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Post by The Doctor on Nov 3, 2009 20:21:28 GMT
The £1000 ticket has, technically, arrived. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8340561.stmI love travelling my train. It's my favourite way to travel. It does sadden me how much fares have spiralled this decade. It seems hard to believe now but when I first went to London in 2002 from Glasgow the return fare was under £30. Now, it's much cheaper to fly. Madness. I've been looking at fares recently as I was considering living outwith Edinburgh and commuting in, as rents are much lower elsewhere, but the enormous fares for rail passes for short hops makes this currently untenable. I do worry that in time journeys by train beyong local journeys become something barred from those on lower incomes. -Ralph |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2009 20:27:38 GMT
All of these companies that are increasing train fares are virtually confining people to their own area. I haven't travelled by train since I was a kid but I wish I had now considering how steep some of the fares are.
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Post by blueshift on Nov 3, 2009 21:03:14 GMT
The train prices in my area have been steadily increasing, and the service has been steadily getting worse. I get the train to and from work. Most days it is late, some days it is very late, and once in a while it doesn't bother turning up at all!
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Post by legios on Nov 3, 2009 21:10:33 GMT
At the moment I have the choice of travelling to work by train (at a cost of about £160 a month) or by bus, for - mysteriously almost exactly the same (the fact that the buses and trains are run - like most places in Scotland - by the same company is entirely coincidental I am sure). Either way it is a sizeable chunk of my earnings, and a considerably higher proportion of my earnings than it was a few years ago.
These days the only way I would even contemplate travelling long distance by train is by booking a long time in advance - and doing considerable legwork to get the best fare. The idea of having to pay the "on the day" prices for long distance travel is simply beyond the pale because of the cost.
I did notice that when they brought in the "simpler" fare structure which was intended to make it easier for us to buy cheap tickets it got distinctly more expensive for me to travel. Almost as if they had eliminated a number of the cheaper fares, but that can't be the case surely.......?
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 3, 2009 22:28:23 GMT
If I want to travel to Edinburgh from Clydebank and buy 2 tickets (one to Glasgow and one to Edinburgh) rather than one ticket from Clydebank to Edinburgh I save approx £9 despite travelling on the same trains at the same times.
-Ralph
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Post by Benn on Nov 3, 2009 23:12:13 GMT
I've got to get to London and back in January, and to be honest he thought of the fare price is terrifying me, especially as I don't have a job right now. But train fares have always seemed extortionate to me.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2009 6:30:05 GMT
and what makes it worse is that if you order the ticket on the day, then its twice as expensive, like when I was getting ready to go to AA in August, I started researching prices in June or something, I got an open return for about £45, but if I paid on the day for it, then I would have been charged almost £100
Also, for me to pop to my nearest town (only 4 miles) it costs £4!!!
I have to use a train daily, as i'm afraid to drive a car, but I have to get a season ticket, just so it saves £15 a week!!!
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Cullen
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Post by Cullen on Nov 4, 2009 12:31:45 GMT
Train fares are criminal. On Friday I'm visting a client in Essex. In order to be there for 9am, I need to fly down to Stanstead from Newcastle, which will cost £57 one way. Because the return flight is not until 7pm, and my meeting will finish at 12, I'm getting the train back. The train will take twice as long and will cost just shy of £200. Glad I'm not paying for it.
Also have you ever noticed that extending a ticket to cover one more station often costs more than a ticket between those two stations. For example I work in Newcastle but live nearer to Durham station. I often go to clients in Leeds, Manchester, Brum etc and travel either from Newcastle or Durham depending on where I am. The difference between a Newcastle-Leeds return and a Durham-Leeds return is about £20, however a return from Newcastle to Durham is only about £7... explain that. I'm sure it would be cheaper to buy a whole string of tickets between all the intermediate stations, than just buying one between your start and end points. I should try it out some day.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Nov 5, 2009 10:44:21 GMT
My local trains seemed to have sorted out their reliability problems and usually run on time now. This is good. Unfortunately prices have kept going up and the seats are in a terrible state. I would probably let them off the seats if I ever got to sit on one, but I don't because they only ever send one carriage.
