The new Javelin trains vs..

daz said:
Trains in the UK aren't as bad as everyone makes out.
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I've very rarely had any cause for complaint when I use a train in this country. I book a week or so ahead, I get a great service for a fantastic price, and I'm usually pretty happy.

On Sunday I'm travelling to Heathrow Airport, First Class, for £36. A journey of some 4 hours.

How much would it cost to get there by ANY other means of transport? Would any other means of transport be quite as comfortable and offer the same level of onboard services?
 
I am also pretty content with the trains I have used across the UK, but being in the rail sector does make me more understanding than most.

My annual ticket does cost a bomb travelling from outside of London into there, but excluding weekends (which I can travel during) it costs me £16 per day. That also includes Zone 1-6 on the underground as part of the annual Gold ticket, plus I get 35% off trains in the SE and have a young persons railcard for use over the rest of the country. I will have to move out of working in London sometime to revive my car enthusiasm and ability to actually buy and use one regularly.

Have yet to book in advance for cheap first class journeys, but have upgraded for about £6 some evenings when coming back from London and need more Drink/coffee (deleted as applicable :D).
 
The best thing about the great First Class journeys is nobody knows about them so despite the fact my First Class ticket to Paddington was only £9 more than Standard Class alternative it'll still be nice, empty and chav free.
 
rypt said:
And that was done many years ago - which means that UK could have spent that time replacing things gradually.
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It would still have cost billions and are yo honestly saying that during a period where passenger numbers plumeted like a stone over the white cliffs you would have been happy for the government to be pouring money into new high speed lines?

Now it's a privatised industry you can't expect the train companies to do anything other than maximise profits which rules out massive investment in track that they don't even own so unless you want it to be government subsidised through railtrack then it's not going to happen quickly if at all.
 
their tracks were built especially for those trains, we're just using existing tracks, we can't suddenly replace 60mph trains with a 300mph train service

we need better tracks, more lanes, increased safety around the train lines

each step we take is a worthwhile one :)




the service we get now is far better than say ten years ago
 
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