Competition… Red in tooth and claw?

26 July 2012

As a consumer organisation we are generally pretty in favour of competition. Often it produces the best outcomes for consumers without the need for government or other intervention. However, competition in transport services is often a bit problematic.

Rail competition is limited in Great Britain, although the so-called ‘open access’ operators have made some progress and record high scores in our passenger surveys. Some visitors from a Swedish public transport organisation described the situation there with competing trains following five minutes behind each other. Difficult to imagine that is sustainable – track space will run out soon!