Up to a point Libby Purves is right, but she ignores the elephant in the room. We can have trains at Christmas, but only if we pay for them. The British disease is not an unwillingness on the part of public servants to respect the public, or to provide services to the public, but rather the inability of that public to understand that services cost money. Money that most people, complaining about their tax bills, or their rates, or their train fares, are unwilling to pay.

In the same way that people all over the country complain about the ubiquity of Tesco, but are then unwilling to pay a realistic price for food, so too do we complain about a lack of services. We need to all grow up and stop behaving like spoiled teenagers. Services cost money and if we want them, stop moaning and pay up!

Nicki Lewis, London, UK

It all depends whether you regard the Transport network as an essential service. In other countries they do regard the Rail network as a core service that continues at all times of the year. On the basis of some comments closing it down for two days is okay as they probably have a car and don't need to travel. Why not let the electricity, gas and water suppliers have the two days off and at the same time the Health workers and the emergency service workers. How strange that all the major shops are open on Boxing day and the rail network isn't

John, Manchester,

“presumption that we are all racists”?!

What racism has to do with this particular column of yours???

Laura Fox, Chichester, West Sussex

Both Labour and Tory parties envy American capitalism and both parties are in thrall to the private sector believing it to be inherently good so don't regulate it properly unlike the Americans who have no such rosy view of it. In the US, white collar crooks go to jail and utility monopolies are expected to provide a service at a fair profit so regulation is rigorous.
As a consquence, large foreign and UK based corporations are falling over themselves to buy into the licences to print money that are UK utilities and services, like the trains, and to provide us with lousy and overpriced services knowing they will get away with it.

ian, nottingham,

It's very strange, isn't it, that we blame "the government" for not providing the public services from Heaven, while failing to acknowledge that the actual people providing the service are not themselves "the government": neither are they a special breed of people who only work in that job, who don't pay taxes, who don't need holidays.

Surely it is time we spoke about our public servants as if they were our husbands, wives, daughters, sons - because they certainly are! I think that change in attitudes would make columnists like Libby Purves more compassionate towards those at the sharp end of public service - and I don't mean you and me.

Chris, COVENTRY, UK

"This lot in government however seems to have had a McKinsey moment...". I'd agree with you completely other than your implication that the opposition are any different.

Simon, London,

Neil in Devon is so right. In fact he could have gone further. Large tracts of rural Britain have no bus service at all, except pehaps for the odd school or market day run, to town in the morning, back in the afternoon. Sundays? - in most places, forget it.

On a few predictable occasions - Christmas, when the fares go up, or when someone gets onto the subject of bendy buses or Routemasters - out come the indignant journalists and correspondents. The rest of the year they take no interest in us regular public transport users, it's all about motorists - fuel prices, alleged parking injustices, speed cameras, why they shouldn't pay for the privilege of congesting our roads etc. Cynical? On this subject, yes I am.

Barry, Wallington, UK

Peter Bolt & Charles Stewart,
You two need to get a grip. The world does not stop because it's Christmas. At the very least we need emergency services; consider, if you will, an average hospital. It needs not only doctors and nurses but also lab staff, phramacists, radiographers, porters, cleaners etc, etc......get the picture? Not all live close to work and not all staff drive. But that's ok, why should they be "forced" to work, the transport workers aren't?

MK, Epsom, UK

cant we just have 2 days of the year which are sacred, and when the whole country goes on a break? yes, you can hop on a train and go somewhere to enjoy yourself. but some poor ass has to work to get you to your destination. it is a season of peace and joy, and a time for everyone to relax and enjoy.

steve, luton, england

As usual, Libby Purves is right on the button. Unfortunately, Mrs Thatcher, for all the good things she did, made "service" a dirty word. As far as the railway operators are concerned, the Government should just make it a condition of their licenses that they operate a reasonable service 365 days of the year. It can't even make economice sense to shut everything down at midnight on 24/12 and then start everything up again when the hangovers are at full blast. I am glad I live in France - anyway, I don't trravel much at Christmas - except in my beautiful SUV for short trips - don't believe all the global warming propaganda !

david, Ligneyrac, France

And when does Libby suggest vital safety & maintenance work is carried out? During the rush hour? Unfortunately major public utilities cannot be turned on and off at the flick of a switch to please vapid posturing journalists who have never done a hard days work in their lives.

