Trains

[Durzel]

Can someone explain to me what possible incentive there is to use a train as opposed to a car?

I was due to go up to Leeds shortly to see a friend, and had contemplated getting the train this time around instead (4 hour journey, 250+ miles, tank of petrol each way). I had expected the train to be cheaper than travelling by car, but... get this... a return ticket from Westbury to Leeds is:

£73

73 fucking quid. It would cost less than that in petrol!

:wall: :wall: :wall:

 

[leggy]

You can go to sleep in a train.

 

[Gef]

Aye our train service is royally fucked, its cheaper to get a friggin plane!

Problem is not enough people use the trains any more, mainly because they are too expensive.. So they put the prices up to maintain running costs.

Go figure!

 

[kanonfodda]

Railway prices are far too steep for the service they offer.

If you ask a rail operator, it will be

"To facilitate upgrades in rollingstock and service"

when it is really just lining the pockets of the share holders.

Privatising the railways was a bloody stoopid idea.

 

[Sir Frizz]

*Spunk on Maggy*

 

[mank!]

You looked at coach prices Durz? They're cheaper but generally take longer. £10 return from Oxford to London.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by kanonfodda
Railway prices are far too steep for the service they offer.

If you ask a rail operator, it will be

"To facilitate upgrades in rollingstock and service"

when it is really just lining the pockets of the share holders.

Privatising the railways was a bloody stoopid idea.

Show me a shareholder who is happy with the return on the investement they made. The real cost of running a new car is about 60p per mile, which makes the train cheaper. If you book in advance, its cheaper still. The last time I got the train to London, I felt refreshed, stress-free, and full of food. You don't ever get that in a car from Manchester.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

I go up to scotland quite alot and when first few times we looked at train which not only took a shit load longer but also cost about twice if not more.

For the long distance domestic (No idea) take a plane.

 

[Durzel]

Originally posted by Tom[SHOTTEH]
Show me a shareholder who is happy with the return on the investement they made. The real cost of running a new car is about 60p per mile, which makes the train cheaper. If you book in advance, its cheaper still. The last time I got the train to London, I felt refreshed, stress-free, and full of food. You don't ever get that in a car from Manchester.

How much in advance are we talking? I'm already trying to book 2 weeks in advance - is that not enough?

You're missing the bigger picture really - you don't always get 2 weeks notice of needing to travel up to see someone. I appreciate your point about 60p a mile - but with a car you can stop for refreshments whenever you like, leave whenever you like, carry as much baggage as you like, etc. Driving a car is considerably more convenient, and you should rightfully pay a premium for it.

If people are seriously going to use public transport as an alternative to this, it should at least be cheaper for people who aren't in a position to book 12 years in advance.

 

[bodhi]

How come trains are full of poor people then?

 

[dysfunction]

Originally posted by bodhi
How come trains are full of poor people then?

Cos they take the train?

 

[WPKenny]

Speaking as a commuter who gets on Connex trains up the kent coast 5 days a week for the past 2.5 years I have to say the trains are royally fucked.

In the last two weeks I've had delays getting home of 2 hours and 1 hours respectively. A 70-odd mile journey took 4 hours!!!

For the casual person it MAY be more pleasant/cheaper taking a train but for a commuter both are as bad as each other.

To bring a car to my office now would cost me petrol (10 quid?), + congestion charge (£5) + all day parking (£12). Roughly £27 a day.

My train ticket costs me 254 quid a month (that's with a 5% discount for renewing each month). Which works out at around £12.54 a day (for the days I actually use it).

So the train IS a lot cheaper than using a car. As for whether one is quicker than the other, I don't know cos I've only ever driven to the office on the weekends when it takes about 1h 30m door to door.

My journey to work by train, door to door, takes just under 2h 30 mins. That's on a good day if the trains are running on time. On a bad day it can be up to and over 3 hours.

So it's a case of weighing up the pros and cons of each.

Driving is more comfortable. At least I'm sure of a seat in my own car. I can listen to whatever music I like and as loud as I like. But I pay more than double what it costs me on the train. As I said, I don't know how long the car journey would be during the week.

On the train I get to pay over 3 grand a year to sit on a train that was built in the 1600's with midget beanpole passengers in mind. The doors are draughty. I don't really know how to emphasise this. Sometimes there can be gales blowing through the edges of the doors. Things rattle and shake. You're stuck on a "bench" with markings for 3 people despite the fact it will only comfortably sit 2. Inevitabley some fat cunt comes along and decides he'd rather sit, pinned in between two others than stand for the next couple of hours. So depending on which end of this bench you're sitting on, you either get pinned up against the wall of the train with a draft blowing up your trousers making the whole side of your body numb, which is just as well seeing as the surrounding on the door is made from razor blades designed to slowly slice your leg off above the knee. If you're sitting at the other end of the bench you get thrust out at an awkward angle into the aisle where, when your back's not killing you from bending over so far at an odd angle, you're getting twatted by desperate commuters scouring the train for seats as they edge down the 2 inch wide gap between the seats. Of course it's no fun for the person in the middle either who's pinned between these two pissed off people, both glaring at them for causing so much discomfort.

