Need to deal successfully with capacity pinchpoints first.
There are far too many currently which will severely hinder any attempt to encourage travellers
And stop introducing NEW capacity pinch points, such as new and often shorter trains. And ignore the arguments about a new 5 car train being so much better than an
HST▸ The thread asks the question "why are these people travelling by train" and goes on to muse as to whether / why we might be missing such passengers [in the
UK▸ ].
I have - on last year's trip and on this years' - hit capacity issues; they are not unique to the UK. The matter of whether such travellers / metrics could more usefully travel by train in the UK is at the heart of the question - the metrics of how the systems could or should support it are a necessary corollary, and that is where provision policy and strategy come into play.
In my view, the moving of
TOCs▸ from private contractors to public operators is something of a side issue - no matter who runs and specifies the thing - and the wider environment around it too, the result depends on providing what people want and will use, and having them know about it and feel and be comfortable using it.
