page_title: Adam Smith Institute
section_title: Rail privatisation
hierarchical_section_title: Adam Smith Institute / Influence / Public sector reform / Rail privatisation
caption_attribution_description: English: GBR rail passengers by year 1830-2016. Image produced by myself in Microsoft Excel, adding new information onto an earlier chart produced by Tompw and correcting a minor typo in the dataset (for 1846). The data comes from: ATOC's 2008 publication Billion Passenger Railway for 1830 to 2001 The UK Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), specifically Passenger journeys by sector - table for 2002-15 and [http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/23376/passenger-rail-usage-2016-17-q2.pdf Passenger Rail Usage 2016-17 Q2 Statistical Release] for 2015/16 and 2016/17 Q1 &amp; Q2. The plotted data is the sum of the "Total franchised passenger journeys" and "Non franchised" columns. From 1984 onwards, the point plotted at a given year is actually the last three quarters of the year given and the first quarter of the year afterwards. So, the point at "1985" is the year from April 1985 to March 1986.
context_page_description: The Adam Smith Institute is a neoliberal think tank and lobbying group based in the United Kingdom and named after Adam Smith, a Scottish moral philosopher and classical economist. The libertarian label was officially changed to neoliberal on 10 October 2016. The Institute advocates free market and classical liberal ideas, primarily via the formation of radical policy options with regard to public choice theory, which political decision makers seek to develop upon. ASI President Madsen Pirie has sought to describe the activity of the organisation as "[w]e propose things which people regard as being on the edge of lunacy. The next thing you know, they're on the edge of policy".
  The ASI formed the primary intellectual force behind privatisation of state-owned industries during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher and alongside the Centre for Policy Studies and Institute of Economic Affairs advanced a neoliberal approach toward public policy on privatisation, taxation, education and healthcare. A number of the policies presented by organisation were adopted by the administrations of John Major and Tony Blair and members of the ASI have also advised non-United Kingdom governments.
context_section_description: With its author Kenneth Irvine, the ASI pioneered the privatisation of British Rail with private companies competing for franchises on a separately owned national network (The Right Lines – 1987). This policy was enacted by John Major's government. The privatisation was followed by a large increase in passenger numbers.
caption: Rail passengers in Great Britain from 1829–2019 showing the increase in passengers following privatisation
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