If I ran the railways

Stelios Haji-Ioannou
Founder of the no-frills flight company easyJet and easyGroup
"I don't believe I could fix Britain's railways. It's a very different situation to running an airline. Setting up a private airline is a normal commercial venture. Running the rail industry is a government task.

"The first difference - and problem - is that, by their very nature, airlines are free to move around whereas with the railway's track system, the freedom to move is limited. How do you create competition in the railway business, short of having two parallel tracks going to the same place?

"As far as efficiency's concerned, the reason easyJet became so efficient was by using the net for ticketing. I know you can book train tickets online, but the devil's in the detail. Some sites are incredibly efficient and some aren't.

"One issue that's struck me that should change is the fact that Railtrack was responsible for safety, whereas in the airline industry, safety regulation is controlled by a government body, responsible for checking private companies. The same independence should apply to monitoring safety on the railways - and I understand that's now going to happen. [The government is committed to an independent rail safety authority following the Cullen report.]"

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