Solution to rail woes is not more government
15 May 2023
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Economics
In the Media
Housing and Planning
Harrison Griffiths appears on GB News
IEA Communications Officer Harrison Griffiths has appeared on GB News to argue against nationalising the UK’s rail network.
Harrison said:
“Since the end of the pandemic, [passenger journey numbers] have rebounded to a new equilibrium which is still much lower than they were before the COVID outbreak in 2020.
“People are using the rail system far more to take long journeys than to commute to work…what that should mean in any normal sector, is that there has to be innovation – they new rail service has to adapt and do what functioning markets do which is to give consumers the best possible experience at the lowest possible price.
” We can’t know centrally at any given moment what the perfect timetable is, what the perfect number of passengers is, and certainly not what the perfect price is, and that’s the function that competition takes. It’s needed now more than ever when British rail is going into a new situation with a new customer base, it needs to make innovations.
“It’s the worst possible time to nationalise an industry, when the government is just going to set arbitrary targets central which is going to cater to politicians’ interests and unions’ interests, and not our interests.”
Watch Harrison’s full appearance here (1:16:14).
Harrison said:
“Since the end of the pandemic, [passenger journey numbers] have rebounded to a new equilibrium which is still much lower than they were before the COVID outbreak in 2020.
“People are using the rail system far more to take long journeys than to commute to work…what that should mean in any normal sector, is that there has to be innovation – they new rail service has to adapt and do what functioning markets do which is to give consumers the best possible experience at the lowest possible price.
” We can’t know centrally at any given moment what the perfect timetable is, what the perfect number of passengers is, and certainly not what the perfect price is, and that’s the function that competition takes. It’s needed now more than ever when British rail is going into a new situation with a new customer base, it needs to make innovations.
“It’s the worst possible time to nationalise an industry, when the government is just going to set arbitrary targets central which is going to cater to politicians’ interests and unions’ interests, and not our interests.”
Watch Harrison’s full appearance here (1:16:14).
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