Vive Le Frogs (trains)

On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 14:33:36 -0000, "Hog" <hogSPAM RemoveThis @freenetCHIPS.co.uk>
wrote:

>Sometimes industrial capacity requires subsidy in a global economy. I have
>no problem with that. Same goes for affordable public transport. Here you
>have a train system priced out of reach of many potential commuters.

Sorry but you don't. Everyone screams about headline fares but until 2
years ago regulated fares (including season tickets) were falling in
real terms due to the Tories' provisions around fare increases when they
privatised the network.

If you are unable to book in advance or commit to a season ticket or
Saver ticket then yes some of the ordinary fares are incredible. However
if the UK rail network was the appalling failure that people portray it
as then why is it bursting at the seams, why has it got the highest
growth rates of any national rail network in Europe and why have several
big transport groups agreed to pay huge premiums to the government for
the right to run services? Now those groups may be headed by people
who are clinically insane [1] but somehow I doubt it. Somewhere,
somehow someone is doing something right in terms of offering train
services that people want to use or in some cases [2] have to use.


[1] down Sweller. resist commenting
[2] commuting into major conurbations being the big element here.

--
Paul C - "the big camp bastard" (tm d.a.r.s.y)
VFR800 | ZX6R | R1150GS
BOD#5, two#4, BOTAFOT#23, BOTAFOF#4, URMSBC#09, COFF#09
Admits to working for London Underground!

Paul Corfield wrote:
> On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 14:33:36 -0000, "Hog" <hogSPAM RemoveThis @freenetCHIPS.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> Sometimes industrial capacity requires subsidy in a global economy.
>> I have no problem with that. Same goes for affordable public
>> transport. Here you have a train system priced out of reach of many
>> potential commuters.
>
> Sorry but you don't. Everyone screams about headline fares but until
> 2 years ago regulated fares (including season tickets) were falling in
> real terms due to the Tories' provisions around fare increases when
> they privatised the network.
>
> If you are unable to book in advance or commit to a season ticket or
> Saver ticket then yes some of the ordinary fares are incredible.
> However if the UK rail network was the appalling failure that people
> portray it as then why is it bursting at the seams, why has it got
> the highest growth rates of any national rail network in Europe and
> why have several big transport groups agreed to pay huge premiums to
> the government for the right to run services? Now those groups may
> be headed by people who are clinically insane [1] but somehow I doubt
> it. Somewhere, somehow someone is doing something right in terms of
> offering train services that people want to use or in some cases [2]
> have to use.
>
>
> [1] down Sweller. resist commenting
> [2] commuting into major conurbations being the big element here.

But I said "Here you have a train system priced out of reach of many
potential commuters"

I don't think you dealt with that comment or proved me wrong.
We have a service with insufficient capacity to take as much peak time
passenger load as is available. The resource is therefor rationed by price.
If you brought fares down to the comparable level of driving or below, and
provided sufficient free parking at the feeder ends, and provided guards
vans prepared to take bicycles, and provided sufficient secure bicycle
storage at the conurbation hubs - how big an impact do you think the rail
system could have on peak congestion? serious question.

Or perhaps the network just doesn't have the track/switching/hub capacity to
do it.

--
Hog
'03 ST4S '96 Bastard12 '89 R100RS '81 XS650 '78 RD400