Rail privatisation was a John Major initiative, not Thatcher.<p>Quote from OP<p><i>&quot;The Italian firm Fiat bought the patents for the APT&#x27;s tilting technology and used it to help develop its Pendolino trains, now manufactured by the French multinational Alstom.&quot;</i><p>Export of technological know-how is something of a UK speciality (ARM chips, fluidised bed furnaces for efficient combustion of coal &amp;c).<p><i>&quot;A six-car APT, including a driving trailer and buffet carriage, is in place at Crewe Heritage Centre. It&#x27;s clearly visible to passengers passing by on the adjacent West Coast Main Line where it ran for a few months.&quot;</i><p>I go through Crew on a regular basis, and the APT is easily seen from the track. Along with the rather impressive dents along the side of the coaches resulting from a failure of the tilting mechanism.