First Class Could Be Cut On Busy Trains, Says Grayling

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40690621

I only use trains about 1-2 times a year, and even then under protest. But will this really make much difference ?

By the way, I seem to remember when I was a young lad in the 50's, that the Tube has 1st and 2nd class carriages.....am I right ?

[Gromit]

First class is a very bad use of the space available on a busy route. It is also very much of an anachronism.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/17/chris-grayling-scrapping-first-class-trains-leaves-us-all-in-third

[Sqad]

mikey...I can't remember 1st and 2nd class on the tubes in the 60's and i used them every day.
So, if you could afford it and wanted a piece of quietness and exclusivity on the trains then the Conservatives feel that you will not have the choose.
Yes.......sounds about right for the UK.

[dannyk13]

Strangely enough when I was a lad the trains had 1st and 3rd class.For some reason there was no 2nd class.

[mikey4444]

Sqad.....The overcrowding on some commuter trains is just awful, like the Southern Railway. Anything that can ease that must be worth a try !

[Sqad]

mikey...then build more rolling stock....seems logical.
The railway system in the UK is a mess,compared to the Spanish rail system.

[mikey4444]

Sqad....on that issue, I am with you 100%.

Better still, take the Railways back into public ownership, in the same way that Network Rail is.

[Sqad]

mikey...LOL.

[mikey4444]

Well, it worked with RailTrack, and I can't see why it wouldn't work with other failing rail companies.

[Sqad]

mikey...the summer of 1953 I worked as a porter on Peterborough North station, before i went to med school and I was in awe of the Pullman as it steamed it's way south to King's Cross, tables covered with tablecloth, lights on the tables and high, armed comfortable seats. It was a treat to be associated with such rolling stock and o promised myself that i would go on it one day....and i did.

[Zacs-Master]

At busy times, first class is about 50% full (although I've seen it 100% full coming back from London at 4/5pm) so the most it's going to gain (assuming 1 carriage) is about 25 seats. To me the plan is cobblers and a sticking plaster solution.

[mikey4444]

Yes, I can remember those Pullman trains. Lovely !

[Old_Geezer]

I thought QI had covered the subject, danny.
https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/qi/episodes/9/8/
Also
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_Regulation_Act_1844

[jno]

you went to King's Cross, Sqad?

A place of many treats for sophisticated gentlemen in those days ... I'm sure you had a great time.

[douglas9401]

Travelling from Edinburgh to Birmingham New Street there was an 'incident' on the line so those going on to Euston were being re-routed and Brum bound were squeezed onto a Cross Country train wherever space was available.
Thankfully first-classians seethe quietly to themselves when overrun by plebs. :P

[whiskeryron]

Many times I have travelled standing in full trains when there are empty seats in so called !st class carriages. We are all passengers & should be treated equally. There should be NO segregation ( if I buy a ticket on National Express there is NO class distinction & whats more I am guaranteed a seat). Lets get it sorted. Back to National Rail I say.

[goodgoalie]

Mikey, it's even stranger to think that until relatively recently you could smoke on London Underground trains! Revolting, crowded, smoky carriages, but everyone accepted it as normal

[scooping]

I'm old enough to remember a BBC reporter asking Tony Benn in the early Sixties whether a Labour government would abolish First Class on the trains. He looked straight to camera and said "No. We'll abolish second class".