RAIL bosses want the British taxpayer to bail them out yet again.

Not content with imposing rip-off fares and running outdated rolling stock they now want us to help prop up their flagging business.

The East Coast main railway line is facing its third crisis of private ownership in a decade. Operator Virgin East Coast wants to renegotiate
the £3.3bn contract it agreed to take over the line two years ago.

It’s as if you bought a house, moved in, then went cap in hand to
the government asking them to keep up your mortgage payments because you realised you’d overpaid in the first place - they'd means test you and in most cases tell you to sling your hook. 

The latest problem to hit the east coast line, the route which links our region with London and Scotland, contrasts sharply with 2009 to 2015 when the franchise was taken into temporary state ownership. This resulted in record passenger satisfaction figures and a profit being returned to the Treasury. Who would have thought that running a railway for the benefit of passengers and taxpayers could actually work?

A succession of Labour and Conservative transport ministers don’t seem to agree with this logic and have stubbornly stuck to the private ownership model which repeatedly ends in a dreadful mess that us taxpayers are forced to clear up.

In most business sectors a competitive market is the most sensible way of doing things as it helps to drive innovation, better service and value for money. But the rail franchise system is deeply flawed, wastes billions in public money, and attempts to create a competitive environment out of a natural monopoly.

The sensible option is to phase out the current system, return key franchises to the public sector, and reinvest profits to help cut fares and improve services rather than pay dividends and bonuses.