Rail companies profiting from commuter misery

ARE there any circumstances in which the rail companies in this country will not take advantage of their hard-pressed passengers to feather their own nests? Hardly had the forecast of snow been aired before services were being cancelled and commuters massively inconvenienced yet again. And this was happening in areas in which there was not actually any snow – how on earth can the rail companies justify this behaviour? Do they not think they owe their “customers” a duty of care?

Except of course there is more to it than this: it seems there could be a financial compensation from Network Rail to private train operators if there are cancellations or delays caused by bad weather and engineering work. How have we ended up in a situation in which a private rail company actually benefits financially by cancelling trains?

This morning a great many commuters are going to be experiencing massive inconvenience and in some cases this will be totally unnecessary. When the current spell of bad weather clears up it is imperative that we get to the bottom of this mess. There are a great many failings in our rail companies that need to be addressed – the refusal to run services over Christmas comes to mind – but this is one of the most concerning.

Rail companies should be running services to benefit their passengers, not themselves.