| Thames Water 10:20 - Jun 29 with 5695 views | britferry |
About to be taken back in to public ownership with it being £14 billion in debt.
Another 4 English water authorities struggling too.
Why Gas, Lecy & Water was ever sold off in the first place was just bonkers
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| Thames Water on 22:20 - Dec 12 with 975 views | majorraglan |
Thames Water back in the news over the last few days and facing a parliamentary probe having been accused of misleading MP’s, they’ve paid out £37.5m in dividends to a shareholder potentially in breach of a regulation imposed by Ofwat, they’ve got a £190m loan due next April they can’t repay and it seems a reported £500m injection of “equity” from the shareholders was actually a new loan. The company is according to some sources £18bn in debt and is looking to secure a rise in water rates of approximately 40% by 2030 to pay for infrastructure investment. If it goes Pete Tong guess who’ll be picking up the tab!
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/12/thames-water-apologises-to-mps- | | | |
| Thames Water on 23:38 - Dec 12 with 950 views | Boundy |
| Thames Water on 12:08 - Jun 30 by majorraglan |
There were examples of poorly run services, but the late 60s and early to mid 70s were only 30 odd years after WW2 and the country was still recovering from the war, it’s now 80 years since the end of WW2 and we’ve still got poorly run utilities now.
Water rates were a lot cheaper back then than they are now, water bills for example have gone up by 40% plus inflation and we’re still getting a poor service, look at the mess the water companies are in. National Grid is another example, it’s making billions in profits but renewable energy projects can’t get connections for years and years.
There is no reason why a utility cannot be run by the State and provide a good service, it just needs good management who are given a set of objectives and told to achieve them with no political interference. Prices should be realistic as should wages. |
"National Grid is another example, it’s making billions in profits but renewable energy projects can’t get connections for years and years " as someone who worked for both the National Grid and latterly in the renewable sector , the problem is with the connections from say a wind farm onto the local distribution company's grid not the National Grid per se.
One example is a recently build wind farm near Llandeilo which had everything in place, turbines, small substation built and the HV network but it took over a year to have it connected to Scottish Powers' network as they hadn't built the line to connect it to and were not in any rush to do so .
Proposals are in place to built a National Grid transmission line running from n Wales to Swansea North but local objections to the line being built has delayed any progress , this is also happening in other parts of the country ,I worked for the CEGB (pre nationalisation ) and I can honestly say the amount of overmanning was astonishing , 3 x engineers 1 x foreman 1x charge hand overseeing 6 linesmen and this was in one depot , replicated in another 2 x depots based east and west of Swansea . | |
| "In a free society, the State is the servant of the people—not the master." |
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| Thames Water on 00:08 - Dec 13 with 944 views | Kilkennyjack |
| Thames Water on 23:38 - Dec 12 by Boundy |
"National Grid is another example, it’s making billions in profits but renewable energy projects can’t get connections for years and years " as someone who worked for both the National Grid and latterly in the renewable sector , the problem is with the connections from say a wind farm onto the local distribution company's grid not the National Grid per se.
One example is a recently build wind farm near Llandeilo which had everything in place, turbines, small substation built and the HV network but it took over a year to have it connected to Scottish Powers' network as they hadn't built the line to connect it to and were not in any rush to do so .
Proposals are in place to built a National Grid transmission line running from n Wales to Swansea North but local objections to the line being built has delayed any progress , this is also happening in other parts of the country ,I worked for the CEGB (pre nationalisation ) and I can honestly say the amount of overmanning was astonishing , 3 x engineers 1 x foreman 1x charge hand overseeing 6 linesmen and this was in one depot , replicated in another 2 x depots based east and west of Swansea . |
Power, water, steel and railways should be renationalised tomorrow. |  |
| Beware of the Risen People
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| Thames Water on 08:38 - Dec 13 with 901 views | felixstowe_jack |
| Thames Water on 00:08 - Dec 13 by Kilkennyjack |
Power, water, steel and railways should be renationalised tomorrow. |
Railways and water are all ready under state control in Wales and Tfw is absolutely abysmal terrible service, ancient rolling stock 100 cancellations a day. Welsh water a not for profit organisation is one of the UKs biggest polluters and a nationalised steel industry would need huge subsidies from the Senedd.
