Privatisation pitch: in with the old train designs and out with the new

摘要

I refer to the statement that 'successive governments have relied too heavily on the financial and service sector at the expense of manufacturing', expressed by Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya in the Viewpoint in the 26 October issue.rnThere is one area where this has become increasingly problematic, exacerbated through privatisation, and that is the UK's railway system: one that is the most expensive in Europe and yet remains way behind many of our continental neighbours.rnThrough a surge of privatisation, we have a number of organisations wishing to make a profit. In addition, as we no longer have British companies making trains for Britain in Britain, the finance-driven decision to just purchase what is needed against a specification means that we no longer have the full engineering design, development and design verification process in place.