But probably doesn't apply to a national rail system.
I get a bit annoyed with the public versus private argument. A number of our so called "public" services are actually a confusing hybrid of public and private services.
Much of the old public bits are in reality outsourced often on...
They elected him. When you are a member of a Union (you pay for it) you allow the leaders to go public and take the flak. If they didn't want him there he'd be gone.