Network Rail considering selling 18 major stations incl. Waterloo, Paddington and Birmingham New St

[muriel_volestrangler]

The chief executive of Network Rail, Mark Carne, has revealed he is considering selling off 18 major stations including London Waterloo, Birmingham New Street and Paddington in order to cut debt and break up what he described in the interview as a "Kremlin-type model".

Carne said there would potentially be a £1.8bn sale of 7,500 other properties, including freight yards, car parks, arches, depots and spare land, it was reported in an interview with the Financial Times.

http://www.cityam.com/236556/network-rail-considering-selling-18-major-stations-including-london-waterloo-paddington-and-birmingham-new-street

So more infrastructure with an automatic monopoly goes into private hands. And the overpaid **** who proposes it tries to spin it by implying public ownership of monopoly infrastructure is a Soviet idea.

[LeftishBrit]

1. Oh no...

to be utterly selfish, these include some of the stations I use. I don't look forward to my journeys becoming even more chaotic and expensive than they are already!

In any case, it's disgusting.

Perhaps there needs to be a new (metaphorical!) Battle of Waterloo.

[T_i_B]

3. I never look forward to visiting Birmingham New Street

It's an embarrassment to Birmingham quite frankly.

Muriel's point about an automatic monopoly is very pertinent. You''ve got a captive market in train stations and prices of food, drink and so forth tend to be hiked up to capitalize on this.

[Bad Dog]

2. Some people will be very rich.

And so will the lawyers who specialise in tax avoidance.

[non sociopath skin]

4. Meanwhile, in Tyne and Wear ....

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/tyne-wear-metro-contract-change-11040066

The Skin

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Ooh, lucky you, you have years of Osborne in hi-viz jackets and helmets to look forward to

High-speed rail coming to Newcastle as Chancellor gives green light to new HS3 network

Britain’s new high-speed rail network will be extended to Newcastle as part of the largest programme of rail investment since the Victorian age, Chancellor George Osborne will announce in his Budget statement.

He will give the green light to ‘HS3’ - a proposed high-speed line linking the North East and the North West.

It will include a high speed line crossing the Pennines, linking Leeds and Manchester, and connections to major cities such as Newcastle, Hull and Liverpool.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/high-speed-rail-coming-newcastle-11039365

So, that's endless 'powerhouse' PR photo-ops, then ...