End of the private railway?

I have just completed my 36th annual 14-day All-line Rover (First Class), and have never before witnessed so much poorly maintained rolling stock.

Lack of heating, malfunctioning toilets, and lack of First Class accommodation on the Highland Main Line were experienced nearly every day, and certainly Abellio in Scotland was the worst franchise I spent time on.

All inter-city routes are now unrecognisable from BR days, but in the provinces and shires little has changed. The situation now suggests that margins are so tight that routine maintenance is being neglected throughout the network.

Perhaps the private railway has gone as far as it can. My suggestion is therefore that all franchises be brought in-house on March 31 2020, that a new BR board be constituted to include Network Rail, and that a reformed Strategic Rail Authority be established - totally divorced from government to monitor BR performance and liaise with new rolling stock route reopenings and so forth. I would allow the open access companies to continue, and the SRA would be able to consider other open access applications.

Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling says that BR was a laughing stock, which only goes to show either his ignorance or poor memory. What it lacked was entrepreneurial flair. which is why it lost most of its freight traffic.

The private sector has successfully remedied BR’s failings, but seems to have nothing further to offer and never has had much to offer loss-making lines.

Finally, full marks to Great Western Railway for its refurbishment of its Sleeper stock, at a fraction of the cost Caledonian Sleeper is spending in Scotland for a fleet which will significantly reduce capacity and doubtless price most customers out of the market. Philip Burley, Carlisle