The privatisation of the British railway industry was a unique political and economic event. An integrated industry was broken-up into numerous component parts and sold off to private sector interests. The result was a highly fragmented industry that was structurally unsound and operationally dysfunctional. This authoritative volume presents an enlightening portrait of an industry that is less efficient, more costly and still more dependent on state subsidy today than its nationalised predecessor. The nine chapters in this work present a comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of how and why the industry has become so dysfunctional and costly, supported by detailed financial analysis and industry examples. Seven chapters comprise a series of peer-reviewed academic papers by Professor McCartney and Dr Stittle and published in leading international journals over the period 2004–2017 which analyse selected key segments of the privatised industry: where appropriate, updates are provided at the end of these chapters outlining developments since initial publication relevant to the analysis therein. Two chapters are published here for the first time: Chapter 7 reviews the performance of the freight sector, while Chapter 1 ‘bookends’ the volume by providing first, an account of how rail privatisation was conceived and implemented in the 1980s/90s, and then reviews the impact of the pandemic and the proposals of the Williams-Shapps White Paper of 2021 which, if enacted, will effectively end the Major government’s experiment. Going far beyond the usual superficial analysis of the topic, this volume will be of significant interest to researchers and advanced students of accounting, economics, business history, transport studies, as well as industry and specialised business interests in transport and privatisation.

The SAGE Course Companion on Financial Accounting is an accessible introduction to the subject that will help readers to master key concepts and enhance their thinking skills in line with course requirements. It provides support on how to revise for exams and prepare for and write assessed pieces. Designed to compliment existing textbooks for the course, the companion provides: - Easy access to the key issues in Financial Accouting - Practice questions and sample answers to help you prepare for exams and assignments - Tips to help you remember key points and earn extra marks - Helpful summaries of the approach taken by the main course textbooks - Guidance on the essential study skills required to pass the course The SAGE Course Companion on Financial Accounting is much more than a revision guide for undergraduates; it is an essential tool that will help readers take their course understanding to new levels and help them achieve success in their undergraduate course.