The government has announced a new infrastructure drive to improve WiFi connectivity on hundreds of trains. While better internet on the move sounds like a populist win, investors should question the fiscal logic. This is classic British rail policy: throw money at a service without a clear commercial return.
Passengers will get streaming speeds, but the Treasury will get a larger deficit. With gilt yields already jittery, this is not the time for unfunded mandates. Where is the private sector?
Where is the cost-benefit analysis? Instead of subsidising digital amenities, the government should be incentivising operators to invest in return for profitable franchises. But alas, this is yet another round of state spending dressed up as modernisation.
The market will yawn, and the taxpayer will foot the bill.
