Thursday 27 January 2011

How capitalism works

I mentioned the sad demise of the Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway company a couple of days ago.

Coincidentally, the Rail Passenger Satisfaction survey arrived yesterday. At the top, with 96% of passengers satisfied with the service: the unsubsidised Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone.

Capitalist monopolies lead to worse services. They cut choice, they cut corners, they charge more. The W+S is owned by the same company as Chiltern Railways: Deutsche Bahn, the German state operator. So although the Germans made the trains run on time, they couldn't defeat the vested interests of our crony capitalists.

1 comment:

Call Guy said...

Caught some of it on Radio 4 yesterday, A very sad story.Strangely I've just done a post myself discussing how in the private sector customer service is more often than not sacrificed in the name profitability.

A lesson which needs to be taken on board with the governments current appetite for sell-offs and privitisation.