Contrast and compare

The French state has lately begun TGV operations between Paris and Rennes, and also between Paris and Bordeaux. At the same time, the Department for Transport and its subsidiary Network Rail have decided not to extend Great Western electrification as far as Bristol Temple Meads and Swansea.

It is now necessary to ask: is there something amiss with the competence of those in charge of our railway system? And is it the lack of a ‘controlling mind’ - an inevitable consequence of vertical disintegration? (Professor) George Huxley, Oxfordshire