Rail fares increase yet again.

If you've seen how packed the trains are every rush hour, I think this is justified as long as the money is reinvested in rail infrastructure. Up north they're wiring the train lines and getting faster trains into service by 2018 which means more capacity for the whole region

Only the thing the great masses can do is vote with their wallet.

Football clubs continue to rise their season ticket prices year on year - yet people still pay it.
University trebled their fees - yet students pay it.
Rail companies raise their ticket prices...the communter swallows it yet again and agrees to pay it.

As ever everyone is outraged and demanding others do something to stop it...
"How about you do something yourself"
Its all gone quiet over there...

Errm maybe because people have to get to work? How will people get to where they are going if they choose not to use the train? Many of our generation are priced out of car travel also and cannot drive.

Buying a season ticket to watch a football club and buying a ticket for a train are two different things. A transport system is necessary for society to run and football teams arguably aren't.

Research the USA bus boycott - if the UK population put half the effort into organising an efficent protest/boycott as they do ranting as keyboard warriors on here and the Daily Mail comment page the train companies would soon have to appease the public as they can't survive without them.

On the same note I was also amused to read the Student tuition fees protest at Warwick University...

Students are protesting fees AFTER they have agreed to pay them in the first place. Fair enough if your told mid-way through your course you have to pay more...but they signed on the dotted line...I will pay this to attend university...then they protest about. YOU PAYED IT.

Companies do not care about people and feelings. They care about money and profit.

Yeah, British people have never been good at protest and boycott. We're a country that has had the necessity of the 'stiff upper lip' shoved down our throat for years. 'Put up or shut up' culture is a poison to this country. It's why our customer service is so terrible compared to customer service in other countries.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/dec/05/rail-fare-increase-2015

Soon enough rail will be an unaffordable luxury. Already rents are cheaper than paying for a season ticket in some places.

I swear that managing a rail company is a license to print money. They're sat on their throne like Prince John and the front line staff are shaking us down like The Sheriff of Nottingham:










Posted from TSR Mobile

What's your opinion on hs2?

I do find it frustrating that a 12 mile rural trip for me is £2.40 (which I think is very good value) but a 4 mile trip in London is only a couple of pounds less than what a cab would be.

Oh no, you're paying more(!)
SO let's have a look at things:
Where does the money go?
Mostly into the network in some form, not into the pocket of shareholders, contrary to popular belief.
In real terms, what's happeneing?
Well, very little actually, 0.4% increase
Who, predominately, uses the rail network?
Those that can afford the price increase

I assume you also took/take/will take offence to your tax bill increasing to pay for education, the NHS etc?

At the moment England is moving towards the "worst of both worlds" spot.

It's redic, a woman on the news just said she pays £5,000 per year for train fares

Look, you can't have it both ways. You can't have a high tax rate AND have to pay a **** ton of money for HE, a **** ton of money for train travel, etc.

Either go with low taxes for everyone BUT people pay much more for trains / universities / healthcare, or have high taxes but these things are far far cheaper.

At the moment England is moving towards the "worst of both worlds" spot.

All they need to do now is privatise the NHS / make people have private health insurance, and bam. Job done.

It will not do anything to change inequalities between London and the North of England.

I think regional travel should be a priority. Linking up northern towns with major northern cities (not just Leeds and Manchester). Improving links between your Barnsleys, Dewsburys, Doncasters and Rotherhams with cities such as Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester. Affordable and reasonable travel costs too that take into account the 24-hour nature of modern society. The north would be stronger better linked.

Not everyone can live in the major cities. Only thinking about these places will drive up rent in these locations, put pressure on a crumbling and neglected transport system and create overcrowding in inner city and suburban locations. Leeds and Manchester are already becoming unaffordable for a lot of young people. A lot haven't got a choice though because major cities are where all of the work is.

A mass transit in West Yorkshire should also be a top priority! It's disgusting that it's a region that had gone for so long without one!


Posted from TSR Mobile

And I'm all for lower taxes, with all only the essential (obvioulsy the likes of police, fire, defence and roads, along with education and the NHS) in the public sector. The cost of privately operated public transport should be borne by the user, not everybody else, same with HE. Much like people who send their children to private schools should be given the option for a tax rebate (Either the percentage of the budget that goes to education, or the mean cost of educating a child for a year in a state school, whichever is lower), the same could be done for private medical cover, although much harder to do fairly and for the most part not worth bothering with.

Not quite sure as to the relevance of your point to my post is, but whatever.