TOCs had no freedom

Richard Townend is critical of the current franchising system ( Open

Access, RAIL 832). I very much agree - we seem to have a set of private nearmonopolies whose ability to exercise enterprise, innovation and long-term investment thinking (all original aims of privatisation) has been pretty much destroyed by this system.

I seem to remember passenger franchises were originally set up as an initial base from which franchised train operating companies (TOCs) would expand and develop into each other’s ‘territories’ - providing the inter-operator competition that is now so lacking.

Unfortunately, along came the Strategic Rail Authority, and this second stage of development was never allowed to happen. Ever since, governments of all ‘colours’ have pursued the same ‘command and control’ policy, based on the assumption that accountability should be exercised by and through the Department for Transport, rather than via effective competition.

Of course, there are services (suburban/commuter) that are not amenable to competition, which might gain accountability as local, direct democracy co-operatives.

If TOCs had had the freedom to expand and develop from the original franchises, the rail/road co-ordination desired by Richard would probably have developed naturally. David Cooper-Smith, Bletchley