Well theres a surprise, union leaders stirring things and putting fear into peoples minds again. The unions are causing this country more trouble than they are worth at the moment, they are hindering rather than helping.

Here's a radical idea - why don't we take it into public ownership and run it for the benefit of the people on a not for profit basis?

As a very frequent user of the West Coast Mainline and Northern Rail services, in particular on the West Coast Main Line between Preston & London & Preston & Carlisle I believe Virgin Rail provide a very good service and have improved the rail stock considerably over the length of their current franchise. As a firm believer of public ownership I believe all this could have been done with the right investment and structures in the public sector. Nevertheless, in my experience of the greater network in general I believe Virgin do a decent job on the West Coast Mainline.

As a frequent user of Carlisle station and the Virgin train service to London it is fair to say that there are lots of staff around who give off the impression that they are doing nothing.

This is typical union twaddle trying to justify 20+ years of creating unnecessary rail jobs, overinflated payrises and holding the travelling public to ransom.