Train fare increase from 2019

[Guest MattP]

Doesn't matter what you do with public transport - very few people will leave the comfort of a car to use it unless they have to do so.

 

People like to spend as little time commuting to work as possible. 

[Buce]

1 hour ago, Izzy said:

Well I must be one of the lucky ones 

 

I sometimes get the train into Marylebone and it's great. Always on time, frequent, clean, space, no problem.

 

Costs about £40 return including underground which seems reasonably to me for an hour each way.

 

Beats driving, parking and all the hassle of getting into London. Let the train take the strain  

 

Yeah, but they always look after those in the stockbroker belt...

 

57 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

The trains - and public transport in general - over here put the UK to shame in terms of price, punctuality, efficiency and general cleanliness/looks, but then they had to build up their entire infrastructure from essentially nothing over the last half a century or so. Perhaps that's part of the problem with the UK's train network - the infrastructure is crumbling and rather than tear it all up and start again (which would admittedly be a nightmare) the powers that be simply just apply just enough maintenance to keep things going.

 

I didn't realise you'd gone back to SK, Mac.

 

Is it a long-term thing?

[Buce]

4 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

The cost of roads is more than covered by road fund license and fuel duty, so it is not really true to say general taxation pays for roads.

 

Well, neither of those things are ring-fenced so that's not really true.

 

And local councils are responsible for all but trunk roads and motorways.

[lifted*fox]

I'd give up my car in a second if public transport was clean, on-time and affordable.

 

Unfortunately public transport in the UK is a fvcking joke compared to many other places I've been.  

[rn9013]

42 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

The cost of roads is more than covered by road fund license and fuel duty, so it is not really true to say general taxation pays for roads.

Again, true. But my wider point stands. The railways are a vital aspect of our economy, and therefore if they require a government subsidy to maintain the network, which is after all a national asset, then so be it (as long as the subsidy is not excessive in relation to the contribution to the economy).There are plenty of government expenditure streams that have no direct benefit to me, but I accept that in a general taxation system that will be the case, but I will benefit in other areas. 

[foxfanazer]

2 hours ago, GeorgeTheFox said:

When compared to some of the train systems in Europe we should be embarrassed

Absolutely. Went to Hamburg recently and the effiency and cost was unbelievable

[leicsmac]

58 minutes ago, MattP said:

Doesn't matter what you do with public transport - very few people will leave the comfort of a car to use it unless they have to do so.

 

People like to spend as little time commuting to work as possible. 

Again, think this is a cultural thing - many commuters use public transport as a matter of course, here.

 

56 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

 

I didn't realise you'd gone back to SK, Mac.

 

Is it a long-term thing?

Not sure right now tbh Buce, but it's as good a place as any to help me get my head round the events of last year.

[m4DD0gg]

1 hour ago, Kopfkino said:

 

But it's not completely privatised. Of the £6.4bn the govt contributes (excluding loans), £4.2bn goes to Network Rail, a government organisation, and £2bn went to HS2, a government project.

Done a shed load of work for these jokers, you have never seen anything like it, based primarily in Milton Keynes the amount of money wasted on failed projects of varying descriptions is astounding.

[davieG]

1 minute ago, m4DD0gg said:

Done a shed load of work for these jokers, you have never seen anything like it, based primarily in Milton Keynes the amount of money wasted on failed projects of varying descriptions is astounding.

I'd guess a lot of that is down to government interference/mind changes like the St Pancras to Leeds Electrification which has now been stopped Kettering I think.

[Nalis]

3 hours ago, MattP said:

We have this strange fantasy in the UK that the European networks are fantastic, probably because the routes we use as tourists are often the best ones.

I've used them in Germany and Italy and they were expensive, unclean and rarely on time.

I agree with the ones in Italy. The one I took from Milan to Rome had no water or AC at the end of July ffs. And the sh1tter was literally a hole where you could see the track 

 

Dread to think what the rural trains would be like.

[Samilktray]

Amazing that people can defend public transport in this country with a straight face. Costs about a 10er to catch a bus anywhere, you’re lucky if it’s on time and the drivers are all maniacs. Trains are an even bigger farce 

[LiberalFox]

I wouldn't want day to day expenditure subsidised by the taxpayer. The question is are our trains more expensive than elsewhere and if they are, then why is that?

[bovril]

3 hours ago, Izzy said:

Well I must be one of the lucky ones 

 

I sometimes get the train into Marylebone and it's great. Always on time, frequent, clean, space, no problem.

 

Costs about £40 return including underground which seems reasonably to me for an hour each way.

 

Beats driving, parking and all the hassle of getting into London. Let the train take the strain  

Is that Chiltern trains? I took them a couple of times out of Marylebone last year and was quite impressed.

 

I think the annoying thing about railways in the UK is not so much the quality but the inconsistency. Some companies are good, some are downright awful, almost to the point of negligence. And if you do a journey that requires changing from one company to another, good luck trying to get compensation if it's late, you get bounced around from one to the other. Plus there is a sense that you're being constantly milked. An off peak return from London King's Cross to King's Lynn is about 50 quid, if you ask for a return from Dartford to King's Lynn it costs about 38 pounds. There are other examples. So I appreciate it is better than many places, but it is an essential service and should be run as one.

 

Agree that the trains in Italy are pretty poor. Although with Trenitalia you are at least travelling through Italy rather than the Fens (as beautiful as the Fens are in their own way). 

[Innovindil]

21 minutes ago, Samilktray said:

Amazing that people can defend public transport in this country with a straight face. Costs about a 10er to catch a bus anywhere, you’re lucky if it’s on time and the drivers are all maniacs. Trains are an even bigger farce 

Where the hell you living where its a tenner for a bus? £4 odd for a full day ticket literally anywhere in Leicester. My girlfriend uses buses every day she's at work and spends less than I do with my car per month. Plus they're every 10 minutes round my end. 

[rachhere]

I am fortunate that my local service isn't crazily expensive and is pretty reliable (although as it's electric, once it goes down it can be down for a whole day). I can also get really cheap tickets to London, and generally can get a seat and have a very comfortable trip. When travelling into Leicester or to visit my inlaws in Bristol though its always CrossCountry trains and they are just awful - very limited discounted advance tickets, never enough carriages (always seems a struggle, even at off peak times to get a seat). If some train operators can put on a decent service without it costing a fortune, I don't get why others operating in a similar location can't as well.

[bovril]

20 minutes ago, Nalis said:

Dread to think what the rural trains would be like.

Depends from region to region. I used to commute from Trento to Rovereto and that was lovely, though that region is autonomous from Rome. Further south they get a bit less reliable and well-kept, though a slow crawl through southern Italian countryside is never a wasted trip.

[rachhere]

7 minutes ago, bovril said:

 

I think the annoying thing about railways in the UK is not so much the quality but the inconsistency. Some companies are good, some are downright awful, almost to the point of negligence. And if you do a journey that requires changing from one company to another, good luck trying to get compensation if it's late, you get bounced around from one to the other. Plus there is a sense that you're being constantly milked. An off peak return from London King's Cross to King's Lynn is about 50 quid, if you ask for a return from Dartford to King's Lynn it costs about 38 pounds. There are other examples. So I appreciate it is better than many places, but it is an essential service and should be run as one.

  

 

A return ticket from Birmingham to Bristol costs £58.70. 

However if you split the trip and get tickets to go Birmingham to Cheltenham, Cheltenham to Bristol (so the same journey, staying on the same train the whole way) the total cost is only £46.30.

Ridiculous!

[Guest MattP]

1 hour ago, Nalis said:

I agree with the ones in Italy. The one I took from Milan to Rome had no water or AC at the end of July ffs. And the sh1tter was literally a hole where you could see the track 

 

Similar to that in France on one trip, in a beautiful little town called Chantilly with a nice station, expecting a lovely train and we get an hour delay, a toilet with no door where you can see the floor and an nice hole in the corner of the roof providing some unnecessary air conditioning.

[Trav Le Bleu]

14 hours ago, Harrydc said:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/02/rail-fare-increases-prompt-protests-at-stations-across-uk

 

What's your thoughts on this? Surely, as public transport is massively encouraged, the government should be investing in this to cut down prices and improve the service, instead it's getting an increase, when the service that is provided is so incompetent already. Always delayed, cancelled and overcrowded. Impossible to find a seat half of the time, and more first class carriages then standard ones, which is pointless - because lets be honest, who has the money to pay for first class? 

 

Rather then spending money on pointless things like painting Buckingham Palace, and doing up the Queens 69 bedrooms, spend it on making it easier to get around the country for the working class people of Britain. Rant over. 

I'd say the cost of train fares for the working classes isn't the increasing fares, the crap service or irregular timetables, it's the fact we can't afford it in the first place.

 

Strictly a middle-class problem.

[Buce]

Just now, Trav Le Bleu said:

I'd say the cost of train fares for the working classes isn't the increasing fares, the crap service or irregular timetables, it's the fact we can't afford it in the first place.

 

Strictly a middle-class problem.

 

 

Then surely that is very much a working class problem?

[Izzy]

47 minutes ago, bovril said:

Is that Chiltern trains? I took them a couple of times out of Marylebone last year and was quite impressed.

 

I think the annoying thing about railways in the UK is not so much the quality but the inconsistency. Some companies are good, some are downright awful, almost to the point of negligence. And if you do a journey that requires changing from one company to another, good luck trying to get compensation if it's late, you get bounced around from one to the other. Plus there is a sense that you're being constantly milked. An off peak return from London King's Cross to King's Lynn is about 50 quid, if you ask for a return from Dartford to King's Lynn it costs about 38 pounds. There are other examples. So I appreciate it is better than many places, but it is an essential service and should be run as one.

 

Agree that the trains in Italy are pretty poor. Although with Trenitalia you are at least travelling through Italy rather than the Fens (as beautiful as the Fens are in their own way). 

Yes mate, Chiltern Railways (Arriva). Can't fault them & the free Wi-Fi is excellent.

 

The only other trains I get occasionally is Virgin from MK to Manchester which is quieter & comfier than my car. 

 

Can't see what all the fuss is about myself!

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

Then surely that is very much a working class problem?

Yeah, but we're talking about the increase in fares. Which isn't a problem if you never use trains cos they were too expensive to begin with.

[bovril]

3 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Yes mate, Chiltern Railways (Arriva). Can't fault them & the free Wi-Fi is excellent.

 

The only other trains I get occasionally is Virgin from MK to Manchester which is quieter & comfier than my car. 

 

Can't see what all the fuss is about myself!

Chiltern is also the only train I've been on in the UK where they announced a station in three languages (Bicester Village - English, Arabic and Chinese). 

[Guest Harrydc]

I just feel these days it’s impossoble for some people to commute, and to live. Running a car isn’t cheap: tax, petrol, insurance, services, MOTs and fixing the bloody things. Trains should be cheap for the people that can’t afford cars in the first place, but instead some people are stuck with nothing. 

[Jon the Hat]

12 minutes ago, Harrydc said:

I just feel these days it’s impossoble for some people to commute, and to live. Running a car isn’t cheap: tax, petrol, insurance, services, MOTs and fixing the bloody things. Trains should be cheap for the people that can’t afford cars in the first place, but instead some people are stuck with nothing. 

They are on buses.