The rail network is mostly shut down for Boxing Day. “Most operators will be running no services on Boxing Day, with the rest running a reduced service”, says The Guardian, and Labour has pointed out the hypocrisy of the Tories on the subject (see the link below).
Well done, Labour, for making the most of this! And it is a serious issue. But I confess to having laughed a lot at some of the quotes here from Network Rail and the government: Mark Carne “acutely conscious” that passengers want to travel to see their families at Christmas. OK then, Mark, er, so, er — hello? Hello? Then there’s the rail minister saying she hoped that “any impacts to services are communicated to passengers”. What? While they’re stuck on a train stalled outside some closed station and reduced to breaking into their Christmas whisky for comfort?
But perhaps there’s good news on the horizon. Labour noticing this situation may mean that its old guard – the Blairites, the Brownites and the Gawd knows what-ites – have woken up to the need to attack the Tories, not their own leader. If so, and if Labour wins the next election, we will see the rail network publicly owned again and, this time (if I’ve read Jeremy right), publicly accountable. Now there’s a thought for comfort while you’re stuck on that train. Hands off my whisky!
Here’s the Guardian story:
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