Will UK transport ever improve?

Soaring costs are threatening to undermine the government's 10-year plan for modernising Britain's railways, a report issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on Thursday has admitted.

Key schemes to reduce overcrowding and delays have all been delayed or downgraded.

These include the modernisation of the east coast main line between London and Scotland, expansion of the Thameslink route through the capital, and improvements to commuter lines in south-east England.

SRA chairman Richard Bowker told BBC News Online that much of the government's 10-year plan for rail had proved too ambitious.

And in an interview with Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Berkeley of the Rail Freight Group warned that any cut backs could lead to the possibility of more than five million extra lorries on the roads next year.

Will Britain's transport systems ever get back on track? Tell us what you think.

Thank you for your comments. This debate is now closed. A selection of your e-mails is published below.

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It becomes more and more difficult to see how the cutbacks and shelved plans can be justified

John, Birmingham, UK

The current and past governments have neglected the transport system nobody would deny, but with all levels of taxation revenue at its highest for years it becomes more and more difficult to see how the cutbacks and shelved plans can be justified unless the public purse is being utilised inefficiently. We are all going to be stuck in it so we had better accept it or emigrate.
John, Birmingham, UK

I travel to work every day on South Central Trains to London Bridge. As a rule the service is fine, although very overcrowded as you approach Central London. With regard to the wider picture, unfortunately governments only think in the short term, and thus until this changes I can only see our transport infrastructure getting worse.
Noel, London, UK

10 years to modernise some of the network? I believe the Victorians built the whole network in less than 10 years.
Paul Lavin, UK

The problem is not the transport system but the social and economic policies that have driven the vast increase in demand for all forms of transport. The collapse of the rural economy and the concentration of most jobs within small areas (particularly London) has driven up house prices to such a level that people are forced to live further and further away from where they work resulting in more and more travel. This has not been helped by the wide scale building in rural areas. The best solution to the transport crisis would be to move jobs to areas of unemployment and to encourage a rural economy again. First step - move all the civil servants out of London.
Martin, UK

These "soaring costs" consist of fat payments to the managers of private contractors. In a nationalised system this would not occur and the whole railway would be far more efficient.
SCH Smith, UK

The inept way the Tories privatised the rail network means it will never work properly. I'm not a fan of nationalisation, but it is necessary here. The idea that companies are making profits out of rail transport when it is in this state is obscene. Bring the railways back under state control.
David Patrick, Reading

As a Brit living in Japan I feel sympathy with rail and road users in the UK. Japan has arguably the world's best railway system. It is privately run by a kind of "nationalised monopoly" company JR which works very well. Where other companies compete with JR they must build their own separate lines, run their own trains and even build their own stations. Obviously not many companies are willing to make that kind of investment other than on very heavily-used routes. So that leaves the field clear for JR to monopolise the rest of the network and charge realistic fares which allow them to remain profitable.
The network here is better than the UK system in almost every respect: cheaper, more punctual, more frequent, and with greater coverage and more modern trains. Plus on a separate network there are the popular bullet trains which can transport you from city to city faster than an aeroplane. Maybe the government should send someone out here to see how it's done?
DD, Japan

The public transport system is old and needs a complete rethink and not just expensive patches

Gavin, UK

The failing of our public transport systems is yet another sign of Britain's ultimate decline in the world order. Britain is no longer Great, no longer powerful and seldom respected these days. We, the people, are forgotten. The public transport system is old and needs a complete rethink and not just expensive patches placed over the top to shore up the crumbling foundations laid over 100 years ago.
The new congestion charge in London will drive more people onto the all ready overcrowded system and nothing has been done to accommodate this. It could be the proverbial straw on the very old and under-fed camel
Gavin, UK

The transport network in this country has been built around the car virtually since its invention. Over the last 30 or so years the Government has not invested in public transport or considered it seriously. New Labour have at least raised the profile of transport by making it part of the Deputy PM's portfolio. However the 10 year plan was naive in transport timescales.
Chris, UK

Considering the amount of tax (direct and indirect) we pay on everything compared to the rest of the world, and the fact that we seem to have gone downhill, not uphill, with regard to public services makes me believe that things can't improve - as I'm sure we pay far too much already and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Or maybe it's the complete incompetence of those we pay the money to.
Matt, UK

I don't even bother travelling by rail in Britain. It's too expensive, always late, filthy and uncomfortable. Why is Britain so bad compared to almost the whole rest of the world, but especially the rest of Europe? What rail-based skills do they have that we do not?
Daniel Soong, UK

Privatise the whole thing. Sell off the lines, tracks and trains, tube and Railtrack. Get rid of the trade unions completely, put new management in (fire the current ones without any kind of parachute) and train and raise salaries of current rail staff so they are motivated to deal with customers and problems by thinking outside the box. And to put the cherry on top: forget policy, solve the problem. It's not difficult you know.
John McMullen, UK

