Want progress? Then face up to progressive taxation

LONG-SUFFERING rail passengers are facing yet another round of fare hikes and many are wondering what they are really getting in return for their money.

From overcrowded rush-hour carriages to rickety old trains, and from rising fares to cancellations and delays caused by everything from signalling faults to strikes, commuting can feel like an endurance challenge.

Industrial action from Southern Railway to ScotRail has blighted rail travel this summer, and last week’s announcement of a 1.9 per cent fares hike came as another blow to those who simply want to get to and from work or home at an affordable price.

Trades unions say the answer is renationalisation of the railways. Self-evidently, big business does not think that way. Many academics and rail experts, though, will fall somewhere in the middle, saying that neither nationalisation nor privatisation is the silver bullet.

For pure efficiency and punctuality, Japan – where average train delays are counted in seconds, not minutes – seems to offer a pretty good model, yet it is almost entirely privatised.

Then there is Spain, whose stateowned infrastructure and trains have seen billions ploughed into them in recent years as the government sought to fend off the recession by expand- ing and modernising the network to create what is now Europe’s most extensive high-speed railway, while the UK continues to dither over HS2. Unfortunately, Spain is struggling to attract enough passengers to make any of its high-speed lines profitable – some trains run half-empty – and not all Spanish taxpayers are happy with the investment.

Sweden offers a model where nationalisation seems to work. The country has managed to keep both fares and subsidy low by retaining direct government control over the infrastructure and, at a regional level, ownership of the rolling stock.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, however, and if we want to look to Europe to improve our railways then – like the Dutch – we have to face up to steeper taxation rates in the region of 45 per cent.

This is the key to many of today’s concerns. Self-evidently privatisation is not working when it comes to our trains. So, if nationalisation is an answer, it needs to be paid for – by all of us from our pay packets in terms of larger proportions of tax.

Let’s face it, if you want progress, then you need to accept progressive taxation. If you don’t want progress, then stay happy with a slightly fatter pay packet while services crumble around your ears.