Fortunately out power generation companies are investing at record levels particularly in green energy which this year has produced a record 36% of out electricity. | |
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| Thames Water on 12:29 - Dec 13 with 864 views | controversial_jack |
| Thames Water on 08:38 - Dec 13 by felixstowe_jack |
Railways and water are all ready under state control in Wales and Tfw is absolutely abysmal terrible service, ancient rolling stock 100 cancellations a day. Welsh water a not for profit organisation is one of the UKs biggest polluters and a nationalised steel industry would need huge subsidies from the Senedd.
Fortunately out power generation companies are investing at record levels particularly in green energy which this year has produced a record 36% of out electricity. |
Tfw has brought in new rolling stock. I don't know what planet you are on | | | |
| Thames Water on 12:49 - Dec 13 with 849 views | felixstowe_jack |
| Thames Water on 12:29 - Dec 13 by controversial_jack |
Tfw has brought in new rolling stock. I don't know what planet you are on |
Only 5 years too late and only 33% of services are using the new trains the other 66% are using 40 to 50 year old trains.
Good old GWR replaced all their ancient inter-city 125 trains 5 years ago.
I am sure Tfw will catch up soon. In 2018 they said 95% of services would be on the new trains by 2023.
Meanwhile cancelled trains have risen from 2% per year to 5% this year. Fortunately I only ever use GWR on my visits to Swansea. | |
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| Thames Water on 15:13 - Dec 13 with 832 views | johnlangy |
| Thames Water on 08:38 - Dec 13 by felixstowe_jack |
Railways and water are all ready under state control in Wales and Tfw is absolutely abysmal terrible service, ancient rolling stock 100 cancellations a day. Welsh water a not for profit organisation is one of the UKs biggest polluters and a nationalised steel industry would need huge subsidies from the Senedd.
Fortunately out power generation companies are investing at record levels particularly in green energy which this year has produced a record 36% of out electricity. |
Network Rail is in charge of rail infrastructure. | | | |
| Thames Water on 16:06 - Dec 13 with 822 views | SullutaCreturned |
| Thames Water on 15:13 - Dec 13 by johnlangy |
Network Rail is in charge of rail infrastructure. |
What does TFW do? because many cancellations this last week were because of unfit rolling stock, as the WoL reported. | | | |
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| Thames Water on 23:56 - Dec 13 with 776 views | majorraglan |
| Thames Water on 12:49 - Dec 13 by felixstowe_jack |
Only 5 years too late and only 33% of services are using the new trains the other 66% are using 40 to 50 year old trains.
Good old GWR replaced all their ancient inter-city 125 trains 5 years ago.
I am sure Tfw will catch up soon. In 2018 they said 95% of services would be on the new trains by 2023.
Meanwhile cancelled trains have risen from 2% per year to 5% this year. Fortunately I only ever use GWR on my visits to Swansea. |
The issue goes back well beyond TFW’s taking over of the rail services in Wales. When Arriva took over the franchise back in 2003 there was no provision for growth built in to the contract, so by 2018 when the Arriva contract was coming to an end the slide was well and truly underway. Arriva trains were unable to source additional trains to meet demand because there was no capacity in the manufacturing sector to make the trains. In 2018, the average age of the Arriva trains was 27 years wth the oldest being 30 years old and having covered around 4.5m miles.
TFW have ordered an entire new fleet of trains, but only around a 1/3 have been delivered by the manufacturers who blame Covid and loads of other things. I think TFW have underperformed, but I also believe some of the issues are out of their control. Lee Waters is in overall charge and I think some serious questions needs to be asked about what’s going on.
Its’s a pity we don’t have a larger manufacturing capability who could deliver more trains. | | | |
| Thames Water on 00:51 - Dec 14 with 770 views | DJack |
| Thames Water on 00:08 - Dec 13 by Kilkennyjack |
Power, water, steel and railways should be renationalised tomorrow. |
Apart from the Yanks, i don't believe any other nation has privatised its strategic industries. |  |
| It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Carl Sagan |
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