Can't say I'm surprised

Network Rail is transporting 200 staff by coach from Reading to Coventry for a conference because of the high cost of train tickets, it has emerged.
The rail operator has opted to shun train travel for road transport as it is more than £24,000 cheaper.
If open return tickets were bought for all the staff it could cost up to £27,000 – £135 each. But coach travel, at £12 a head, will cost just £2,400.
The firm said it made no apologies for getting the "best value" for taxpayers.
Network Rail said it looks at cheaper options for journeys as part of cost-cutting, as its workers do not get free travel or discounts.
A spokesman added: "Whilst we have no role in setting train fares, we use rail for the overwhelming number of business journeys.
"Occasionally, if there is a cheaper alternative, we will use that."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8354358.stm

Can't say I'm suprised either. Coach travel has always been cheaper than train travel. That's always been the case hasn't it? Well done to them for saving a bit of cash imo.

I don't understand why Network Rail staff don't get free rail travel anyway.

And I liked the bit about "The firm said it made no apologies for getting the "best value" for taxpayers" …… the taxpayers subsides the **** rail operators !

And it's five times more that British Rail was !

😯

And it's five times more that British Rail was !

You have to compare like with like though. Just doing a quick check on line you can get a reading to coventry rail ticket for about £25 (and anything up to £60) one way. Rail is more expencive, but it's more comfortable and quicker.

Easy to grab a headline with £12 v's £135.

it could cost up to £135 each

"up to" being the operative phrase.

Could weel be the reason I'm flying to Edinburgh instead of getting the train, quicker, cheaper, easier 8)

A more relevent question would be, why are they taking 200 staff from Reading to Coventry for a conference in the first place?

And other questions, such as the actual cost (in time) of these people travelling – which will outstrip any travel costs…

Lets say 4 hour round trip at £20ph (£25k salary with 33% uplift to cover employer costs and 220 days pa and 8 hours pd). So it starts at £80 per employee just for the travel – and I bet the £25k is a lowest, rather than average salary.

I work on the Railway, I think a phrase oft heard sums it up-

"There's the right way, the wrong way and then there's the railway

Network rail own the infrastructure, not the trains – thankyou to them for not wasting cash. Boo to the train operators who continue to do a poor job of running trains with stupidly high ticket prices for local journeys.

Once they've cuaght the train into town, got the tube to Euston and then got to Conventry, then got a coach to whereever they're going it is probably cheaper and quicker to use a coach all the way.

When you compare the cost of rail travel in the UK to that of Europe something is obvious:

* Either somebody is making a stinking profit

* Or somebody is running it so horribly inefficiently that their costs are huge

What do you think?

Could it be both? 🙂

Explain why they are not running the conference in Reading or some other nearby town?

No additional transport costs or CO2 emissions
No overnight hotel costs

What's so special about Coventry (apologies to it's inhabitants)?

Im going to guess if its a rail conference they might have people from all over the country from the train operators.

"What's so special about Coventry (apologies to it's inhabitants)? "

They have choosen Coventry as it is near the middle of the country and it some way easier to get than Bham as there is less traffic. But there are still road/ rail and air ling (bham international is nt far away)

They have a big training and conference centre just outside cov so will be cheaper to hold it there than rent space in reading

markenduro is correct re the national centre – nil cost for facilities.

As coffeeking says NR own the infrastructure so have to pay for rail fares like everybody else does – no discounts. Free travel remains only for those staff who were there before privatisation which was ~15 years ago now.

Imagine the headline and outcry 'of Rail company pay £27k when they could have gone for £2.4k'!