re: #144 wozzablog

heh. it was privatised disastrously in the early 90’s by the conservatives… and the infrastructure has been brought back into government control piecemeal ever since. The trains are still run by private companies - but the private franchises are not going well.

How does British rail compare to US rail usage? Especially in terms of track totals and passenger traffic ration compared to freight?

The track totals simply have to be smaller, probably by an order of magnitude. And I have the impression that the passenger/freight ratio must be quite high compared to the US. I was in the UK for a few weeks back in the mid-90s and did all the city hopping using a BR pass and then walking or using taxi within a city to get around. (With a few short bus excursions mixed in.)