Phil, Lancaster, UK

Sid, deepest sympathies but please call 999 next time, that's what they're there for and I expect your wifes case would have been treated as an emergency.

ewan, sherborne, dorset

Only one problem with this...............all of the train operating companies are private, be it Virgin, Stagecoach, GNER or Scotrail, but they are private companies getting a massive injection of public cash every day (or do the directors on;y get paid for 363 days of the year). As to the situation of cheap labour dealing with confidential informaion. Is it any wonder this situation has arisen? Every time there are savings required in the public sector, the shout goes up from commentators "cut the clerical/admin/support staff, concentrate on the 'frontline' staff". Unfortunately all of the essential, but unglamaous and toally undervalued work stil has to be done. As you've sacked all of your own staff you have to hire (at a greater financial cost) 'cheap' labour to get the work done. As they only get minumum wage, what is the incentive to do the job properly? The government use this a a get out clause, to avoid responsibility, and the media to attack the public sector.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

Allright. No trains on Christmas Day, then no cars either. Let everybody have the pleasure of not being able to travel. It would also be better for the environment.

Hein Maassen, Leidschendam, The Netherlands

Totally shameful on the part of a public service company to shut down on Christmas. We'd never stand for it in Canada. Here, even buses run -- although on a reduced schedule.

Of course the Christmas workers are paid double-time-and-a-half. I suppose that is your problem -- executives wanting to keep the money for their own bonuses, and to heck with customers and staff.

Keith T, Winnipeg, Canada

If you want to reduce pollution by having people rely on public transport, then you are making public transport an essential service.

You can't then withhold that service for 2 days a year.

And what is this Boxing Day thing you now have? Traditionally Boxing Day was a day when retailers gave small gifts to regular customers.

Since when was Boxing Day a day for companies that do business with the public to totally shutdown? In Canada and the USA, Boxing Day is a very busy day for retailers and public transport.

Keith T, Winnipeg, Canada

So Gilbo, how do they manage to run a vastly superior service in most other european countries yet still suffer less disruption to schedule for engineering works?????

Fox, London, England

A complete absurdity but what else would you expect from our pqthetic apology for a government? Having spent Christmas in Nice, I can say that they have the right idea about providing all services over the period. It has been a surprising and mostpleasant time.

oldasiahand, Nice, France

ive just completed 2 12 shifts in the last 36 hours on track maintainance and infrasctructure at rugby. The ignorance of the facts is shocking. When are Network rail meant to do work on the lines, you cant just shut off the 25000 volt lines willy nilly there are set proceedures to go through. health and safety for the lads and lasses working on the lines is paramount .

Get your facts rights and get a proper job, a shovels here waiting .......pathetic

Gilbo, wellingborough, northants

Presumably if there are not enough passengers to turn a profit, there are also not enough passengers to make it environmentally efficient to go by train.
In any case, people don't want to go by train at Christmas. They're in their cars because they're going to the shops, or they're visiting relatives, in which case they will be carrying lots of presents and luggage and probably have the car full of passengers as well.

Bob, Devon,

I visit family in Denmark at Christmas and all the trains, buses and underground run a perfect sunday service (which involves frequent services every sunday thoughout the year) christmas eve, christmas day and all other public holidays. They are very popular and the government is keen to promote these services to discourrage drink driving. Taxi drivers are happy to work in the UK, (and charge double fares), so why not the mass-transit drivers? Surely the costs involved will be minimal compared to the benefits for the public.

