How far back do you want to go? Even pre-privatization, there wasn't a "uniform strategy" - you had NSE, Inter-city, Provincial doing things up north, Scotrail in Scotland, not to mention the variety of PTEs who had their own schemes.
Its not about 'going back'. Its about being smart and doing what makes sense.
Yes, before privatisation there wasnt a totally uniform strategy but BritishRail certaintly had strategy, both for the network and in term of branding and marketing different setvices.
This would not just be a BritishRail thing. It would also involve the government, local governemnt and related transport services like TfL.
The smart way of doing it is basically what Switzerland did in Bahn2000. You first look at your current network and timetable and think about what you would optimally want, make a priority list. Then you study and figure out what you can get for how much price.
Then you make targeted infrastructure and service investments to achieve those goals, and of course you coordinate between all the different stack holders.
In Switzerland you also dont just have SBB, there are lots of other imporantant organisation. RBB, SOB, BLS are signifcant in passenger transport. And of course the local governments with their Transport organisations.
Is it in Britain somehow impossible for people to work thogether and come up with a plan?
This could even have been done during privatisation. Japan has many private railway and do a lot of integrated planning.
I greatly offended my mother's psychiatrist once with a similar thought. He was using my mother's suicidality as proof that she needed inpatient treatment.
I told him - "She suffers from migraines, and for 3 out of 4 weeks in an average month she must spend the entire day immobile in a dark room. There are no treatments in the near term which are expected to improve her outlook. The pain is debilitating. Doctor, who is "insane" - the person who wants a way out of the constant agony, or the person who says "More, please!""
I believe that the right to life as enshrined in the Constitution (and endowed by my Creator) must, inherently, also include the right to end that life, if a man (or woman) so chooses.
