First class, City style
WE should be following the first rule of takeover finance: you can afford to pay a premium for something that is badly man- aged. We shall teach our railway to discard the notion — typical of the public sector but by no means confined to it — that an excuse is as good as a sale. We shall make our simple train set work or junk it and get one that does. There will be touches of class, City style: club cars on the trains and oyster and champagne bars at the stations. Our platforms will be staffed by warrant officers who had retired from the Brigade of Guards but missed the uniforms. 'Good night, Sir George,' they will say, 'good night, my lord, good night, Mr Governor. Nice column today, sir.' We shall make our fortunes and pay for our tickets. For too long the City has grumbled about its infra- structure, which in this context means trains. Now is its chance to bring its own skills to bear and to show them off to its own customers. Tickets, please.
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