The government would in effect award itself the franchises as they roll over, and
- it could continue to lease the rolling stock, or
- it could purchase the rolling stock and substitute much cheaper debt for the leasing commitments which would probably make financial sense, or
- it could take ownership of the leasing companies, which could raise the necessary compo by issuing bonds to be serviced/redeemed from the future leasing income
for example.
The financial structure is easily solved for. The big question is how to make sure it is no less well run,in which case the profits that would have gone to Branson et al, and the cost savings from substituting public guarantees for commercial debt would benefit the taxpayer.
On the other hand, if the publicly owned TOCs and network find themselves in thrall to the unions 1970s-style then it might not be so good. That's the bit they need to find a way through.
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