The piecemeal way British Rail was broken up for privatisation was not to provide better rail services but to create as many directorships as possible to maximise the "snout in the trough" syndrome. Railtrack even carried on paying dividends to shareholders when they had made a spectacular loss! Correct me if I am wrong but I thought dividends came out of profits.
Alan Jones, England

Today it has been announced that the government will pay £2.9bn for a new aircraft carrier that we don't need. Perhaps if Messrs Blair, Brown, Prescott, Darling et al were forced into a crammed Thameslink train - which we are now being told won't be upgraded - with their noses stuck in the armpit of a stranger, then perhaps OUR money would be spent on the things that WE need and WE want.
Andy, London, UK

To Andy, UK - no chance I'm afraid. Government Ministers are conveniently going to be exempt from congestion charging meaning you'll never see them using public transport. What incentive do they have to improve things when the problems don't affect them?
Dan, UK

Things are gradually getting better

Jon, UK

Rail and transport systems cannot measure improvements in weeks and months, but in years and decades. These are huge and complex networks. The rail industry is grasping the nettle with regard to spiralling costs, once it's been proved that rail projects can offer (here's that well worn phrase) 'value for money', then we'll see a turn in political favour to rail. We've got a congested, fragile network, but things are gradually getting better.
Jon, UK

So Jon thinks train services are improving and Matt thinks Connex is almost faultless? I'm surprised by how any genuine, regular rail user could really think this unless they have a political (rabid Labour supporting) or financial (rail/public service worker) interest in creating this perception. Hands up those who think their spiralling taxes are being wasted on issues that do not really improve rail or, for that matter, any other public service?
Mark , UK

It rather seems that we are no longer capable of maintaining a functional transport system. We have neither the engineering or managerial skills - as with other sectors, we are left with just PR.
Steve, UK

Whether you use rail, bus or road, one transport industry does not pay its way - air travel. The fuel is untaxed. A levy on this could be used to fund the improvements to longer distance rail lines, to make them faster, and more competitive than short-haul air travel.
Steve Rackett, London

A lack of political will

R. Steward, UK

Thirty years ago I had my first experience of travelling from Paris to Toulouse on the fast bullet train. Was I impressed? Yes! Well 30 years have passed since then and what can one say about British Rail only that the French have been advancing their rail system and the British floundering with theirs. Its been a lack of political will to get ours right and I have very little hope that it will ever change!
R. Steward, UK

I take the underground every morning from Victoria station and have complained about the delays, the train failures, problem with engineering; and it isn't only the underground, it's when I take the train to Gatwick. Although management is very much to blame, none of the staff seem to even care. They look at you and tell you there's nothing they can do, which is not true at all.
Chris, UK

I have travelled to London from Kent for the last six years. The service provided by Connex is almost faultless!! I think Mr and Mrs Fussy who use the trains must learn that nothing in life is perfect!!
Matt, UK

Create a transportation system that will have the flexibility to last well into the next century

Tom, UK

The railways as they are organised today are a legacy of Victorian age engineering. With machine vision technology, global position systems and environmentally-friendly motors, all the necessary components are in place to create a network of self-guided buses which could respond to transport demands in a more flexible manner. Rather than continuing to patch up a system that's based on the old model, let's bite the bullet and create a transportation system that will have the flexibility to last well into the next century.
Tom, UK

I agree with Tom, UK, our transport infrastructure is based entirely on Victorian design. What we really need to do is dig up all the railway lines and redesign the whole system. Nobody would mind if we didn't have a railway system for 10 years would they? You would? well stop complaining then.
Nigel, UK

Both road and rail systems are struggling to cope with the present demand. The government is unwilling for financial or ideological reasons to invest the sort of sums which will even maintain the status quo. Things can only get worse.
Brian W, UK

Two years ago billions of pounds were promised by the privatised rail companies in exchange for 25-year franchises. The SRA has cancelled these agreements opting for much shorter ones. Freight companies were prepared to invest their own money in freight wagons and sidings providing the government met half the cost. This too has been scrapped by the government's SRA.

Private shareholders who would have been willing to invest even more in Railtrack are no longer around. Network Rail is struggling to borrow money which the privately-run Railtrack had access to. So with all the private money drying up it is no wonder the improvements and services are all being cut back. I can't see it ever improving.
Tony, UK

We have just seen total deterioration and rising prices

Mel, London

No, I doubt it will. How long have we been hearing of plans, promises and improvements to come? Years and years. However, we have just seen total deterioration and rising prices. Personally I feel the public has been taken for a total ride while lives are lost. It is a travesty and the government has never answered this question as no-one has ever asked it.
Mel, London

We will never get value for money from our transport system as the government is only interested in destroying the country with road building.
Keith, UK

It is impossible to run something like a railway as a public service (and use it strategically to reduce congestion etc) while the aim of the companies operating the railway are pursuing profit as their primary goal.

Nationalising the railways won't overnight cure the problems that have plagued them for decades, but by handing back what should be viewed as an essential part of the strategic transport plan the government can at least take responsibility for ensuring that safety, efficiency etc are put first.
Huwms, UK