid in Parliament tomorrow, will create Great British Railways (GBR) – a new publicly owned company, which will bring together the management of passenger services and rail infrastructure.

GBR will be accountable to passengers, freight customers and taxpayers and will drive a relentless focus on responding to their needs. Responsible for coordinating the whole network: from track and train, to cost and revenue – GBR will deliver lasting change.

Not sure how you 'lay' a bill, even in Parliament.

The return to the past may be regarded as a good thing for the few travellers left who experienced British Rail before it was privatized into the patchwork that is Network Rail.

So will the following return?

  • Smoke-filled compartments
  • White-jacketed waiters doing a silver service in the first class dining room
  • Beer and sandwich bars instead of a trolley
  • That slice of fruit cake that went down great after a pint of Watneys
  • Football specials that guaranteed mayhem on Saturdays
  • Door windows you could hang out of to play chicken with an oncoming train

Ah yes ... the days when the train took the strain.

Hopefully the Great British Railways will be built by China who actually know how to do it.

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