Kindly Join Me In Wishing Baroness Thatcher Continued Good Health...

[Tony.London Suburbs]

A calm has been restored.

Lets keep this respectful in memory of Margeret's achievements....

[LegalEagle-ish]

I hope the old cow rots in hell.

Sorry Tony, couldn't resist it!

[Alan Dale]

Removed

[Maurice]

Alan dear boy. I feared you had left us in grief over the dearly departed Silver Buckle. Any more news? Are you part of this Camberwell Republic in the BBC Bias thread causing me great stress over the possible loss of my home?

Maggie would never stand for such.

[Alan Dale]

Removed

[Maurice]

Hello dear chap. I understand there is a new French bistro in Camberwell but have been unable to go out recently. Is it worth a visit?

Maggie was always invited to our Camberwell Society dinners back in the day. She was never able to attend, but always sent through a delightful note of apology.

A former PM did dine at my home many, many years ago. I still have the photo on proud display.

[Marmora Man]

Alan Dale Wrote:

Road (car, motorbike, bicycle, coach), air (scheduled airlines, private airlines, helicopter), canals, by foot.

Hardly homogenous products are they?

That's why it costs ?85.

AD - you misunderstand the nature of the competition - the service you wanted was one that facilitated travel. The mode is irrelevant - all the examples I quoted will get an individual, or many individuals, from A to B. They do it in varying degrees of comfort, speed, convenience and cost - and therefore compete in the market of transport from A to B.

[Alan Dale]

Removed

[Marmora Man]

AD

You choose an appropriate example.

National Express has not been able to attract enough revenue paying customers to its line. You obviously object to the ?85.00 fare and it seems so do many others. As a result the East Coast Line business has failed - which is what happens in free markets. The government, being fond of intervention and having propped up a daft model** for private railways, will take it over.

The traveling public would be better served if National Express had to find a buyer in a poor market - then a capitalist predator could buy it up cheap and, from that low cost base, set about delivering a more cost effective service, unburdened by high debt and a contract to pay huge chunks of money to government.

National Express will also soon be free to set up a coach line offering, say, ?5.00 fares. If more people value low prices over comfort and speed then the Government run East Coast line will continue to wither.

** The commercial failure of The East Coast Line and National Express was, at least, partly the function of the high cost they contracted to pay the Government for the franchise. If the government had negotiated, as requested, a lower franchise fee NE would still be in charge. Better still would have been to have held the franchise auction in a completely open market and not the government rigged market that prevailed three years ago.

[Alan Dale]

removed

[Marmora Man]

AD - recognised. MBA 101.

I still contend that the market is "travel" not "trains". Trains are a particular subset - they meet some of your criteria, but not all.

There are many, potential, buyers. There are fewer suppliers.

They have high entry costs but low (relative) exit costs

There is good information on prices, times and services (never ever gonig to be perfect)

Firms aim to maximise profits - this they could do better if not burdened by state interference.

Homogenous products - well they can all get you from A to B - which is pretty homogenous. Fruit & veg all supply food - but different varieties of food, the consumer decides whether they want carrots or aubergines today.

[AuraCaught]

I will say nothing, but will attach the following, which I signed months ago.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/thatchfuneral/

[Tony.London Suburbs]

AuraCaught Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I will say nothing, but will attach the following,

> which I signed months ago.

>

> http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/thatchfuneral/

I see that 12,968 have so far signed the petition.

If a Counter petition is raised I would hazard a guess that 112,968 would have signed by now...:)

[AuraCaught]

I'm glad to say that the three counter-petitions have 113 signatures >:D

[Tony.London Suburbs]

AuraCaught Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm glad to say that the three counter-petitions

> have 113 signatures >:D<

LOL..Just prooves what I've always believed that "our" Margeret appealled to The Silent Majority...:)

[Alan Dale]

removed

[Jah Lush]

AuraCaught Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I will say nothing, but will attach the following,

> which I signed months ago.

>

> http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/thatchfuneral/

Just signed it. Thanks.

[AllforNun]

ok f.it 3 bricks

[AllforNun]

no wait 4 bricks

[sofaRunner]

for the harm she has caused this country I cannot wish her well

[Huguenot]

I'm with Marmora Man on this one.

The market is travel not trains.

The price issue is slightly spurious. No-one's making a profit by running trains in a classic sense, it's just a question of what proportion of the fare is paid by the traveller and what proportion is paid by the tax payer.

For those train companies getting more cash in than they're paying out to run the service, it's only because the tax payer paid for the infrastructure years ago.

I still despair, because I believe 'private' travel is a luxury of a world with fewer people and more resources, not the 21st century. It would give me great succour if the bloody train services would set a reasonable example.

I blame Thatcher. She privatised them, the old fraud.