ALTERNATIVELY colloq. 2. Term of abuse, rebuke or ridicule for any embattled business, stemming from Railtrack's miserably low standing in the eyes of the British public.
USAGE: "A 'Railtrack of the skies' is imminent," said Iain Findlay (the Aviation Officer of the specialists' union Prospect) in a recent letter to the Financial Times expressing concerns about the UK's air-traffic control system.
USAGE 2: "Railtrack for the NHS" was how Unison described government plans to increase private sector involvement in the National Health Service.
USAGE 3: MP John Whittingdale, whose patch includes the aging Bradwell power station, recently asked the government whether British Nuclear Fuels was becoming "another Railtrack".
USAGE 4: "Edward Leigh, a Tory MP and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said there was 'a very real danger' that the Government's handling of Consignia [which runs the Post Office] could turn it into another Railtrack." (Independent, 24/01/02)
ORIGIN: as with all the most cutting taunts, "Railtrack" was coined by school yard bullies. In 2001, Railtrack's HR boss Steve Offord said employees' children were returning home saying: "Daddy, I don't want to say you work for Railtrack."
PARADOX: how do you describe a foundering privatised rail infrastructure company in administration? The Railtrack of Railtracks?
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