Basically, a lesson not learnt :-) Or :-(

A lesson though that came in late, as the German process started already before Britain realised rail privatisation. But rail privatisation true-believers will always say that

1. the British failure was just one example, let's do it better!

2. is the British example really a failure, with the jump in passenger numbers?

One difference with the British process is though that even through privatisation, the German federal State spent big sums on the infrastructure. But that spending was not well thought-through,  assymmetric and focused on big projects -- high-speed lines, renewals of major stations, electronic switch centers, those freight terminals; while other parts were left to rot or were disused.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}