"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 23:38:30 on
Sat, 28 Mar 2009, Tony Polson remarked:
The problems started in 1992, when the Tories were unexpectedly
re-elected with John Major as leader. The idiot had some misplaced
fondness for the days of the "Big Four" pre-1948 and allowed the
arch-privatisers to dismember the very successful Sectorised BR and
sell it off.

But as you know, he wanted to sell it off as integrated sectors, but the
*railway* industry told him that wouldn't work, and that it was necessary
to split things into the Railtrack/ROSCO/TOC system.

Given that the rational for the sell off was to "improve the railways by
injecting competition" they were right.

Unfortunately, this method of privatisation also increased the cost base
considerably

tim