rail fare increases, its all the drivers fault

An article in the Independent newspaper by a gentleman called Simon Calder and entitled “the answer to this problem is staring us in the face” discussed the problems of the recent announcement of rail price increases. According to Mr Calder, the underlying problems causing swingeing rail fare rises have been identified by Sir Roy McNulty as  ‘Antiquated rest-break agreements, mean many drivers spend the majority of their working time not driving trains, while replacing a station ticket machine involves at least 10 decision-making stages.’ Mr Calder concurs with this conclusion.

So, there we have the problem, the underlying causes of rail inefficiency causing trains to become what Philip Hammond who was Transport Secretary in 2011 told the House of Commons ‘eye wateringly expensive’ and describing the UK’s train system as ‘a rich man’s toy,’ have nothing to do with profiteering by train corporations, lack of investment, or any other forms of corporate exploitation, the problems are caused by the people who work in the industry. It’s the drivers and the incompetent bureaucrats. Simples! The problem is indeed staring us in the face, as is the solution; hammer all those lazy train driving bastards, get them to put in a decent days work for their pay, and put a serious boot up the backsides of all those useless middle managers who spend their days in meetings taking an hour to decide whether to have tea or coffee and five minutes on how best to replace station ticket machines. Such measures by themselves will solve all of the railway problems in the UK and put an end to the £1000 rail journey.

Such thinking neatly encapsulates the dominant neoliberal mindset. It’s working people who cause all the problems for the nation. It’s working people who wreck the economy. If we can just get to a situation where we can dispense with workers we will realise paradise. According to Mr Calder, the railways ‘are hobbled by Victorian legislation.’ I was genuinely unaware that the Victorians passed legislation that allowed train drivers to spend the majority of their working time not driving trains. I am indebted to Mr. Calder for enlightening me.

You see, according to the dominant ideology as exemplified by the Tories and New Labour, the only people who create wealth in this country are the financial and business elite. The rest of us only damage the economy by demanding wages that we don’t work for. This article was in the Independent by the way, not the Times or the Daily Telegraph. I shall return to this theme later.

Your Servant

DoktorKommirat