Oh, no you don't, Rhuby! The causes of the lateness of the trains last night (20 minutes going to London and 1.5 hours going back to Wellybro) were:

You deserve a reply, CapK, but for the common wheal, I will try to be briefer that is my wont.

no spares were carried any closer than, I understand, Luton
In the days of nationalised railways, before the governments(both Tory and Labour) stopped investing in the system, (i.e, from 1947-c1976) Maintenance depots were situated all over the place, and many large stations carried staff and spares enough for running repairs. Privatisation has brought about "rationalisation" - i.e. it is cheaper to run one big repair depot, but breakdowns take much longer to fix.

the shunters had packed up and gone home about 3 p.m. In the period mentioned above, staff were paid proper rates for working anti-social hours, and overtime rates for anything above the contractual hours. Under privatisation, new deals have been imposed where none of these arrangements exist. Overtime is paid for with "time off in lieu." Overtime cannot be insisted on by the ermployer (quite rightly - it is outside the contract) It is not surprising that workers prefer to take the time off after their 8 hour shift (especially if it started at 6am, as is probably the case for those leaving at 3 pm.) Neither is it surpiring if it is almost impossible to get people to work from 3pm to 11pm if they are paid at the same, low rate as for normal working hours. And if staff aren't there, the employer has a smaller wage bill, so why should he worry?

Locomotives break down because they are old and poorly maintained under the present system (after having been neglected by the nationalised system for years.) Private firms are slowly investing in new stock, but they have not the resources to bring the whole system up to date in the space of six years and pay out reasonable dividends to the shareholders.

The answers to the second bit of your ri-post (e) are in the same vein.
If you want a legitimate target for your rant about the way we accept poor service, turn your eyes toward the DVLC at Swansea, the DSS (and I sincerely hope you never have to deal with them!), the passport office, or almost any branch of local government. I will back your comment sto the hilt on any of those !!