Fifteen years ago, a National government corruptly sold the railways to a consortium of its rich mates for a song. Today, the Labour government bought them back. It's both a fantastic achievement which will allow us to modernise the rail transport network in preparation for the challenges of peak oil, and a clear sign of the difference between Labour and National. Labour invests in this country and its people. National loots the state to enrich its friends. You can't get simpler and clearer than that.
The rail buy-back will no doubt be criticised by the Rogernome dead-enders who still infest our body politic. But it will be popular. Everyone can see what has happened to the railways thanks to privatisation - they were run down, asset stripped, mined for the profit of the robber barons who bought them. Toll stopped the rot, but didn't reinvest, didn't pay its bills, and demanded a continuing public subsidy to provide even a minimal service. Faced with that, it's hard to see how government could do a worse job of managing the trains, and it makes far more sense to subsidise a public company than a private one. That way at least we're not having to add on extra for someone else's profit margin.
As for why we should effectively run the railways at a loss rather than just abandoning them to their fate, the short answer is climate change and peak oil. With rising oil prices making road transport less affordable, we are going to need those trains in a decade or two. And it's pretty clear they won't be there if we leave it to the market.
