BBC Link
Seems interesting since recent news of our wages in comparison to the rest of Europe.

Why are our trains so expensive?

Privatisation.

Privatisation.

:/ thought it made it cheaper/better?

BringbackBritishrail.org

This made me smile

Privatisation makes it cheaper for tax payers, not users

Privatisation makes it cheaper for tax payers, not users

It makes it cheaper for neither. Taxpayer subsidies are absolutely enormous compared to British Rail days, yet fares rise steadily way above inflation. Someones making a lot of money though. What was it Dicky referred to the West Coast Mainline as? Oh yes… ‘a license to print money’!

Richard Branson’s Private Monopoly’s Subsidy Hoovering

Privatisation makes it cheaper for tax payers, not users

yeah right

A listener on Radio 4 was whinging this morning about the cost of her season ticket from Bedford to London – £5000.

Compare this to using a car:

Bedford to London – 30,0000 miles a year
Cost of fuel @15p per mile – £4500
Cost of parking in London – £20 a day = £5200 a year
Congestion charge – £2600
Cost of running a car – guess at £500 a year for servicing etc

Total cost about £13000 a year to use your car. Seems like the train is still good value for money.

Though you’re unlikely to have to stand up all the way there in your car. And I’m presuming your car won’t simply fail to show up in the morning?

If I wanted to get from Manchester to London tomorrow morning, an on peak return is £308.00, which is frankly insane! No wonder he’s grinning!

Binners, if you want to go on Thursday it’s a lot more reasonable £77.30. A bit of forward planning is all that’s needed…

Edit: Opps, that’s off peak leaving after 9.00 😳

Cheers,
Jamie

Though you’re unlikely to have to stand up all the way there in your car. And I’m presuming your car won’t simply fail to show up in the morning?

Cars don’t start, you can’t do a crossword / work / read the paper in your car, you get stuck in traffic etc etc.

£8000 is a huge difference, and that does not include depreciation (say £1500 a year on a £12000 car), insurance, road fund license, break down cover….. You could easily but an additional £2500 on top of that figure.

Privatisation is the future.

To see the future of UK healthcare provision, look to the railways.

Rail privatisation was sold to us with promises of a better, cheaper service for rail users that required less tax payers money as the new private rail companies would bring expertise and private investment to transform British Rail.

…and 20 years later we have one of the worst and most expensive rail systems in Europe

While I can afford to run a car I can’t afford private health insurance; so looking forward to more privatisation

PS My mate Dave says “we are all in this together”

Cars don’t start, you can’t do a crossword / work / read the paper get pissed after work in your car, you get stuck in traffic etc etc.

FIFY 😳

Rail privatisation was sold to us with promises of a better, cheaper service for rail users that required less tax payers money as the new private rail companies would bring expertise and private investment to transform British Rail.

This. And most of the commuter belt is die-hard Tory so no-one on either side of the political spectrum wants to do anything about it. New Labour made a vague promise to renationalise prior to 1997, but immediately reneged and decided to allow fares to be hiked instead.

Railtrack’s debts are in excess of £20bn, so a good deal of your season ticket is simply servicing their overdraft.

when homewards bound trains from London have been cancelled and mass tailbacks of commuters occur, I ‘ve witnessed verbal abuse and aggression many times, often directed at someone for example, who ends up to be the person the aggressor squashes up against for an hour. All because of the frenzy at the time.

Personally I support an integrated transport system rather than just building more roads.
Unfortunately some part of that will be investing in the infrastructure of trains rather than billions on a slightly faster train to that there London from oop North. It helps us all as those of us who have to take cars or bikes get less folk on the roads and we all need to to get to work

Its a lot of money for an often shit service