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Comment by Reason077 | Hacker News Reader

> "Free market, because first, rail leads itself to monopolies."

There's no reason why train operators should also own the fixed infrastructure. Truck companies don't own the interstate highway system, and airlines don't own all the airports.

Why not have private train operators (passenger & freight) bid for routes / slots / capacity on a publicly-owned rail network? Lucrative routes between major cities will return significant profits, while regional routes will require support/subsidy. But in either case, competition between operators promotes cost efficiency, innovation, and a focus on service quality.

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We have that in the UK, and unfortunately it doesn't work very well. Obviously the UK is different to the States in a number of ways, but you might want to watch Shaun's video on the subject: https://youtu.be/nP95Frc0v4k

Yes, the UK model isn't perfect. For the most part, it doesn't result in true competition because train operating companies are awarded monopolies over regions and routes rather than actually competing against other. The few routes that really do have competition between operators (like London-Birmingham) are also the routes that have the most competitive fares!

One solution would be to auction off packages of "slots" on the most profitable, and capacity constrained, routes (eg: east & west coast main lines) rather than franchise them as single monolithic entities.

As for "not working very well", those who remember the days of government-owned-and-operated British Rail will attest that the current system is a significant improvement!

Italy has the concept of competition on the same route - at least on long distance routes, Italo compete with TrenItalia. The result is cheap, pleasant long distance service. It's a much nicer model than the UK has, certainly.

"Pleasant" is subjective. In the last couple years I had to do Venice-Rome relatively often. It's a 3.5 hours trip, if everything goes well. Usually it's been 4, and in a couple of occasions 6.

What happens if you're booked on a train from Company A and it doesn't run, and the next train is from Company B? Do you have to let it pass and wait for a Company A train, as that's all you've got tickets for?

> "What happens if you're booked on a train from Company A and it doesn't run, and the next train is from Company B?"

In the UK, you can buy expensive, flexible tickets which are valid on any train and any reasonable route, or you can buy cheaper tickets with various restrictions, typically one or more of:

- Valid only on a particular route/operator

- Valid only on off-peak services

- Valid only on a specific train/time

- Must be purchased a certain period in advance (usually by the previous day)

However, in the event of significant disruption, and trains are running late or cancelled, an announcement is usually made relaxing the cheap ticket restrictions. At the very least, if you have a cheap advance ticket and your train is cancelled or delayed, then you're allowed to use it on the next available service, regardless of operator.

the same thing as when it happens with your airline

> We have that in the UK, and unfortunately it doesn't work very well.

the problem isn't the model as Japan has the best trains in the world and runs on a similar one.

" As of April 2015, 211 companies and entities were registered with MLIT as railway operators in Japan.3 A number of these are involved in multiple activities, combining operations of both railway and other transportation services. "

https://www.eubusinessinjapan.eu/sites/default/files/railway...

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