Dispatches: Train Journeys from Hell, Channel 4/ Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Sky 1 | reviews, news & interviews
Dispatches: Train Journeys from Hell, Channel 4/ Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Sky 1
Dispatches: Train Journeys from Hell, Channel 4/ Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Sky 1
Stations of the cross: actor Richard Wilson feels rail rage in commuter purgatory
![](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/mast_image_landscape/public/mastimages/913534603ab6b4ea8327b4e2c1821517.jpg?itok=otBX1Ui8)
It would take the cunning of the insane to invent the British railway network. Privatised 18 years ago, it offers the worst of all worlds - persistent overcrowding and cancellations, outdated rolling stock and fares rising vertiginously as services grow steadily more uncomfortable, while the taxpayer still has to stump up billions to keep this wheezing Heath Robinson nightmare functioning at all.
It would take the cunning of the insane to invent the British railway network. Privatised 18 years ago, it offers the worst of all worlds - persistent overcrowding and cancellations, outdated rolling stock and fares rising vertiginously as services grow steadily more uncomfortable, while the taxpayer still has to stump up billions to keep this wheezing Heath Robinson nightmare functioning at all.
Explore topics
Share this article
Add comment
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more TV
![Mid-life crisis: Natalie Portman as Maddie Schwartz](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Natalie%20MAIN.jpg?itok=IbhoIU1e)
![Jenna Coleman as DC Ember Manning, Ralph Ineson as DI Morgan](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Jenna%20%26%20Ineson%20MAIN.jpg?itok=Mcp2Hfg5)
![Murder most confusing: Ayse (Yasemin Kay Allen), Mehmet (Ethan Kai) and Inspector Ikmen (Haluk Bilginer)](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Turkish%20MAIN.jpg?itok=dRq8IqHf)
![A haunted man: Robert Glenister as Tony Conroy](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Glenister%20MAIN%20copy.jpg?itok=6fZjDdHU)
![Celine Dion: 'My voice was the conductor of my life'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Celine%20MAIN_0.jpeg?itok=UhWoPg4u)
![Lucie Shorthouse as DC Siobhan Clarke, with Richard Rankin in BBC One's 'Rebus'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Lucie%20MAIN.jpg?itok=l-pDnfcg)
![Jake Gyllenhaal as Rusty Sabich, Renate Reinsve as Carolyn Polhemus](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Gyllenhaal%20MAIN.jpg?itok=vCiRaH_i)
![Benedict Cumberbatch as Vincent, with Eric the giant blue puppet monster](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Cumbo%20MAIN.jpg?itok=4fzfPvK6)
![Wheels up: Matthew Modine as Greg Townsend in 'Hard Miles'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Hard%20Miles%20MAIN.jpg?itok=8Z3eG1Bk)
![Crimewatch, Japanese style: Ansel Elgort as Jake Adelstein (centre)](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/T%20Vice%20MAIN.jpg?itok=4zLEkGi5)
![Endless summer - (l to r) Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Beach%20Boys%20MAIN%3F.jpg?itok=g-9BbN2O)
![A man for all seasons: Eddie Marsan as John Adams in Apple TV+'s 'Franklin'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Marsan%20in%20window%20MAIN%20SUPER.jpg?itok=guLi1-5u)
Comments
...