"Colin" wrote in message
...

...

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

Agreed.

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.

Not sure about that. TfL is directly accountable to the Mayor as I
understand it, who is then supposedly "scrutinised" by those elected reps.
I don't think TfL is particularly constrained by the assembly.

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.).

But the trouble is Greater London, in transport terms amongst others, is an
artificial cut-out of the South East of England. I don't think it makes
sense to isolate the area in this way. I am also not convinced that they
are doing enough in their existing area (partricularly fringe boroughs like
Bromley, Bexley, Havering...) let alone expanding their remit over rail.

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?

We should, via a comprehensive South East body?

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.

That could be a good or bad thing. Wait until Ken Livingstone steps down,
and one day there will be a Tory mayor. Everyone seems to think Greater
London = Ken Livingstone = progressive transport policies. But this won't
always be the case (and I think a lot of the pro-"GLA model" people will
realise what they've created when this happens).

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 divide you talk already exists in the GL area itself I would argue.
From my local PoV, the Tory shires really start at Bexley & Bromley, and
extend out to Kent.

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.

Well, I disagree with the "Greater London" local government structure at is,
so maybe it should be the other way around!

Rich