W. K. Lis
Superstar
When the first New York City subway opened in 1904, it was the city that built and owned the tunnels, but the private IRT leased the tunnels and operated the trains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veolia_Transport
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arriva
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FirstGroup
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach_Group
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transdev
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ComfortDelGro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_STS (automated systems)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR_Corporation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keolis
I know there's probably more to it than to say that privatization was the catalyst, but the huge amount of growth that coincided with it is pretty amazing. Is there anything to learn from them? I've used various British rail services a few times (London to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Liverpool, Liverpool to London) and all of the service was fantastic. Compared to what we pay for our train tickets, I'd say their service/prices can be really good depending on where you're going.
Was National Express fined for breach of contract?The big issue that the UK has to look at now is the case of National Express. They were fine to bid for a franchise and take their profits when times were good, but since the recession has hit they refuse to run service when revenues dip and their profits disappear. Now the UK tax payer (i.e. me) is on the hook for running an unprofitable service up to Scotland. I wouldn't be so upset if the UK government had been able to offset that with profits from running trains when revenues and profits were growing, but no. We are left to take all the loses and let private companies take all the profits.
Subways are a natural monopoly: I can't see any private investor forking over billions to build a parallel subway on, say, Bathurst Street to compete with the Yonge Subway. When there is a natural monopoly there is no rationale for privatization. There is no inner-city urban rail system in the world which is privately owned (some are privately contracted, which is not the same thing). Even the MTR was planned and built with HK taxpayer money, and today is majority controlled by the HKSAR Government.
A private company wishing to build a subway paralleling an existing subway line would also face years of red tape, which may or may not go anywhere. Finally, compare the population density of Kanto Plain with the population density of the GTA. Magnitudes apart...
Contrary to what the Fraser Institute wants you to think, the private sector has had its share of disasters, especially when a natural monopoly is involved.
Some of the fairytale rhetoric about the efficiencies of the private sector in this thread is ridiculous. Private corporations are out to make a profit at the expense of almost everything else, which is why we'll end up with a privately-operated $22/fare limited-stop train from Union to the airport that uses decades-old technology.