(13 Apr 2013, 3:41 pm)Andreos1 wrote The government can't be blamed for an operator deciding not to operate in an area. What are they supposed to do, force Arriva to operate in Washington?

London operates a regulated market where local Government in the form of Transport for London decides who and what operates where.

As for the railways, you cant blame the Government for National Express putting in a massive offer and then realising they aren't making enough money. As a private enterprise, National Express are big enough to forcast profit and loss and determine their bid accordingly.
London Midland arent the first and wont be the last private operator to have staff shortages and cancel services.

You can't blame the government for National Express putting in the offer but you can certainly blame the government for accepting it, signing the contract and making the hurdles for leaving the contract too low.

As for DFDS, Im not sure they actually ran the service long enough to judge on profit/loss. Looking at how long the service ran for compared to the period of time they ran the service - as well as the books they will have analysed prior to purchase, Im not convinced the decision to cancel it was based only on economic reasons. Especially when they needed a ferry to accomodate the increasing numbers on the Amsterdam route and did so by selling the existing ferry and moving the Norway one to the different route...

It was all down to money. If the money is there, services will operate. A good local government will ask to see the books by hook or by crook if they consider it vital. This wasn't done. I think the frustration is that the hurdles for entering this market is just too high for a new entrant.