Rail Privatization Debate

https://chatgpt.com/share/68a37b87-6c30-8002-8a9a-76915e2e48...The basic problem with the way you are thinking about it with respect to the national railway is that you don't seem to include cost to the government (ie, the people) to run it. Much infrastructure might appear to be "well run" by the government until you see the massive hole in the th

i think that's literally ones of the objectives of under-funding. then privatise. then monopoly rents for those that can own shares. while still under-investing - who cares about trains? just uber a private jet/helicopter.

I’m using the political/economic meaning of “conservative.” Requiring the subway to run at an operating profit (London) is a more politically conservative model than treating it as a public service that is heavily-subsidized to keep ticket prices low (New York). Other models typical in Europe are even more conservative. Stockholm’s subway system is operated and maintained by private companies, including MTR (the Hong Kong transit operator). France is trying to privatize the Paris airport an

Roads don't break even, why should we expect trains to?

the government subsidies roads so why not trains too?

It should be government owned or like in Switzerland the rail company should be majority owned by the government. It requires a lot of money to maintain and it may run at a loss for years but it is vital for a country to operate. The losses occured by rail are made up in GDP by other industry that can thrive because of it.It is not something that should be gambled with.

Our rail system is set up to be mediocre and expensive. Much of it was built privately long ago, then it was nationalised, cut down and improved. Then is was 'privatised' - I use quotes because the train operators don't really have a say in what they do. The banks own the trains. The network is run by a non-profit. The government funds it, decides on the rules but takes no responsibility when it goes wrong.

Name a country with good rail that hasn't nationalized it (hint, you can't).

Is it a wrong?There's a lot of externalities around transit that aren't directly priced into costs vs ticket revenue.If France decides "We want high speed national rail connectivity between cities", I'd look at it more of an entitlement / service than a profitable enterprise.Nobody expects national healthcare services to be profitable.(Also, both France and Germany's relatively recent experience with their national rail networks being the rea

US consumer rail way is a quasi public corporation (Amtrak) that has lost money for decades and is still funded to the tune of over $1 billion per year. You are confusing that with private US rails.