Rail Fares set to soar.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....age-5-9-New-Year.html

Is train travel fast becoming the rich-man's mode of transport?

It is a certainty that OAPs cannot afford to travel via train, which after all is the best form of transport for them.

Having said that I see that the Queen is taking the train to Balmoral.

[ichkeria]

A quick check reveals the first class peak open return fare from Slough to Cardiff Central to be £272 and off-peak £164.
It's great that OAPs and others get special deals, but for the ordinary traveller- the person who lines the pockets of these companies - it's a different story. The fare differentials seem outrageous.

[nannybooby]

Gromit . you have to add in the cost of parking and congestion charges,these are more than the cost of the rail ticket. And soppy twit Eddies if you can get the tube to Wales I want to come and watch :-)

[ichkeria]

"I use the train daily. I pay just over £120 per month"

That seems amazingly cheap to me as a matter of fact!

[China Doll]

To be honest I think you could drive from where I live to London that cheaply Gromit, you can see canary warf from where I am and it's actually a really straight forward journey. In terms of how long it would take, the last time I did it was 2008 and was from dulwich which is a few miles from where I live now; I used to get the bus to tottenham court road in the mornings, I got the bus at about 7:45 and was usually at tottenham court road for about 8:30/8:45. Currently I get either a train at five to eight or quarter past eight, and they get me in for around the same time. Not a massive difference really but as I said, it was from a slightly different area of london.

Anyway, even if I could drive, there is no parking. I do feel quite held to ransom by the train companies because there is no other way. I wouldn't mind if I only had to stand every once in a while or if trains were delayed or cancelled now and then because sometimes these things can't be helped... I'm averaging a cancellation about once a week and a delay significantly more than that.

[mazie]

If I had to do that every week CD I think I would be tempted to move.

[China Doll]

I would also like to not travel in peak time and for next year when the olympics are on it's something my manager says I can probably do but there's no scope for flexi time in the office at the moment.

I think train journeys up north and to the west are absolutely fine and good value for money in a lot of cases, just not the morning or afternoon commute, especially if you're actually commuting that far from where you live but just don't have an alternative method of transport.

[China Doll]

mazie - house by the sea is the dream :c)

[jno]

transport costs are a factor in accommodation costs - CD could live in a bijou flat above the shop, but I suspect the extra cost over where she is now would be more than £120 a month, and she might not have room to keep a cat let alone a man hostage. (Pay levels used to take this into account but I don't know if they still have a "London weighting".)

With both home and transport you pay for convenience. A car may cost more but it gets you a lot of places a bus or train won't take you. When we visit friends in the country who don't live near a station they have to come and pick us up - we save by not driving, but rely on them having a car instead.

[mazie]

Me too CD...Oh well, one day hey?

Hope you have a great Christmas and a few days off from that dreadful journey x

[jno]

back in my working days one of my colleagues used to work from his home by the sea in Dorset - he could do it by computer and only came in once a month or so to make sure he was keeping up. But management were very wary of people not being in the office - micromanagers are like that - and didn't allow many people to work that way.

[China Doll]

Exhunkly jno. I did look in to a place in central london, a very basic studio flat without washing machine or oven would cost me £900... I simply can't afford that.

Thanks Mazie... it could be worse though, you have a lovely christmas too :c)

I just don't agree with the price rise for bad service. If they put on a couple of extra trains (as in maybe had a fast train stop at my station) which would reduce overcrowding and delays then I probably would feel that prices were not so bad really.

[jno]

at a guess, CD, I imagine the problem isn't at your station but at the other end; you can only fit so many trains into a London terminus and if there's a problem with one it brings half the south east to a halt.

jno jnr has wisely gone to live in Tunbridge Wells - his trains start there so he always gets a seat. Costs him a fortune in fares (he works in west London), but he wants to be with a woman hostage.

[anotheoldgit]

Most surprise no one corrected me when I stated that the Queen is taking the train to Balmoral, that should have read Sandringham.

It's nice to know that many don't mind the rise in train fares, I knew Gromit wouldn't seeing that he is a staunch defender of rail travel.

All I know that in the bad old days of steam travel one could buy a very affordable ticket on the day, find an empty compartment, slide the doors shut and draw the blind, and for the rest of the journey experience complete privacy.

Not today, some journeys are cheaper and faster by air and if one needs to commute each day, one is extremely lucky if one gets a seat, in a very overcrowded carriage,

In fact there are more regulations attached to the transportation of animals than there of of train travelling humans.

[craft1948]

One of my ex-colleagues used to commute from Brighton to High Holborn every day...............

[jno]

if every passenger had a compartment to himself, that might explain why the railways had to be sold off. I think compartment carriages fell out of fashion as women found themselves sharing with serial killers.

[anotheoldgit]

jno

/// I think compartment carriages fell out of fashion as women found themselves sharing with serial killers. ///

Obviously you watch too many Agatha Christie movies.

[craft1948]

I remember travelling from York to Newcastle, and as I was a female travelling alone the conductor put me in a Ladies Only compartment......

[jno]

aog, some of them had corridors down one side, but in other ones the compartment stretched the full width of the carriage, which meant you were in trouble if Jack the Ripper was sitting opposite you, or if you wanted to go to the loo.

Photos here

http://citytransport.info/Compartment.htm

[Gromit]

AOG

I have been on some dreadful train journeys, but if you are able to book just a few days in advance, you are guaranteed a seat and is the cheaper option than taking the car. And no, I am not happy that fares are rising, but on a lot of routes, demand is greater than supply. The higher fares are to deter some travellers.

[anotheoldgit]

jno

those pics are of late 60s carriages.

Admittedly there were two types of coaches the ones with the corridor down the side, with small compartments off the corridor.

And those coaches that had the none corridor compartments (usually used for small distances).

But any lone female would be extremely foolish to enter one of these at the station, if it was occupied by a lone male or even a number of males.

having said that I can never remember any infamous crimes committed on trains.