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 5, 2009 19:04:29 GMT
The high cost of public transport is mad. How will people be persuaded to leave their cars at home if the train fares cost so much more than the running of their car? Especially if the trains are crowded or dirty.
-Ralph
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Post by Bogatan on Nov 5, 2009 20:55:58 GMT
The high cost of public transport is mad. How will people be persuaded to leave their cars at home if the train fares cost so much more than the running of their car? Especially if the trains are crowded or dirty. -Ralph Amazingly that is not the problem at all for many. I remember two years ago when I was commuting to London and the prices were being raised. In an interview on the BBC somebody from the train companies basically was cornered in to admitting that a lot of train companies were maxing out on passenger numbers and putting prices with no drop in numbers was fairly certain. In fact they were happy to stop numbers increasing as the only way to cope with more passengers would involve more carriages on existing services or brand new services either of which are too much work for them. For most of the roues I use cheap tickets can still be found but keep needing to be booked earlier and earlier. The loss of my Young persons railcard was a major blow last year I had to deal with a 33% increase on top of the standar increases. Megabus running from hull is a bit of a relief but even that is currently expensive I assume because its coming up to Christmas. Andy |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 1, 2011 18:38:29 GMT
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Post by legios on Mar 1, 2011 20:29:58 GMT
There seems to be a big push on for electrification - they are going to be doing the Edinburgh to Glasgow line in the next few years as well by all accounts.
(Of course, the original plan was for a non-stop mag-lev link between Edinburgh and Glasgow. But then they looked at the actual costs of building such a thing...)
Karl
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 1, 2011 20:48:43 GMT
Apparently Wales and Albania are currently the only two European countries without a metre of electrified rail.
Now it will just be Albania.
Martin
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 31, 2012 16:54:48 GMT
Oddly this article gave a different answer to the one I expected to hear (which rhymes with Whatrail) The commentators also propose, with some justification, an alternate nomination. |
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Post by KnightBeat on Jan 31, 2012 17:59:37 GMT
As someone who travels to work each day on the train, this is a subject close to my heart. I've been delayed every morning since the new year. Issues include the train being late to arrive for unknown reasons, problems with train coupling (two trains are joined together at my station), signal failure that results in the train being diverted onto a slow line, or being held on a red signal en-route. I have to get an earlier train nowadays to ensure I get to work on time, as a result. I've noticed that train operators are using tricks to improve their league table performance nowadays. A common trick is to run the train fast to a major station, missing out several smaller stations en-route, or even cancelling the train en-route (which happened last night), in order to get the train back on schedule. Fortunately, it hasn't affected me too badly, since I live near to a major station. However, others haven't been so lucky. I witnessed a 'passenger protest' last year in which people held the door open at a station until the operator announced that they would re-instate the stopping service for smaller stations (trying saying that 3x fast), and there was an article in the Metro yesterday that describes how passengers forced the doors open to get out and change trains. |
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 31, 2012 18:59:49 GMT
The train system is a disgrace. 'Public transport', my hair arse!
I love trains, but it boggles my mind that at least one journey a year within the UK is cheaper going by a plane than a train for me!
Also, I live in Edinburger rather than commute in mostly because I can't afford the high prices of season tickets.
-Ralph
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Nigel
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
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Post by Nigel on Jan 31, 2012 19:17:15 GMT
It's over ten years ago, so the situation may well be different by now, but when I was living in Scotland, I had to use Virgin to travel between there and Cardiff. Not a single train that I used was on time, even when I tried using a different route. On one occasion, the train was cancelled due to a lack of rolling stock, which is an excuse I've never found acceptable; how can you run a train service and then find you haven't got enough bits of a train to use?
