Very Swiss

I spent a couple of days in October visiting Geneva, and had the opportunity to try for the first time their much-praised rail and tram network. Very impressive in some senses but not as different from British trains as I had expected.

The difference seems to be in the way that they plan for reality, rather than for theory. Trains leave on time because they arrive with minutes, not seconds, to spare before they leave. Trains are clean, because the cleaning crew joins the train before it terminates the previous journey.

It's hard to imagine Thameslink doing either of these things; there would be a public outcry if journey times were extended to improve punctuality, and without substantially fewer people on the train, cleaners wouldn't stand a chance.

Of course, a solution to both of these problems would be to invest significantly more in the network, both stock and stations - and I don't just mean leasing WAGN stock that is woefully in need of sending to the scrapyard (more on this later). This is not going to happen, however, while Thameslink’s franchise is short-term and there is so much uncertainty around Thameslink 2000. I find myself therefore , quite uncharacteristically arguing for public intervention. And with pressure on public spending and an election looming, I can't see it happening.
Makes me wonder how a business case could be made for the present works given that the main beneficiaries will be Eurostar and its customers.