So much wrong with our railways

THE whole of the rail network in Britain has been completely underfunded and mismanaged for decades, by various government administrations.

It’s 21 years since the railways were privatised by John Major and his government who said in a statement that by privatising British Rail, money would be reinvested back into the Treasury.

That certainly has not happened.

Punctuality is extremely poor at times and apart from anything else in comparison to the rail systems in France and Germany, both of whom are publicly owned, the whole British rail network is completely inaccessible.

It’s hard to imagine that Britain was the first country that invented the railways under pioneers, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and George Stephenson, whose cottage is in Wylam in Northumberland.

When anyone is planning a train journey the money that passengers pay should be going directly back into the public purse to improve and upgrade the whole of the rail network - which includes the rolling stock.

But as the railways are privately run that is not happening.

Since privatisation in 1996 there have been more preventable accidents on the railways due the lack of communication which undermines health and safety.

As someone who has been disabled from birth, I strongly feel that there should be more disabled people on the boards of the planning committees because currently it seems the changes to the rail network are being made by people who do not have a clue about disabled access or how to implement any practical changes.

CATHERINE ROSA NICHOLS