Since the cost of running the railways cannot be met by passenger fares alone, the government pays billions of pounds in subsidy to the train operating companies. However, much of this public subsidy doesn’t even reach the railways, but goes straight to shareholders. For example, between 1997 and 2012 on the West Coast Mainline, Virgin Trains paid out a total of £500 million in dividends, having received a direct government subsidy of £2.5 billion.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 04:59:09 +0000
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