Yup, this is the plan - her goal for next year is to pass her test and get a cheap EV to drive in
Which is ironic considering we invented it
Should rail passengers have more rights?
- Thread starter Haggisman
- Start date
Best thing to do is avoid train travel imo.... Sad, because trains can be great and they should be a key part of a move to sustainable transport, but it's just not worth relying on them in their current state.
My partner works from home now, but years ago she used to commute to work in Manchester via bike & train. The service was just shocking though - often too crowded to get on, frequently cancelled or delayed with no notice etc. She did that for over a year I think, but eventually gave up and got a car and just drove in instead.
I did it myself for a short while working elsewhere, and don't miss it either.
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Taxi for Divine WindNah man trains still go all sorts of directions, I mean they're still dictated to by where the tracks go
Soldato
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My road journeys get delayed frequently, due to circumstances beyond anyones' reasonable control. I pay to use the road, and for people to keep it clear and running, so where's my compensation?
Should the Highway Maintenance people not be paying me at least the cost of the additional fuel I burned in having to follow their diversions, or sitting in heavy traffic caused by their roadworks?
Should the Highway Maintenance people not be paying me at least the cost of the additional fuel I burned in having to follow their diversions, or sitting in heavy traffic caused by their roadworks?
Big difference there.
You also don't pay directly to use the road (at least no more than anyone else who pays any kind of tax)
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This, if anything they should have less rights. They are only 1 rung above bus riders on the peasant chain
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Soldato
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No massive difference - Trains often get delayed or cancelled with almost no notice. I think there's an average of almost 1 suicide a day on the railways, for example.
Admittedly I haven't used the trains much lately, but I frequently got delayed because the driver changeover was late, or the driver didn't show up/called in sick.
Heck, my own company has caused cancellations before, including the one a few years ago where all the main lines from London to the South were shut down for three days due to a burst water main.
None of these are reasonably foreseeable and many are beyond anyones' control, so compensation should not be even considered.
I pay to have the car, I pay to fuel it, tax it and insure it - I pay all that pretty directly.
I'm also being somewhat sarcastic, in case that wasn't obvious, as opening the can of compensatory worms is a real rabbit-hole in terms of to what people think they should be entitled... We once had to deal with a building contractor who put a pile through our underground reservoir, which burst in spectactular fashion, which flooded the road, which caused traffic to back up, which delayed some finance bloke (actuary, investment banker, summat like that) and made him miss an important meeting, which resulted in his company losing out on a half-billion Pound investment deal... That company tried to sue us for the half-bill!
I have co-workers in Germany who say it's also a complete mess, since 1994 privatisation it's gone from bad to worse as money was diverted from proper investment into shareholder pockets. The biggest difference is cost, they were shocked at how much we pay.
Caporegime
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This is what happens when you privatise an essential service.
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Indeed, and a road being closed doesn't prevent you from having that car or driving it on your own property, but paying for your car is not the same as paying for the road. Of those only VED and tax on fuel are even remotely related to paying for the road, but really that just goes into general taxation. Going by that same logic my 10 year old also pays directly for the road whenever he spends his pocket money on something with VAT on it
You're right it's a bit of a slippery slope, and while I agree that unforeseen circumstances such as extreme weather or a suicide are a bit of a grey area, but months worth of (seemingly) endless strikes and staff shortages can be planned for and avoided.
You mention drivers not turning up or calling in sick, but tbh I don't see that as a valid excuse for cancellations. A delay while a replacement is sorted maybe, but I learned the concept of "redundacy" for critical systems when I was still in college...
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If the train is more than 5 minutes late you should get a full refund. That is how it should work.
Soldato
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Redundancy works fine in theory, especially when you're right in the middle of London but overland main lines could take 2-3 hours to move drivers around, and it'd be prohibitively expensive to have backup drivers stationed all along the routes.Indeed, and a road being closed doesn't prevent you from having that car or driving it on your own property, but paying for your car is not the same as paying for the road. Of those only VED and tax on fuel are even remotely related to paying for the road, but really that just goes into general taxation. Going by that same logic my 10 year old also pays directly for the road whenever he spends his pocket money on something with VAT on it
You're right it's a bit of a slippery slope, and while I agree that unforeseen circumstances such as extreme weather or a suicide are a bit of a grey area, but months worth of (seemingly) endless strikes and staff shortages can be planned for and avoided.
You mention drivers not turning up or calling in sick, but tbh I don't see that as a valid excuse for cancellations. A delay while a replacement is sorted maybe, but I learned the concept of "redundacy" for critical systems when I was still in college...
Long and short of it is that I've paid to be there, I've paid for people to provide the facilities and services that enable my being there, and I demand the same level of compensation as ticket-holders on the Peasant Line... for no other reason than just because.
I give it a decade before the payouts either bankrupt the government and the private operators, or the resulting ticket fees price everyone off the platforms.
