Trains/Rail Network

[BYTEr]

So, for November, as a one of thing for work, I was required to take numerous train journeys through the week mostly to/from Exeter, Taunton, Bristol & Bath and didn’t realise just how rubbish our rail network seems to be.

I had numerous cancellations for all sorts of reasons, numerous delays, most of my trains seemed to have only 3 or carriages at most often requiring to stand and it all cost a small fortune.

Despite the terrible service, all the train companies seem to care about is tickets, or rather making sure everyone has the right tickets, requiring you to use them to get in/out, getting checked on the train, sometimes more than once, announcements about tickets, posters about tickets etc etc. It’s a shame they don’t care as much about providing a reliable and decent service.

I really do feel for those who use the trains for their commutes, it must be hell, I was completely fed up of using them after a month when I was travelling outside of rush hours. Don’t think I’d ever take a job where I’d need to use a train, because it seems it will cost twice as much, be twice as hellish and I’d probably be late to work half the time.

And I’ve just seen the news about ticket prices rising again and the strike action, thank god my normal commute is a 10 min drive.

Rant over.

 

[malachi]

Glad I don't have to deal with any of that anymore.

The GWR train from London Pads to Swansea very rarely arrived on time if it wasn't cancelled.

 

[Scam]

I think we all know that our train services are a joke. Two ramifications of this that I like to point out - that people generally don't think about;

• It's contributing massively to the housing crisis. Nobody wants to commute into our big cities therefore much more pressure is put onto housing close to jobs. If you could get faster reliable trains from, say, 60-80 miles outside of London then a lot more people would happily do that.
• It's also terrible for the environment. Last minute trips across the country/out to the coast etc. on the trains is generally a no-go due to the cost. Even worse if you want to do it midweek. Cheaper to drive.

 

[FishFluff]

The rail service in the UK is abysmal. I have to travel down from Leeds to London a couple of times a week and I'd say about 40% of my journeys are either delayed or cancelled. Usually because some crappy commuter train has broken down somewhere on the line. HS2 can't come soon enough.

 

[Efour]

Vote Labour? They will fix Everything.

 

[el_dazza]

Vote Labour? They will fix Everything.

And it'll be free. Free everything for everyone! Woo!

 

[wesley]

My usual train to work have been cancelled nearly every morning in the last few weeks. My train trip is only 15 mins but the trains are traveling from Scarborough.

More on this
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...n-up-on-the-scarborough-service.195588/page-7

Most because of shortage of driver/crew

I really don't get it. The timetable haven't changed since may 2018. Why suddenly shortage of crew every morning.

Rubbish

 

[ttaskmaster]

It's contributing massively to the housing crisis. Nobody wants to commute into our big cities therefore much more pressure is put onto housing close to jobs. If you could get faster reliable trains from, say, 60-80 miles outside of London then a lot more people would happily do that.

Would they?
Currently, our local London-workers have a 30-45 minute train journey.... However, first they have a 30 minute drive (without heavy traffic) to the Park & Ride, followed by a 30-45 minute bus ride to the train station, followed by that 45 minute train journey to Paddington, with up to 30 minutes on the Tube thereafter, and then a 10-15 minute walk to get to the office. Add also a 25 minute bus ride, for any of our sites along the Met Line.

Or they can grab a pool car and do the same journey by road in under 50 minutes (with normal traffic).
Rail is one of the best examples where privatisation did not work out well... but unfortunately it would take ridiculously big mega-bucks to bring it back up to a standard where renationalisation could even happen, never mind actually work.

 

[iamdjdz]

I've used the train for training courses over two weeks in the last 6 months and both weeks at least one train was cancelled and only 2 arrived on time. It's ridiculous that essentially spot checking the railway that infrequently has that degree of lateness. I would hate to rely on it daily to get to and from work.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

I love that three carriage train from Bath Spa. Never seen a train so short.

 

[VincentHanna]

Vote Labour? They will fix Everything.

And it'll be free. Free everything for everyone! Woo!

It seems strange for some people to acknowledge that the current system is bad but then take the **** about Labour wanting to re-nationalise the train network.

Might as well give it a go, since the current system is ******* appalling.

Historical fare rises:
2011: 6.2%
2012: 5.9%
2013: 3.9%
2014: 2.8%
2015: 2.2%
2015: 1.1%
2017: 2.3%
2018: 3.4%
2019: 3.1%

 

[Semple]

I really don't get it. The timetable haven't changed since may 2018. Why suddenly shortage of crew every morning.

Rubbish

I'd guess being as it's towards the end of the year and staff generally have to take their holiday or lose it, it's possibly causing a knock-on effect to the services. I agree though it's rubbish and just comes down to poor management if everyone has to have the time off to use it up at the end of the year.

Would they?

