Research highlights terrible state of UK railways

The poor performance of British railways has been highlighted by a new report from think tank Just Economics.

According to The Independent, the country's rail network suffers hugely in comparison with every other European nation, finishing bottom of several league tables.

The report read: "In terms of bang for buck, not only does the UK come bottom of the index of outcomes but it also spends a relatively large amount of money to achieve this woeful result. This means that it also comes bottom of the value for money league."

Commissioned by the Rail Maritime and Transport Union, the study demonstrated how much slower, inefficient and comfortable British trains are than European equivalents, as well as highlighting the high cost of using such services. It is this type of research that may encourage more people to use business car hire instead of trains for their commute.

The poor state of British railways appears to be no secret to those on the inside of the industry, as head of National Rail Sir David Higgins recently told ft.com that the country would need "30 years of continuous investment" if it is going to catch up with the rest of Europe.

In his view, the reason why other nations' railways are in such a good way is because they put efficient investment plans in place decades ago.