German takeover will put railway back on track

One of the good news stories of the day involves a British company being bought by a foreign one.

That might seem unusual given the outbursts of national pride many people suffer when a supposedly iconic UK business is being set upon by global vultures.

Remember the uproar a few weeks ago over the aggressive bid by American food giant Kraft to purchase tiny, humble, good and honest Cadbury.

The nation was outraged that a stock market listed 'national treasure' could be bought up in a purely legal (albeit unpleasantly orchestrated and inevitable job-loss inducing) takeover operation by another shareholder owned company.

However, the purchase of transport group Arriva by German railway operator Deutsche Bahn can only be a good thing in my opinion.

For those South Wales commuters who have to tolerate the cattle class conditions of Arriva Trains Wales I can only offer my hopes that the end maybe near.

I spent a couple of weeks using the fabulous German rail network a couple of years ago, and have only good things to say about it.

The trains on all its various routes are incredibly punctual, clean, comfortable, spacious, reliable and affordable.

All of which cannot be said for Arriva Trains Wales present arrangements, particularly on the Valley Lines services.

Overcrowding

Unfortunately, this will take time and there is only so much that DB can do.

Hopefully the first thing they will do is replace large volumes of the rattling bus carriages bolted-on to rail wagons (pictured) that creek around the network with new 'proper' trains.

Even that would probably take several years to complete, though by immediately adding more carriages at peak times to reduce the horrendous overcrowding that currently occurs they would make a good start.

This would also, to a certain extent, address many of those issues.

But with the rail infrastructure controlled by Network Rail, and much of the co-ordination organised by either Welsh or Westminster Governments, this is only a first step.

It is still down to politicians to ensure that the rail network runs on time and provides its passengers a service their high-priced fares deserve.

Arriva also runs the Cross Country rail franchise and many bus networks throughout the country.