MSE News: Train fares to rise by 6.2% in January

chattychappy

geordieracer wrote: »

yes i remember you making a similar comment before hand.. Yes they have built in more minutes into the timetables and this is because of the waiting time to board passengers has got greater as more and more people use the trains. so where there used to be 30 seconds to board now when you start getting closer to London it has increased somewhat to up to 2 minutes.
That all adds up. If you dont believe me spend a morning at any UP platform at clapham junction. they get in early take an age to board and then leave on or around time.

I do use Clapham Junction in the morning peak and have done for 20 years, but I was considering the Hayes line. The time to board passengers is less now the slam doors have gone. In the 1980s, probably half the morning peak trains I caught arrived late (according to the "if its not 5 minutes late its not late definition). Now many more arrive on time - simply because arrival times have been advanced. The journeys are basically the same, with the same pinch-points.

I'm not saying I'm dissatisfied with the journey times, just since the experience is about the same as it was 20/25 years ago. Only the stats have improved.

discplayer

tiff wrote: »

He bought a folding mountain bike so that he could take the bike on the train, they now only let 2 bikes on in the morning so he was having to wait for the next train. Its often overcrowded and he pays £3.70 return for this one stop. A monthly pass is no cheaper as he works the odd day from home so there is no saving. His only real option is to cycle all the way, and it might come to that in time.

They restrict folding bikes?! I didn't think any did that, or is it that most don't?

Or does his bike not fold that small? Many fold to the size of a small case so they would be banning a lot of stuff if they limited it to that size.

chuckley

its only now becoming a big rip off due to train companies REDUCING their services and carriages yet hiking up the price. not to mention they're ALWAYS late! Southern railway have now resorted to the excuse of 'poor rail conditions' (run out of real excuses) yet other companies running trains on the same line arent affected?! hmm... plus southern only refund when delays are 30 minutes or more!!!!! PLUS they think its perfectly acceptable to run a peak service, off peak and wont refund the difference even if the delay is 20 minutes! totally disgusting.

robt_2

Poor rail conditions is pretty standard this time of year, and is much more of a real legitimate reason than some that are come up with. And yes, it can affect some trains and not others on the same line.

C_Mababejive

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah..............

The Brits get all they deserve.

didnt they moan so much about good old British Rail, an asset owned by the nation on behalf of its people. I centre of engineering excellence,a fully integrated rail system for the whole country.

They moaned so the government fixed it.


I was under the impression that the rail industry was now in private hands?

If so then why is another £6Bn of taxpayers cash going their way AND still the passengers ..sorry..livestock ..face increased fares...ROTFL.

When is the protest starting?

whatmichaelsays

One of the biggest problems is that the trains are too popular. Patronage has increased sharply and the upgrades to facilities hasn't come fast enough. Part of that is down to the scale of the network (it isn't easy extending the platforms of however many thousand stations there are) and the fact that TOC franchises are too short, discouraging long term investment.

The rhetoric about wanting to "get people out of cars" is a falsehood. Quite simply, when the rail network is already running over capacity, there is nowhere for those car drivers to go.

armitageshankss

I am all for a train strike as i have to travel on trains 5 days a week and 80% of the times the train is late, overcrowded or simply cancelled. I have also experienced the poor service provided by staff at the station i travel from. I understand that ticket prices have to rise at some point, but why should passengers have to put up with paying so much, for such a poor service? Train Free Day - I'll be on the bus that day and good luck to the people behind it.

chuckley

robt wrote: »

Poor rail conditions is pretty standard this time of year, and is much more of a real legitimate reason than some that are come up with. And yes, it can affect some trains and not others on the same line.

if the line is good enough for all other companies in peak times then why is it such a problem for southern?!

they r shoddy and have run out of excuses.

robt_2

chuckley wrote: »

if the line is good enough for all other companies in peak times then why is it such a problem for southern?!

they r shoddy and have run out of excuses.

Because different companies have different trains which all behave differently.

I suspect it isn't worth discussing though because you have already made your mind up.

aembleton

Does anyone know which day in January the fare increases go through?

I am trying to decide if it is worth me buying an annual pass now, or to wait until 4 January as I won't be using it for two weeks over Christmas.