Rail fares to rise by 3.1% in January

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Reply 20

the bear

the last train i went on smelt of mouldy oranges.

smh

Reply 21

Blue_Cow

Original post by MrDystopia

Millions of commuters will have to pay an average of 3.1% more for rail tickets from 2 January.

The rise, announced by industry body the Rail Delivery Group, follows a year of disruption on some lines.

There had been calls for a price freeze following the chaos caused by the introduction of new timetables in May. The rise, which is lower than the 3.4% average rise for fares in 2018, means another £100 for a Manchester to Liverpool annual season ticket.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said the rail industry got £10bn a year from passengers, who wanted a reliable railway offering better value for money.

Fewer than half (45%) of passengers are satisfied with the value for money of train tickets, according to Transport Focus.

Alex Hayman of consumer group Which? said the new price rises would only add to passengers' misery after a year of timetable chaos, with rail punctuality falling to its lowest level in 12 years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46387030

What do you think of this?
Does this significantly affect you owing to using the trains a lot?
What do you think is the solution to the current high prices/lack of satisfaction in the railways?

Pisstake.

I fly around the UK now unless I'm travelling under expenses.

Reply 22

Vinny C

You voted for it... Brexit. will solve all our problems. Sure...

Reply 23

username3883544

Gideon Osbourne in the Evening Standard running the story about blaming the unions is a bit rich as fares went up even more when he was Chancellor.

The structure of the rail industry is broken, the contract models are awful, and the laws on strikes by having the 28 day rule lead to more than would happen. All of which the government can change.

Reply 24

username2393237

I only really use buses, but public transport here is a disgrace compared to other countries.

Reply 25

spotify95

This is absolutely not acceptable and is uncalled for.

With my local operator (East Midlands Trains) losing the franchise in 2019 onwards, and as such, train journeys/experience getting worse for passengers in the meantime (IMO their service has gone down the pan significantly over the last 6 months, with more delays and much worse overcrowding), we should actually be paying 3.1% LESS for our train fares, not more!

Reply 26

username4376992

The trains where I live are rubbish, quite often standing on a freezing cold morning or night for them to be about 10-15 minutes late and sometimes dont turn up at all.,

Every year though people will be charged extra.

Reply 27

FloralHybrid

Trains are already ridiculously expensive, and unreliable.

Now they want more money? Ugh.

Reply 28

nulli tertius

Original post by sherylt

And do you think services will improve if there is less income?

Reply 29

username4376992

Original post by nulli tertius

And do you think services will improve if there is less income?

Not suggesting there will ever be a better service in my lifetime and I am only 19, there might and there might not be.

If there was less income tho it would stop the big bosses haveing big bonuses and getting money for nothing which is happening everywhere.

Reply 30

Drewski

Should be a mass boycott of tickets. Everybody turns up en masse without any tickets and just overwhelms the numpties on the gates.

As long as people carry on paying, the prices will keep going up, and the service will keep going down.

Reply 31

nulli tertius

Original post by sherylt

The bonuses they take are a drop in the ocean of the costs of running a railway.

Reply 32

Andrew97

Entertainment Forum Helper, Debate & Current Affairs Helper

Original post by Drewski

Lol, at my local station there tends to only be one bald man on the gates. I recon he could easily be overwhelmed.

Reply 33

TimmonaPortella

Why does everyone seem to expect to be able to be carried across the country for next to no money?

We're talking about a valuable service. Travel is expensive. Compare how much you'd spend on each journey if you had to buy and run a car.

We're never going to get rid of a few minutes delay here and there. If you want to leave exactly when you want to leave, drive.

Reply 34

Andrew97

Entertainment Forum Helper, Debate & Current Affairs Helper

Original post by TimmonaPortella

I think very few people would complain about a 3 minute delay in the morning, that happens. You need to wait for people to cram onto trains. (Which nationalisation will not help)

The issue is cancellations caused by silly things, most issues if being honest are caused by network rail. But yet the operators get the **** because they are the ones running the trains.

Reply 35

Drewski

Original post by TimmonaPortella

For the past year, a third of all services operated by Northern and Transpennine have been late or cancelled. That's more than "a few minutes delay here and there".

And why aren't we? Other countries manage it.

Reply 36

StriderHort

Original post by Andrew97

I think very few people would complain about a 3 minute delay in the morning, that happens. You need to wait for people to cram onto trains. (Which nationalisation will not help)

I lose my sh1t over a 3 min delay in the morning :tongue:

My first train should only take 13 mins and it's not a busy one, the 50/70% chance 3 min delay appaers to be 'driver/station controller farting around time' and it's frustrating as fk hearing that same 'sorry for the brief delay folks' knowing that i'll now miss my connecting train again (with a better train company) and then have to use their smelly one (90min delay, great for those early morning exam nerves)

I'm not saying the way I goad the transport police to arrest the train staff is REASONABLE, but I do lose my sh1t over a 3 min delay :rolleyes:

Reply 37

DSilva

Original post by TimmonaPortella

I don't think anyone expects to be carried across the country for next to nothing, but the combination of our extremely high prices and terrible service means people are rightfully annoyed when they are having to spend ever increasing amounts on rail tickets with no noticeable improvement to the service.

You're right that a few delays are inevitable, but when you are regularly getting long delays and cancellations, causing you to be late for work then it really isn't good enough. As another poster pointed out, on some lines a third of journeys are delayed or cancelled.

And unlike other services, our railways are a natural monopoly. If you work in London, where driving also isn't an option, you will likely only have one train that gets you in. You can't simply choose another and rely on market forces, when the provider has no competition for customers. The privatisation model and rationale simply doesn't work where there is a natural monopoly.

People reasonably point to countries such as Germany and Finland which run far cheaper, less crowded and more reliable services, with far higher levels of customer satisfaction than we have here. It's not unreasonable to suggest our public transport system should be affordable and provide value for money.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 38

intarchitecture

I use the trains 4 days a week. it already takes up half of my wages. can the companies stop focussing on branding and more on if their trains work well. less repairs means lower prices in the log run

Reply 39

nulli tertius

Original post by DSilva

People reasonably point to countries such as Germany and Finland which run far cheaper, less crowded and more reliable services, with far higher levels of customer satisfaction than we have here. It's not unreasonable to suggest our public transport system should be affordable and provide value for money.

Lets look at Tampere to Helsinki. Tampere is comparable in terms of size and distance to Leicester but whilst Leicester has three or four trains an hour to London starting very early and finishing late, Tampere has one train every two hours to Helsinki.

That is the key difference with much continental rail. They are low intensity services running to few destinations.