Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by griffzhowl 641 days ago
Privatization of UK rail services meant that they were given out on government tenders to "private" companies, and a few of these companies that won the tenders are owned by foreign govts. Netherlands is one I believe, maybe France too.
1 comments

Some examples:

- c2c and Avanti West Coast: partially and fully owned by Trenitalia which is wholly owned by the Italian government

- London Overground, Chilltern Railways, CrossCountry, Grand Central: Owned by Deutche Bahn until June 2024 which is wholly owned by the German government

- Elizabeth line: Wholly owned by MTR transport which is wholly owned by Hong Kong government

I'm sure there are a lot more I missed. It doesn't just appy to foreign governments either. The UK government subsidized all TOCs with taxpayer money, many of which turned around and gave out dividents to shareholds (foreign government or not).