Why I no longer travel by train

Mids_Costcutter wrote: »

Is this inevitable? What would you change in the way trains are managed and operated in Britain? Are there any other European countries where you've been impressed with the rail system?

I would like to see the trains nationalised and managed properly by our Government. There appears to be no accountability at the moment. I'm still waiting for compensation for something that happened 2 years ago. I'm fully resigned to the fact I won't be seeing that money. I take my car nowadays and truth be told, God Forbid I do have to take the train, I just don't pay now. The only reason I ever did pay was out of pure honesty.... Yet when I was severely let down by the train company, they decided to wash their hands and just ignore my repeated e-mails.

Yes, I did some work in Denmark in 2013 and had to take two connecting trains from Struer (up in the North West of Denmark) to Kastrup which is basically Copenhagen airport. You can actually do this on a 50 minute domestic flight and that is also a good option, albeit a little bit rickety. The trains were superb. This was not on special trains or anything like that, just a standard regional train at first and then a faster IC train which is the kind you might find running all the way across Europe. Both trains were excellent.

Rail fares DO need to be better controlled.

I had a pre-booked ticket for a 100 mile journey - cost about £15 return with Railcard. I mislaid the tickets! - so went on the morning of my journey to the station machine and asked for a new return - the FIRST fare offerred was £253 ! Right at the end of about 20 fares was a return for £20 that suited me. What a shambles. I'm sure some who are less critical (non-English speakers perhaps), would fall for the huge fare. Also with Off-Peak, Super-Off Peak, Anytime... etc - NO-ONE KNOWS if a ticket is valid for a specific train, and it's not printed on the ticket!


These issues really need sorting out - how about a country-wide contactless system, that charges the lowest applicable fare for that particular journey?

agrinnall wrote: »

I took one last week from Dundee to Aberdeen, it was not bad but the big problem is the lack of power sockets - although I've been told many of the newly introduced trains on the Edinburgh - Glasgow route also don't have sockets.

That be untrue, the new trains on the Edinburgh - Glasgow route have sockets, however they are located below & between the seats.

Pennywise wrote: »

Personally, I'd rather the class 37s and Mk2 coaches stay. Sprinters aren't much better than the Pacers. And replacing a 3.5 coach class 37 train with a 2 coach Sprinter is going to cause overcrowding etc.

(Of course, for a short time, the new class 66 locos were used instead of the 37s which gave best of both worlds - modern reliable loco with decent coaches!).

Personally I'd much rather 37's as well but as much as it pains me to defend DMU's, from a passenger point of view they are a better solution for that type of work. They are desperate for DMU's in Cumbria where it's a 37/68 LHCS:

https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/16430100.dismay-for-south-cumbria-as-mp-says-no-train-upgrades-until-december-2019/

The 37's are slow, unreliable and noisy but even the newer 68's (I assume you meant those than the 66's which apart from the Belmond or rescue don't do passenger work) are inefficient, have no redundancy (or have the huge cost of a second 68) and for the same size of train you lose a carriage's worth of capacity for the loco itself. Plus it's a waste of a 68 for such a small consist given their power and the fact they're limited as no more can be purchased due to changes in emissions regulations.