Today I have been covering two big railway stories: the roll-out of a new £1bn fleet of trains, known as Arterio, at London Waterloo; and, the remarkable news that the taxpayer is currently subsidising the railways to the tune of £12.5bn a year. That is a difficult figure to conceive, so I have calculated a less-cumbersome figure: £400 of public money per second. To his credit, Stuart Meek – interim managing director of South Western Railway – explains why the railways deserve support. He also believes his new suburban trains are as good as any in Europe, and will delight tourists heading for attractions such as Hampton Court.
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Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast