50s/80s/Today Train Journey

[Lamby]

My local station has finally got rid of the passenger bridge that's been there forever (at least 23 years) and are replacing it with a new one with lifts. It's about time

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They spent about 6million on ours and it's looks pretty much the same except a small disabled ramp and it's even harder to get a taxi.

 

Half the size of the taxi rank, remove the drop off point and short stay parking, and stick a ping pong table in the resulting freed up space. Great way to spend £6m that 

[ADK]

Well not really.

 

 

 

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html

60p/12s in 1908 is the equivalent to £61.15 nowadays.

 

So trains are actually 1/3 more expensive in real terms than they were 60 years ago, considering the service is no better and the technology ought to have improved that is pretty shocking.

[Zingari]

Privatisation has made the railway so much more efficient . 

[Webbo]

So trains are actually 1/3 more expensive in real terms than they were 60 years ago, considering the service is no better and the technology ought to have improved that is pretty shocking.

 

No that's the opposite of what he was saying, it's a smaller proportion of income than it was. You cannot say the service is no better when the safety record is vastly better.

[Guest MattP]

Privatisation has made the railway so much more efficient . 

 

Definitely agree with that.

 

It's not perfect by any means but I do vaguely remember how crap it was under British rail.

 

Japan is the perfect model for any country looking to privatise it's train system, best service in the World.

[ADK]

No that's the opposite of what he was saying, it's a smaller proportion of income than it was. You cannot say the service is no better when the safety record is vastly better.

 

You can't just say "it's a smaller proportion of average income" as if that makes it all ok. You'd expect the cost of rail travel to fall as more efficient engines were invented and from increased economies of scale from more services.

[MooseBreath]

You'd need to know how much it was subsidised by the government back then to make a proper comparison. Also don't forget that more efficient trains aren't a great help when the cost of power is so much higher.

The trains are a bit of a mess these days. Either privatise them or don't. The current half and half setup is ridiculous. It offers the worst of both worlds.

[Webbo]

You can't just say "it's a smaller proportion of average income" as if that makes it all ok. You'd expect the cost of rail travel to fall as more efficient engines were invented and from increased economies of scale from more services.

The cost of diesel has increased as well as health and safety regulations and probably the wages of the staff.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Where are the railway porters these day?. You could always find them, leaning up against a wall    Those wheels on luggage have a lot to answer for 

[Fox92]

The railway is a massive target for crime. This results in ticket prices going up because with that crime, Network Rail and rail companies, constantly need to improve what has been taken/broke.

[Rincewind]

They spent about 6million on ours and it's looks pretty much the same except a small disabled ramp and it's even harder to get a taxi.

I have had to resort to walking the 1/4 mile home. disgusting. There are always the buses outside Matt if there is nothing else. It's not so bad sitting on them if you imagine that you are sitting in L1 And the overweight obese woman with sweaty armpits and muff with four screaming kids almost sitting on your lap will only be on the bus for one stop.

[Guest MattP]

I have had to resort to walking the 1/4 mile home. disgusting. There are always the buses outside Matt if there is nothing else. It's not so bad sitting on them if you imagine that you are sitting in L1 And the overweight obese woman with sweaty armpits and muff with four screaming kids almost sitting on your lap will only be on the bus for one stop.

 

A taxi is far easier from the station and I'm usually hungover.

 

I often take the bus into town Ken, it's fairly quick and easy from Glenfield and it's always entertaining going through New Parks/Newfoundpool and Woodgate, like a live version of Jeremy Kyle and I can play "count the pieces of furniture on the front lawn".

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The railway is a massive target for crime. This results in ticket prices going up because with that crime, Network Rail and rail companies, constantly need to improve what has been taken/broke.

 

Cable theft and vandalism are big expenses, but also the general cost of everything within the railway is expensive. Its a licence to print money for some people, what with contractors, sub contractors etc... I myself work as an engineer on Transport for London train and tube services, to replace 1 light bulb on a tube station will cost London Underground £50 at least, more if cherry pickers or track access is required.

[Guest ttfn]

We'll never be able to have a world-leading service on the railways again without a radical (and I mean, radical) overhaul. We're hamstrung by being world leaders in the railway industry when it first sprung up in the 19th century. Some countries had their old infrastructure destroyed by war and were able to easily rebuild and others just didn't start until later so had less to do.

 

That said, I am very satisfied with the railway service. I take the train into work every day. It's frequently delayed but a million times more comfortable than the tube. Going up to Leicester is just an hour and seven minutes from London, which is really quite excellent - infinitely preferable to the car.

[ADK]

It's useless if you don't want to go to London though.

[Smudge]

So trains are actually 1/3 more expensive in real terms than they were 60 years ago, considering the service is no better and the technology ought to have improved that is pretty shocking.

That 60p was for a Pullman luxury ride, I imagine 3rd class would have been substantially cheaper.

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I'm sure I read somewhere that in Japan if your train is more than 5 minutes late you get a full refund plus a letter explaining to your boss why your late for work.

 

Edit : If a suicide causes a delay, Japanese rail authorities also send the bill to the victims family as a way of discouraging other suicides. 

[ADK]

That 60p was for a Pullman luxury ride, I imagine 3rd class would have been substantially cheaper.

 

Fair enough, then that article is even more flawed.

[Rincewind]

It also said the premiom numbers are not meant to be used in that way and could result in fines,

 

Copied to cold calling

[ADK]

I think you've got your wires crossed.

[leicsmac]

We'll never be able to have a world-leading service on the railways again without a radical (and I mean, radical) overhaul. We're hamstrung by being world leaders in the railway industry when it first sprung up in the 19th century. Some countries had their old infrastructure destroyed by war and were able to easily rebuild and others just didn't start until later so had less to do.

 

That said, I am very satisfied with the railway service. I take the train into work every day. It's frequently delayed but a million times more comfortable than the tube. Going up to Leicester is just an hour and seven minutes from London, which is really quite excellent - infinitely preferable to the car.

 

Pretty much this.

 

Germany, South Korea, Japan all have A1 networks run by private companies (but subsidised by government in the case of Korea). The difference is that they've had to build an entire infrastructure up pretty much from scratch in the past 50 (or 25 in the case of Korea) years. As a result what sprung up was a modern and effective rail network with modern features. We on the other hand still have antiquated railway routes that sometimes stem from the 19th Century and in many cases antiquated trains. We've tried a process of slow changing while attempting to keep the service going, but what you get is what we have now - something of a mess.

 

We'd need to essentially shut down the entire railway network for a decade and spend that entire decade upgrading everything at massive cost in order to get close to what those countries have now.

[theessexfox]

You can set your watch by German public transport.