Comment by willyt
2 months ago
Citations please. I believe the opposite of much of what you said is true. Here are my references.
SNCF is profitable: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2023/02/24/sncf-re...
Pre-pandemic the main intercity routes were all private operated. The operators had to pay track access charges to cover maintenance costs but they also had to bid to the government to buy the rights to operate the franchise. I.e they had to say how much profit per train service they were willing to pay to the government for the right to operate. The privatised rail sector collapsed because these companies overbid for these rights not because the routes themselves were fundamentally unprofitable.
TFL operating surplus: https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/march/...
Japan has never closed a shinkansen route. They have closed many rural branch lines though.
Britain has a low immigration rate compared to Europe. E.g net gain ~750k compared to 1.9m to Germany last year. Germany also has high rates of unemployment for unskilled labour yet they have a sophisticated and highly automated high tech manufacturing economy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration#/media/File%3ANe...
That TFL press release says they rely heavily on subsidies from central government, will continue doing so and that reconfirmation of these central subsidies is a "pressing need". Don't be misled by propaganda from public transport authorities. They always lie about their own economics, unfortunately. It's fundamentally not a form of transport that would exist if it weren't kept alive by governments. The other stuff is all like that too. They are "profitable" if you use a definition of profit that would result in jail time in the private sector.
> The 2023/24 budget has been developed on the assumption that the current funding agreement with Government, which lasts until April 2024, remains in place and is fully honoured, including in relation to adjusting the quantum of support provided to TfL in 2023/24 to reflect latest inflation rates.
While TfL has a current funding agreement with the Government until the end of March 2024, there is also a pressing need for the Government to confirm the £475m that TfL needs in 2024/25 to support the delivery of the committed contracts for rolling stock and signalling on the Piccadilly line and the DLR.
The Government has consistently recognised in the funding settlements that TfL is not expected to fund major capital projects from its operating incomes.