Trains
Trains
Some of the arguments against nationalisation are over-simplified.
For example, the question isn't asked why passenger journeys decreased by 250 million between 1948 and 1995.
We must take into consideration the challenge posed by road transport. Although private ownership of cars had been steadily increasing since the 1920s, the mid-1950s saw the average family wage rise while the onset of mass consumerism saw the prices of many luxury goods (including cars) decrease. The car was viewed as a symbol of freedom for people both is status and in convenience. Also, the railways were viewed as an antiquated mode of transport - a relic from the Victorian era. Transport policy was geared largely towards roads and road-building projects, although the government did invest some money into the railways (see The Modernisation Plan of 1955) - this money which was largely wasted on vanity projects. As more and more people started to own cars, it was inevitable that the railways were going to suffer as a result.
The images below are from a 1967 booklet published by the BRB entitled 'Facts and Figures about British Rail'.
