Trains for Charlton

[philpvfc]

1 hour ago, Rodge said:

Spot on mate, it was always going to be the commuter that ended up paying for rail workers wage increases. We booked on the trains that take around an hour and a half (now cancelled), cost me £90 return to Charlton.

Very true. Rail price increases were announced last December, well after the rail disputes started, contrary to what others may say.

I live near Bristol and it is a lot more to travel by train down here. I return from Bristol off peak usually costs around £85 (return) and it’s only just over an hour to Paddington.

[NorthwoodValiant]

11 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

Very true. Rail price increases were announced last December, well after the rail disputes started, contrary to what others may say.

I live near Bristol and it is a lot more to travel by train down here. I return from Bristol off peak usually costs around £85 (return) and it’s only just over an hour to Paddington.

And when was the dispute resolved?

And what percentage payrise was agreed compared to the increase in fees?

And yes First Group who own GWR and 70% of Avanti made a £600m profit last year. Obviously the other 30% of Avanti is owned by, erm, the Italian Government.

At least the important people in society get a good deal

 

[philpvfc]

3 hours ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

And when was the dispute resolved?

And what percentage payrise was agreed compared to the increase in fees?

And yes First Group who own GWR and 70% of Avanti made a £600m profit last year. Obviously the other 30% of Avanti is owned by, erm, the Italian Government.

At least the important people in society get a good deal

 

Any pay rise will have been considered when deciding on charge increase, surely as an accountant you would understand the importance of balancing the books and retaining profits. I do agree, taking the franchise off Virgin was a disgrace, the standards have dropped and prices have gone up way above inflation.

[NorthwoodValiant]

6 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

Any pay rise will have been considered when deciding on charge increase, surely as an accountant you would understand the importance of balancing the books and retaining profits. I do agree, taking the franchise off Virgin was a disgrace, the standards have dropped and prices have gone up way above inflation.

As a citizen i don't agree with Public Services being run (badly) for Private Profit, public transport, healthcare, water, electricity, should never make a profit, it should just be funded and work,

Also the reason why Avanti are such a mess is because Virgin Trains didn't bother to invest in equipment or staff for the last years of it's franchise because it's bank account wouldn't benefit from it, and the government just let them do nothing. So they are partially to blame for the mess also, another failure of privatization of course

[philpvfc]

23 minutes ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

As a citizen i don't agree with Public Services being run (badly) for Private Profit, public transport, healthcare, water, electricity, should never make a profit, it should just be funded and work,

Also the reason why Avanti are such a mess is because Virgin Trains didn't bother to invest in equipment or staff for the last years of it's franchise because it's bank account wouldn't benefit from it, and the government just let them do nothing. So they are partially to blame for the mess also, another failure of privatization of course

As a regular user of the trains (3 or 4 times a week) I do not want our rail network to go back to state run, trains are a lot better nowadays and more punctual, but you will always get companies who run them want to be making a profit, which I do not have a problem with, they are monitored and regulated closely by the Government and our system works very well but the cost is too high for the average user, so there is an argument for the cost to be subsidised but again, it will be the tax payer who pays.

[NorthwoodValiant]

21 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

As a regular user of the trains (3 or 4 times a week) I do not want our rail network to go back to state run, trains are a lot better nowadays and more punctual, but you will always get companies who run them want to be making a profit, which I do not have a problem with, they are monitored and regulated closely by the Government and our system works very well but the cost is too high for the average user, so there is an argument for the cost to be subsidised but again, it will be the tax payer who pays.

The only reason why Privatized railways have done so well since 1994 is due to the work that British Rail did beforehand in modernising the network, since privatization the modernisation of the rail network has slowed to a crawl and still only 30% of our railways are electrified.

Even so, right now franchising doesn't happen, the TOCs run their companies to the specifications that the Department for Transport determine, IE, the railways are run by the government, but in turn, the government promises the TOCs a profit every year, this is dead money, how is a business supposed to care if it is being promised a profit by the government?

The Government has also said that every TOC needs to reduce costs by 10%, ie, managed decline, even though they are increasing prices, this is because commuting in to London doesn't happen as much post Covid, but everywhere else in the UK, ie, the north, the south west, etc, is matching it's pre covid numbers, yet they are being told to get rid of trains.

Anyway, it would be good for the wider economy if public transport was free, but the UK doesn't have the infrastructure to make that step

[darren1810]

Just leaving the house now.

Managed to get one for 32 quid from Stafford at 8.32 am.

Cheers chaps for info 👍