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Post by legios on Jan 31, 2012 20:34:51 GMT
On one occasion, the train was cancelled due to a lack of rolling stock, which is an excuse I've never found acceptable; how can you run a train service and then find you haven't got enough bits of a train to use? If one of the motive units breaks down, or a carriage or two breaks down and you can no longer form a set then that is the end of that train. There is no such thing as spare rolling stock these days so anything that breaks down means either cancelling a service or shortening another one (not an option for the long-distance carriers) I've noticed that train operators are using tricks to improve their league table performance nowadays. A common trick is to run the train fast to a major station, missing out several smaller stations en-route, or even cancelling the train en-route (which happened last night), My favourite one I call "The Amazing Evaporating Train". You simply declare the train to be running late at its station of departure, keep moving its delay time in five minute increments until it is past the time for the next service on that route, which duly turns up on-time (or even early) and departs taking all the passengers. At that point the preceeding service vanishes from the departure boards at about the same time the following service leaves, having mysteriously never begun or ended... This seems to leave it in a sort of Quantum Superposition of Early/Late/ontimeness which is next to impossible to unravel. Karl |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 31, 2012 20:56:29 GMT
Scotland to Cardiff was the Crosscountry serivce which Virgin had removed from them in 2007: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_CrossCountryThe new operators have seemed ok whenever I've ridden with them but could do with larger trains at certain times of day. And the stock they have is prone to air con/toilet failures. |
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 3, 2012 7:14:39 GMT
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Post by Bogatan on Oct 3, 2012 19:50:46 GMT
The government must have screwed up big time to make an admission like that.
As for the topic.
Hull trains has always been good and until recently did offer cheap fares, possibly the Olympic summer meant they were all being snapped up much earlier than normal.
National Express East Coast and whoever else has had the franchise has generally been okay too going to London.
Prices from Hull are crazy though because generally any non hull trains journey requires a change at Doncaster or similar and the Hull to connection is always as expensive as the rest of the journey.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Oct 4, 2012 7:05:02 GMT
If civil servants have been suspended from their jobs, screwing up big time must be an understatement for what actually occurred. They do not do that lightly.
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 12, 2012 19:39:09 GMT
Uh-huh: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-20296195""That will benefit our businesses, our jobs market" No, it won't Nicola. Not with the current ludicrous high prices of season tickets along that line. Cutting the journey time will not make any difference. I looked into working in Edinburgh and commuting from Glasgow a few years ago when I decided to give up on the Glasgow jobs market and look East and it was literally unaffordable. I wouldn't have been able to afford rent due to the high train fares for season tickets. There was no way I could work in Edinburgh and commute in. -Ralph |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Nov 12, 2012 19:57:03 GMT
How about you make the existing services actually worthwhile?
She really is a complete fucktard.
Andy
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Post by legios on Nov 12, 2012 20:32:35 GMT
The only way that you can significantly cut journey times, even with faster trains, is to resurrect the idea of a service which stops only at Edinburgh and Glasgow - thus providing no tangible benefit to any of those who live in any of the other communities within the Central Belt of Scotland. This makes no more sense than when they were talking a few years back about linking the two cities by mag-lev.
The refrain from the Scottish Government that everyone only wants to travel between Glasgow and Edinburgh and there are no other destinations that need to be served is one that grows ever more tiresome.
Karl
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Post by Marc Graham on Nov 12, 2012 20:55:21 GMT
I give you - the ONLY train line to this city, coming into the City of Culture year....
Derry~Londonderry Line
Engineering Work
Sunday 29 July until April 2013
There will be a complete closure of the line between Derry~Londonderry and Coleraine from Sunday 29 July until April 2013 to facilitate essential engineering work.
A revised timetable (bus substitution services) will operate between Derry~Londonderry and Coleraine
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 12, 2012 20:55:30 GMT
The Government has an obsession with the idea of people wanting to live in of the two cities going to the other one to work, forgetting that most jobs don't pay enough for people to be able to do that. Or indeed, live inbetween.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 28, 2012 7:30:34 GMT
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Nov 28, 2012 17:20:03 GMT
The Government has an obsession with the idea of people wanting to live in of the two cities going to the other one to work, forgetting that most jobs don't pay enough for people to be able to do that. Or indeed, live inbetween. -Ralph Or that most people's jobs don't actually require that at all. My potnetial post-PhD job is increasingly looking like it will involve a bit of shuttling between Edinburgh and Glasgow a couple of times a month but I really can't see myself doing this by train even though I would like to. Train service not good enough and increasingly ludicrously expensive. |
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