Railways and the State in the UK

Autores/as

  • Gerald Crompton University of Kent

Palabras clave:

déficits financieros, ferrocarril, Ley del Ferrocarril de 1921, privatización, Reino Unido

Resumen

Los ferrocarriles y el Estado en el Reino Unido

Pese a la construcción y financiación privada del sistema, hacia 1900 el ferrocarril era el sector más regulado de la economía británica. La Ley del Ferrocarril de 1921 marcó una nueva fase en el control del Estado, reflejando las presiones de la Primera Guerra Mundial, favorables a la nacionalización aunque después se dio marcha atrás. En el período de entreguerras los ferrocarriles sufrieron la creciente competencia de la carretera, la situación de depresión de sus principales clientes de la industria pesada y el anacronismo del sistema regulador de 1921. Hubo un consenso casi unánime sobre la conveniencia de la unificación y la propiedad pública del sistema. La nacionalización se produjo en 1945, pero la posterior actuación de los ferrocarriles británicos no logró la combinación de eficiencia comercial y servicio público prevista en principio. No obstante, en la década de 1980 se alcanzó una gestión descentralizada eficaz. La privatización fue impuesta en la década de 1990, utilizando un modelo erróneo que se basaba en la separación de la infraestructura y la operación de los trenes que condujo a un importante descenso de la eficiencia.

Palabras Clave: déficits financieros - ferrocarril - Ley del Ferrocarril de 1921 - privatización - Reino Unido

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Abstract

Despite private building and financing of the system, the railways were by far the most heavily regulated sector of the British economy by 1900. By 1894, even pricing was controlled by a statutory body. Because of the extreme importance of the railways to the economy, pressure for regulation came mainly from other employers, whose interests were, on balance best served by this approach. The 1921 Railways Act marked a new stage in state control, reflecting the pressures of World War I. These had led first to an approach to, and then a retreat from, nationalisation. The industry was compulsorily reorganised into four giant regional groups. Anti-merger strategies were abandoned, but regulation was tightened. In the interwar period the railways suffered from growing road competition, the depressed state of their main customers in the heavy industries, and the anachronistic system of regulation imposed in 1921. A near consensus developed over the desirability of unification and public ownership of the system. Nationalisation was implemented in 1945, but the subsequent performance of British railways failed to achieve the combination of commercial efficiency and public service originally envisaged. Financial deficits and under-investment became the order of the day, and various proposed solutions were unsuccessful. Nevertheless efficient decentralised management was achieved by the 1980s, and the UK briefly enjoyed one of the most cost-effective, though under-funded, rail systems in Europe. Privatisation was imposed on the industry in the 1990s, using a flawed model based on separation of train operation from infrastructure. The resulting fragmentation led to a major decline in efficiency. None of the objectives of privatisation, especially the elimination of subsidies, was achieved. The only positive outcome, the increase in rail use, had not been anticipated, and the new structure of the industry was ill-equipped to deal with it.

Keywords: United Kingdom, railway, 1921 Railways Act, privatisation, financial deficits.

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Publicado

2010-02-22

Número

Sección

Dossier: Cuéllar Villar, Domingo (coord.): Estado y ferrocarril en la Europa del siglo XX