Oh god. I could go on for hours about the heating, or lack of it, or excess of it. I could go on about inconsiderate passengers, twatty guards, lack of information, lack of seats on the newer trains, how uncomfortable the seats are etc etc etc.

Despite the fact I work in London, in The City, 3 grand a year to spend on travel is a stretch to pay. So driving a car to work is simply out of the question. To make matters worse they're taking the "caps" of ticket prices so it looks like fairs are set to rise even higher for this level of "service".

Rant rant rant.

Trains. Don't get me started...you've just seen the tip of the iceberg of what I COULD go on about.

 

[Durzel]

Originally posted by dysfunction
Cos they take the train?

 

[Tom]

What you're now paying for is years of low public spending, low taxes, and a fucking massive navy fleet that we don't need.

Long live the Empire (as some in government thought in the 50's)

 

[Deadmanwalking]

The navy is at fualt fpr the trains?!!


hmmm all along i thought it was the fat amounts of cash they pay ppl who cause crashes. Ohh they also run schools now \o/

Were all fucked

 

[hoggsboss]

dont know your specific travel arrangements but i managed to find an apex return for £47.50.

if you haven't already have a look at trainline

and play about with different train departure times until you find cheaper fares.

 

[Nozzer]

Trains more expensive than petrol for the R33? (Or did you get rid of that...)

Yes, trains are expensive and need a good kick up the arse. Where's Stelios to offer us 20p train journeys?

 

[Testin da Cable]

Originally posted by WPKenny
<RANT>

I hear you there dude. I did trains to Amsterdam for over four years and at the end it royally sucked. once took over seven hours to get home on a 1,5 hour trip

 

[old.D0LLySh33p]

Trains...

Normally don't have any problem with them - and for 5 years I had to use the Victoria line for 13 miles to go to school...

However... it did take me 8 hours once to get from Charing Cross to Canterbury after playing a badminton match for my university in London.

That was exceedingly f*cked up

 

[WPKenny]

Originally posted by old.D0LLySh33p
Trains...

Normally don't have any problem with them - and for 5 years I had to use the Victoria line for 13 miles to go to school...

However... it did take me 8 hours once to get from Charing Cross to Canterbury after playing a badminton match for my university in London.

That was exceedingly f*cked up

I live in Cant. Imagine that journey you jsut describe...but doing it twice a day, 5 days a week.

 

[(Shovel)]

MY experience of trains isn't so bad...

Manchester to London (Virgin) is actually pretty reliable. It's the other Virgin services that get the bad name. I've only ever had a small number of delays, and certainly no cancellations.

The other line I use is Cambridge to Liverpool St. Which again, tends to be fine. I had to use it to get home from 6th form last year, about a 5 mile journey, which was usually fine.
The only really bad experience was when they ran 30 minutes late, and then to make up decided not to stop in my Village.

I have no doubt though, that some of the services in this country are buggered.

 

[Durzel]

Originally posted by hoggsboss
dont know your specific travel arrangements but i managed to find an apex return for £47.50.

if you haven't already have a look at trainline

and play about with different train departure times until you find cheaper fares.

Will do, thanks. Spoke to Virgin earlier and they said all the Apex Return tickets were sold out, and I'd have to pay £73. Hence the

Originally posted by Nozzer
Trains more expensive than petrol for the R33? (Or did you get rid of that...)

Sold it. Got a Civic Type-R now. More economical, but it'll still need 2 tanks there and back. R33 would've been 3 1/2

 

[Nozzer]

Originally posted by Durzel
Sold it.

Got a Civic Type-R now.

 

[Durzel]

One bit of Jap crap to another

Just checked trainline.com - only Apex Return I can see is for £57, leaving at 4am with 190 stops, and returning at 11pm with 257 stops. In other words, its wank.

Trains suck.

 

[xane]

Originally posted by WPKenny
<rant>

Thanks Kenny, there are often times I need reminding why I moved into East London so I could cycle in everyday

 

[Daffeh]

yikes all i have to pay is £155 / 3 months for all the trains and buses i want around the West Midlands

bargin

 

[mr.Blacky]

Originally posted by Testin da Cable
I hear you there dude. I did trains to Amsterdam for over four years and at the end it royally sucked. once took over seven hours to get home on a 1,5 hour trip

Well be glad Noord Holland has the oldest trains and the longest wait (ok it was a few years back that I heard that).

 

[PR.]

I wanted a train from Bedford to Cardiff it was going to cost me £50 return and the journey would take up to 4hrs each way.

 

[SilverHood]

Heh, try using South West trains... never have I seen worse, in all my life.

70% delayed or cancelled.

Takes me 50 mins to walk home from college.
Takes me 1 hour to get the train home from college on a good day


And yes, train costs are bloomin silly.

Had to pay a fortune to go from Cornwall to Guildford :/
Don't even get student discounts these days

 

[WPKenny]

Originally posted by xane
Thanks Kenny, there are often times I need reminding why I moved into East London so I could cycle in everyday

Tis a pleasure. I needed to vent a littel anyway. heh.