I think London is probably the only place it wouldn't work due to the already vast tube network stretching across the wider outskirts of London.

Certainly for other cities it would.

There's always talk of this great northern powerhouse project up here to link high-speed rail between Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds. Housing in south Manchester at least, has started to become unaffordable for the majority. Yet if workers were able to jump on a train and get to the outskirts of Liverpool/Leeds in 20 mins, that would seriously fire up demand for housing in those areas.

 

[Semple]

It seems strange for some people to acknowledge that the current system is bad but then take the **** about Labour wanting to re-nationalise the train network.

Might as well give it a go, since the current system is ******* appalling.

Historical fare rises:
2011: 6.2%
2012: 5.9%
2013: 3.9%
2014: 2.8%
2015: 2.2%
2015: 1.1%
2017: 2.3%
2018: 3.4%
2019: 3.1%

The hike in ticket prices is one thing that drove me away from trains towards a car.

When i first started my job, a 30 min train to Bristol with a 16-25 railcard would cost me a little over £10 for a peak return. I've just checked that same ticket cost now and it's up at £15.65. That's almost a 50% increase from the original priced tickets.

I used to regularly get the train from Bristol upto Manchester, i recall an off-peak return back in 2011/2012 would cost about £47/48, now that's about £65! I could drive it there and back for less than £30 in fuel.

 

[Liquidfox]

HS2 can't come soon enough.

Do you believe that it will honestly be any better? That'll just be extortionately priced and poor quality just like the rest of the UK. We just need to sack everyone off and contract the Dutch to make it work, their entire public transport system is amazing when compared to ours and I believe most of it is nationalised?

 

[FishFluff]

Do you believe that it will honestly be any better? That'll just be extortionately priced and poor quality just like the rest of the UK. We just need to sack everyone off and contract the Dutch to make it work, their entire public transport system is amazing when compared to ours and I believe most of it is nationalised?

I really do think it'll improve things. You have to remember, it's not an improvement to the existing line, it's a brand new one. Effectively it doubles capacity along the route!

 

[Scam]

HS2 can't come soon enough.

Isn't that the waste of money that knocks 10mins off the train from Brum to London or something completely pointless?

Would they?
Currently, our local London-workers have a 30-45 minute train journey.... However, first they have a 30 minute drive (without heavy traffic) to the Park & Ride, followed by a 30-45 minute bus ride to the train station, followed by that 45 minute train journey to Paddington, with up to 30 minutes on the Tube thereafter, and then a 10-15 minute walk to get to the office. Add also a 25 minute bus ride, for any of our sites along the Met Line.

With all due respect that quite clearly is not a normal 'commute'. I'd imagine most office workers do a train into a London terminal, followed by either a bus or tube (or a couple). Clearly, yes, if people want to live in the sticks a good 75min drive to their local train station ( including the P&R as you describe) then that is their choice. But there's no way that is the norm. I work in the West End and just in our team know people that commute in from Kent, Worthing, Denham... all around the edges of London.

 

[StriderX]

I really do think it'll improve things. You have to remember, it's not an improvement to the existing line, it's a brand new one. Effectively it doubles capacity along the route!

And you’ll be paying for the lack of action in building it sooner in increased fares... every year it gets delayed is another increase. Though I guess it could just be added to the national debt, not like anyone cares about that anymore.

 

[SeatIbiza]

Do you believe that it will honestly be any better? That'll just be extortionately priced and poor quality just like the rest of the UK. We just need to sack everyone off and contract the Dutch to make it work, their entire public transport system is amazing when compared to ours and I believe most of it is nationalised?

I agree, although not sure I advocate giving our national assets away. However, I'd ask the Swiss or the Japanese instead...

 

[stockhausen]

No message.

 

[Conscript]

I don't think it would be so galling if the price wasn't so high, and guaranteed to rise year on year with no perceived increase in reliability or service quality. And seeing as rail companies effectively hold a monopoly in areas, then there doesn't seem to be much incentive to improve either.

More flexibility on pricing would also help matters. A monthly season ticket from my station to London is £408.20. That ticket is valid for 7 days. Now, I am lucky enough to now work from home three days a week, meaning I can rely on daily return tickets to save myself money. But when I was buying season tickets, I (and other commuters, I'm sure), would prefer the option of buying a ticket only valid on weekdays if it would lower cost. Similarly, parking charges - £6 a day to park at the station, something which many can't avoid doing. Why not offer significant discounts for anyone holding a valid ticket for the day they park?

Unfortunately, with no competition, there doesn't seem to be the incentive for private rail companies to adopt improvements like this. I don't think nationalisation is the answer (not in the UK at least), but I can't help thinking that it would be nice if there was perhaps more regulatory control to prevent them getting complacent, and to encourage companies to put service before maximum profit.