Michael Larsson, Copenhagen, Denmark

A tiny fraction of an already tiny fraction would use public transport on Christmas and Boxing Day.
Public transport is subsidised for the other 363 days of the year, give us a break- Please.

Peter Bolt, Redditch, UK

Why should transport workers be forced to work to run half empty trains when they would rather be with their families and enjoy one of the very few days off when it is possible to get most of the family together.
As a health care worker I know what it is like to miss time with my family to provide a service to a lot of drunk people who have injured/made themselves sick and assumed others would be sacrficing their own holiday to clean up the mess.
As for getting to the shops to work as a sales assistant, why on earth can we not do without the shops for two days and let the poor shop assistants have a couple of days off and give the corner shop a few customers for what few essentials we need.

Charles Stewart, dundee, angus

but the people who run the country live in another one; a country where public transport is a chauffer driven "gas- guzzling" car, usually proceeded by police outriders to clear the road ahead. it does not effect them. Where comprehensive education is a fee-paying school with a choice of sporting, musical, and other interests.

Phil Barnes, Preston, England

Round here most local bus routes are running a normal Sunday Service, the only exceptions being the few routes that actually get buses on a Sunday.

Why do we get so upset about the lack of public transport on two days a year, when such large swathes of the country get nothing at least 52 days year?

Neil Sunderland, Braunton, Devon

As usual - bang on the nail. I know you've been asked this before, but have you thought of starting a political party?

Paul, Birmingham,

I'll tell you why, it's because we live under a government that believes that it has done its duty by by calling us all 'customers' but ignoring us when we have specific needs. This is a government that believes in its own spin and gets angry when the rest of us use our real life experiences to doubt its record on crime, immigration, the health service or education. This is a government that sets rules centrally and wonders why they don't deliver the optimal state they have decreed from on high.

Anyone can see that it would be sensible and reasonable to have public transport over christmas, it might even attract new customers who wouldn't use it except at such times. Such a leap of imagination is beyond this government and the people it has put in charge. Such a failure would lead to bankruptcy in the real world that Gordon Brown will never have to inhabit.

Paul Owen, Birmingham, UK

Expect a call from Inland Revenue. Its called joined up govenment.

Larry, Stratford,

I agree with the writer entirely , we have MP's and goverment ministers constantly penalising motorists one way or another and of course the enviramenatlists joining the bandwagon, but no one addressing the real issue of encouraging use of a public transport service that operates in practical way i.e. to serve the public. My wife for example works shifts and when she comes off shift at 7am on a sunday morning the first train to take her home is 9am so she is forced to dive. It's not just during public holidays there are problems with availability of public transport all the time.

Baxter, Reading, UK

brilliant piece. I just would like to add that here in Britain we live in a world of unimaginable hypocrisy which infested our norms. Beside that it leads to terrible anger and frustration, and we tend to forget it easily and accept more craps from our government.

H.Marph, LONDON,

A small comment on transport problems over the christmas period. My wife, who is on blood thinners, developed a nose bleed on Christmas day. It continued for over 2 hours, but luckily it did stop. Because the nearest A&E is 36 miles away and we are reliant on public transport, so unless we dial 999, we cannot get there.

Sid, Penzance, Cornwall

Brilliant column and one hundred percent correct. It's probably correct that private companies operate better than government bureaucracies, but it is NOT correct that they will optimize the services they provide if they are not regulated and controlled. So let's have private rail companies, but let's pay them to operate on Christmas. And let's have a government which isn't messianic about the stupid idea that private enterprise is enough by itself -- private companies will only do what they are paid for, and sometimes the state has to step in and pay for services for the commonweal. The litmus test is what's good for the community overall, and if we each have to pay a few pence extra on our normal working days so that trains can run on Christmas Day, it's the right thing and the government should make it happen. This lot in govenrnment however seems to have had a McKinsey moment and have drunk the Kool-Aid that unsupervised private markets always get the right result. Wrong.

Mark Crandall, London, UK