Just watched this and as can be expected from the title it did not flatter the present system. Leaving aside the enormous rise in (real terms) fares since BR days I was surprised by the equally impressive increase in government subsidy. Add in the complexity of running the privatised system (or buying tickets to use it) and you get to the programme's concluding question: was privatisation worth it? Apparently DfT still thinks so, citing the enormous increase in rail journeys since BR's demise.
The programme didn't address my question: do other changing factors mean that the increase arose despite privatisation, not because of it?
The programme didn't address my question: do other changing factors mean that the increase arose despite privatisation, not because of it?