In the novel Catch 22, one of the central characters is an entrepreneurial war profiteer by the name of Milo Minderbinder. Caught swindling his fellow countrymen, Milo likes to evoke the “historic right of free men to pay as much as they have to for the things they need in order to survive”. When Milo’s profiteering [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Railways’
Rebuilding Rail: a blueprint for rail industry reform
Jul 26th, 2012 by Mick Whelan.The Rebuilding Rail report was commissioned by rail unions ASLEF, RMT, TSSA and UNITE in order to examine how a better structure for the railway could be created in order to deliver better value for taxpayers or passengers. It calls for a complete overhaul of our fragmented, franchised network, putting rail back into the hands [...]
Staff at Virgin Trains deserve respect
Jul 20th, 2012 by Manuel Cortes.This morning, talks between TSSA and Virgin Trains broke down after Virgin Trains refused to commit to observing their own procedures when addressing concerns regarding staff sickness, capability or discipline. Virgin Trains management, including Patrick McGrath, HR Director, read a pre-prepared statement and then left. The message that they gave us was: Bookmarks Hide Sites
How not to run a railway
Apr 14th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.One of the areas where Labour should be setting out its vision, which everyone is crying out for, and where Labour would attract huge popularity, is by reasserting the role of an activist State in areas where the market has run amok, is out of control, or has massively failed. The railways would be a [...]
The £32bn Great Train Robbery
Jan 18th, 2012 by Ben Mitchell.The lure of high speed rail travel has proven too much for ministers to resist. Seduced by the chance to finally emulate its European neighbours, Britain will have its very own TGV in the not so near future. In a 2006 major review of Britain’s transport needs, the former head of British Airways, Sir Rod [...]
