"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
"David Boothroyd" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Rich Mallard" wrote:

A think tank comments:

http://www.ippr.org.uk/press/index.php?release=355

It's gone down like a lead balloon with the councils in
north-west Kent, south-east Essex, south Hertfordshire, etc.

Since it would diminish their power, this is unsurprising. But it might
not
go down like a lead balloon with the voters of those areas, which is what
really matters.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes


From the point of view of purely 'running a railway', divorced from the
reality of politics, yes the return of NSE may make sense.

However, TfL is the PTE for Greater London, subsidised by the residents of
Greater London and managed by the elected representatives of the residents
of Greater London. TfL as a single body wants to integrate all forms of
transport within Greater London. This provides several benefits for the
people of Greater London (Ticketing, Accountability, similar standards for
all GLA council tax payers whether they are north or south of the river
etc.).

If we, as GLA Council Tax Payers are prepared to pay for good public
transport services, why shouldn't we be able to have some control over
stations and services within our area?

It would be impossible to exert co-ordinated political control over a
Greater South East rail body in the same way as is possible in the GLA.
You would have continual political fighting between the labour suburbs and
Tory shires. And the Tory Shires wouldn't want their Council Taxes raised to
pay a share equal to that paid by GLA residents (when so many people out
there are quite happy with their private vehicles).

The current level of subsidies show that (for the forseeable future) you
cannot run a railway without vast sums of public subsidy. The price to pay
for that is 'political control / public accountability'. And if it's a case
of the railways or local government changing its structure to fit reality,
it's the railways that are going to have to adapt.

Colin