elevators, shafts, and rail privitisation
Did UK's rail "privatisation" work. Two posts debate the issue:
(1) Globalisation Institute - The reality of rail privatisation in the UK
vs.
(2) Transport Blog: Alex Singleton. Communist.
The problem with vertical separation is the tight integration between trains and track (unlike the loose integration between lorries and motorways). For trains, the intelligence is in the track, separating them is much more difficult than in other transport. We would not think of taking elevators and elevator shafts under separate management.
On a side note: The British seem far more willing to throw around terms like "communist" than in the US, where "liberal" is much plausibly damning (and calling someone a communist is beyond The Pale).