So just a small disclaimer, the thread title might be somewhat unclear because I wanted to try and condense it to something relevant and understandable but not too vague either. That said, my definition of airline-style railway operation in this scenario is a situation where you would have different train companies operating different services. This idea differs from the franchising system though because in this scenario I'm proposing to discuss involves a state-owned railway operator running alongside open access operators who have no commitments to government such as franchise premiums and are solely ran on a for-profit basis. To put this into an appropriate analogy you currently have British Airways flying out of Heathrow and Gatwick to both small and large destinations alongside a few major competitors, notably Virgin Atlantic and Delta for premium routes, and Ryanair and EasyJet for short-haul routes.
If you are currently asking yourself why I wanted to start a discussion on this particular idea, then the reason is that we sort of see some similar arrangements both here and on the continent. In the UK we have open-access operators such as Grand Central and Hull Trains running services alongside or not covered by the primary operator - London North Eastern Railway - and we even have a low-cost operator in the form of Lumo with a single-class of travel. In Italy we have Trenitalia operating it's high-speed train services in the form of Frecciarossa and Frecciargento, and additionally we also see NTV operating it's own high-speed services under the brand Italo. Similarly in France the TGV services are now split into InOui (premium) and Ouigo (low-cost) operations in a similar fashion to how some governments operate premium and low-cost airlines such as the the Emirate of Dubai, UAE with Emirates (premium) and FlyDubai (low-cost).
Alongside these arrangements, we must also consider the laws throughout the EU mandating opening the railways up to competition, and while the UK may no longer be part of the EU, the Conservative Party's reputation as a party of private enterprise means I would not put it past them to consider such a policy at any point in the future. Of course there will be major differences, most notably the fact that these would largely be dealt with by local authorities (ie. the Office of Road and Rail in the UK) rather than being a matter of international arrangements. Additionally, in the same way airlines need slots at airports, trains need paths on the routes they hope to operate on. There are most likely other major factors I have either overlooked or am unaware of, but I think by now we understand the similarities and the differences enough.
Now with all that in mind, could airline-style railway operations be a possibility in both the UK and around the world? I look forward to hopefully participating in these discussions and hearing all your thoughts.
If you are currently asking yourself why I wanted to start a discussion on this particular idea, then the reason is that we sort of see some similar arrangements both here and on the continent. In the UK we have open-access operators such as Grand Central and Hull Trains running services alongside or not covered by the primary operator - London North Eastern Railway - and we even have a low-cost operator in the form of Lumo with a single-class of travel. In Italy we have Trenitalia operating it's high-speed train services in the form of Frecciarossa and Frecciargento, and additionally we also see NTV operating it's own high-speed services under the brand Italo. Similarly in France the TGV services are now split into InOui (premium) and Ouigo (low-cost) operations in a similar fashion to how some governments operate premium and low-cost airlines such as the the Emirate of Dubai, UAE with Emirates (premium) and FlyDubai (low-cost).
Alongside these arrangements, we must also consider the laws throughout the EU mandating opening the railways up to competition, and while the UK may no longer be part of the EU, the Conservative Party's reputation as a party of private enterprise means I would not put it past them to consider such a policy at any point in the future. Of course there will be major differences, most notably the fact that these would largely be dealt with by local authorities (ie. the Office of Road and Rail in the UK) rather than being a matter of international arrangements. Additionally, in the same way airlines need slots at airports, trains need paths on the routes they hope to operate on. There are most likely other major factors I have either overlooked or am unaware of, but I think by now we understand the similarities and the differences enough.
Now with all that in mind, could airline-style railway operations be a possibility in both the UK and around the world? I look forward to hopefully participating in these discussions and hearing all your thoughts.