MSE News: Rail fares to rise 8% as inflation figures announced

Former_MSE_Helen

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"The July RPI rate of inflation was announced today as 5%, pushing up rail fares in the new year by an average 8% ..."

Read the full story:
Rail fares to rise 8% as inflation figures announced

camaj

As some commuters said on the radio news bulletin at 5am this morning (I was unfortunate enough to be listening to) it's not bad considering the price of petrol etc. at least it's capped at inflation.

pennypinching77

Ah, that's just great news! I commute from Bedford to Croydon and will be returning from maternity leave to work soon having to pay the Jan 2011 increases. I hear all the arguments for the rises but have to say, when you are 7 months pregnant and have to stand for half an hour on a packed train to St Pancreas in the morning because no-one wants to stand for you because they pay over the odds for their ticket anyway, I can see why chivalry has gone right out the window. Plus we are so used to the delays/excuses from First Capital connect.

Trains are regularly late/ run slow or are pulled so services are amalgamated to pack in more commutes so they save on the diesel. First Capital also had a habit of putting their toilets out of use on most journeys to avoid maintenance no doubt. Again a nightmare when heavily pregnant. A train I would have been on was stuck in a tunnel for FOUR HOURS no lights, water, air, food. If there are any petitions to stop this legalised robbery, my name will be on it.

soup

Heard a woman moaning on the radio today and rightly so. She travels by season ticket from swindon to london and back each weekday. It currently costs her £675 per month and that will be going to over £700 soon. She said she has to stand 50% of the time on the return journey as the train is so packed. Delays are common.
and to top it off......she lives in swindon. Poor love.

Retro_Bunny

I don't expect something for nothing, but it's getting infuriating paying more and more to stand on a 9 carriage Virgin Pendolino, when the 4 First Class carriages are mostly empty!

Look back to the average 125 service and there were 2 or 3 first class carriages with 4 or 5 standard class - now it's more like 4 first class and 5 standard class. Give me back the old 125s anyday.

And don't get me started on the stinky Virgin Voyagers - yes, that smell being circulated through the air conditioning is excess gases from human effluent in the toilets, as the air exit for the toilets is next to the air conditioning inlet for the carriages
If you've ever felt ill after being on a Virgin Train, now you know why...

And Virgin Trains profit for 2010 was a disappointing £50 million :mad:

iharding

Anyone who expects to commute for the next year can at least put off the price rises for 12 months by getting a 0% on purchases credit card and buying an annual season ticket on the day before the fare rises (usually 2nd January).

Just in case you no longer need the ticket at any point, clearing the balance over 10 months rather than 12 should mean the refund will always be enough to clear the card balance.

Ian

pennypinching77

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/874

Jeff_Bridges_hair

And how much would it cost per mile a journey that you make daily? given that you an get discounts on others travelling with you at weekend and so on and so forth?

How much do people think it costs to run a railway? What about those who dont travel by train as they cant? should they subsidise you and your commute?

pennypinching77

I have no idea how much it costs to run First Capital Connect, I do know they are one of the least performing services with one of the biggest profits.

They also have a sneaky system of cutting scheduled trains delaying you by just under 30 mins so you cant claim. The knock-on effects of being late for work, home are a pain too and I travel earlier. Its infuriating.

I can't afford to pay for the whole year in advance to make the savings so due to the lack ticket choices I have to purchase a monthly ticket currently £400. I lose 8 days cost a month as I don't travel on the weekends or more if there are a Bank Holidays.
So these saving rates for the weekend you mention are no good to me.


It's fair for me to expect to spend three hours 20 commuting every day but when this is often extended to 4 or even 5 hours a day because their computer system is not working or someone hasn't turned up for work. I can't be sympathetic. No I did not always commute but did so after relocating when I got married. I do plan to find something nearer to me but the pay is very poor in comparison in Bedford and jobs with a fair wage are not easy to find.


If other countries can run reliable, safer, cleaner services for less why can't we. Yes their taxes may subsidize that but we pay that on top too. If this was Japan, drivers would be hauled before their bosses to explain their lateness. Here bosses are just interested in profits.

Rant over!

Keith

pennypinching77 wrote: »

Ah, that's just great news! I commute from Bedford to Croydon and will be returning from maternity leave to work soon having to pay the Jan 2011 increases. I hear all the arguments for the rises but have to say, when you are 7 months pregnant and have to stand for half an hour on a packed train to St Pancreas in the morning because no-one wants to stand for you because they pay over the odds for their ticket anyway, I can see why chivalry has gone right out the window. Plus we are so used to the delays/excuses from First Capital connect.

Trains are regularly late/ run slow or are pulled so services are amalgamated to pack in more commutes so they save on the diesel. First Capital also had a habit of putting their toilets out of use on most journeys to avoid maintenance no doubt. Again a nightmare when heavily pregnant. A train I would have been on was stuck in a tunnel for FOUR HOURS no lights, water, air, food. If there are any petitions to stop this legalised robbery, my name will be on it.

That's really strange, as I use the same line as you. Get on further down the line from you and every morning I get a seat.

As for your rant of delays, I've been late home by over 2 hours once in the last 18 months. I've not been late to work by over 30 minutes.

epm-84

The extra big increase is the Conservative's plan for funding new trains. Yet in the north of England we've not received any new trains recently and the only 'new' trains we will receive are old ones from London Midland and First Capital Connect which they won't require when they get brand new trains - these trains being around 30 years old. Why should Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle get the same 8% increase when we're getting write offs from other areas of the country, while London and Birmingham will get brand new trains and get the same 8% fare rise?