Train Fares Going Up Again

[johnny on the spot]

Pieblue with the facts, good man.

 

[Zubrman]

Pieblue with the facts, good man.

Absolutely spot on!

As a train driver for thirteen years of this stupid system, I have had to write reports for every delay my train was involved in, so that the correct department of the correct company can be billed.

If a passenger holds the doors open on my train, my company's Revenue Department gets the penalty.

If something went wrong on the train, like a door got stuck, my company's engineering department gets the penalty.

If the signaller had gone to sleep or nipped to the bog and had not cleared my signal to proceed in time and I had to stop, Railtrack gets the blame.

All this 'Delay Attribution' costs millions to administer as well, with countless people employed by all rail companies to try and avoid paying fines for the late arrival of trains!

 

[ElanJo]

agree but getting the right management and the right type of unions is the key, my old man worked for GMB and then stagecoach and he admits that he preferred it under GMB because he didnt have to work as hard or as effectively

can a nationalised company be run with a private companies ethos? i'm not so sure

I dont think a public transport system has to be run like a private company, it has to be run for the good of all the people and not for profit. I believe if the ethos of the management was right and they were doing it to those terms the Unions would be on board as it would also suit there ends as in no cost cutting in the strive for profits therefore jobs are safer.

I just dont see why the public purse should be used to pay dividends and bonuses when that money could be used to lower fares.

How do you expect to get a good efficient ethos when those involved are spending other people's money (money which is guaranteed by the government) on themselves and others?



The train service in this country is flawed. It is not private, at least it is just as public as it is private.
Costs being dispersed through the taxpaying public and profits being concentrated into private hands is the worst of both worlds. They should go fully one way or the other.

 

[talkativesprout]

What used to piss me off is the full charge at rush hours for sardine tins on wheels, yet travel later when seats are plentiful, reduced prices. As a start up business model the dragons would spit on you.

"Charge more for standing with my head in some smelly fuckers armpit for a necessary journey, whilst fun riders get half price"

For that reason..I'm Owt