Nationalisation Again - National Express Taken into Public Ownership

First it was the banks. Now it is strategic transport businesses. The government has this morning nationalised the East Coast raiway line, previously operated by National Express.

Expect lots of press coverage on this story over the next few days. It will be a rich source of information for business studies courses - for example:

- Sales forecasting (over-optimistic)
- Customer service - how can a business that achieves such high customer service levels not be profitable?
- Private v public sector ownership of key transport assets (rail, road airports)
- Pricing strategies