The UK rail sector appears to be a struggling, quasi-nationalised enterprise with no overall long-term strategy, while the outlook for the private operators running rail services is uncertain. As such, investors may, understandably, wish to avoid FirstGroup (LSE: FGP), one of the country’s largest public-transport operators. However, a quiet revolution is happening in the rail world, and FirstGroup is leading the charge.
A messy market
During the pandemic, the government effectively nationalised the bulk of England’s rail franchises (operations are devolved in Wales and Scotland). Under the changes, the government
