A comforting story for any of you who despair over working in the chronically value-destroying, customer-disappointing, economically perverse world of air transport.
I may have this wrong (if you read the link above you'll sympathise with me) but it seems that the private-sector leasing company that provides coaches to British train companies has so much market power that because it's now subject to a monopoly investigation it's declining to provide enough coaches. This, by the way, is a company whose customers have their purchases guaranteed by Her Majesty's Government! Not even British Airways gets that.
Fortunately, here in Flight's office, I have colleagues on Railway Gazette International who have been able to explain to me what's going on.
They did that about an hour ago and I've only just stopped laughing. Now, as a paying rail-passenger, I'm on the brink of tears.
Not only, it turns out, does the leasing company - Angel Trains - have us all over a barrel, so do the people like Alsthom who make trains, and the other people who provide speciality metals for them.
There is light at the end of the tunnel however. (I suppose that pun is banned on railway magazines.) The Grand Central train company has, says Wikipedia, binned its order for Bombardier trains and is sourcing them from China instead.
You summarized the situation perfectly!
" the chronically value-destroying, customer-disappointing, economically perverse world of air transport."
At least that's my view of the state of customer service on the majority of U.S. domestic airlines. ;-)