Page 5 • Why do we have (likely) the most expensive train service in the world? • Non-Gaming • General Non-gaming • Eurogamer.net

Deleted user 30 January 2012 16:59:22

darkmorgado wrote:

Youthist wrote:
I have done quite a bit of consultancy work with NWR in my time (not for a few years though).

I can confirm it is full of rooms upon rooms of contractors wandering around doing no-one is sure what, and they all mainly take friday's off.
That sounds pretty much like what they were discussing on Panorama. Another thing was that they over-quote on projects by millions. They had one town on (can't remember where it was), where they had been quoted something stupid like Ł35 million for a new rail station. In the end they built it themselves for less than half that.

Station looked really nice too, and they had people on the platforms to give assistance and everything.

Then I look at stations like Northampton, which is a massive fucking shithole (much like the rest of the town though, tbf) run by Network Rail.

NR are just a part of the problem. The rail companies suck up fat government subsidies too, with part of that going to the rolling stock companies so they can enjoy a good trough of taxpayer feed. I'm pretty sure I've read that total government (i.e. taxpayer) subsidy of all companies involved in providing rail service is double what the cost of British Rail was, allowing for inflation. Rail fares for popular journeys have far exceeded inflation over the years. So, hurrah for the benefits of privatisation.

Bear in mind that NR is what's left of Railtrack. They've got better since then.

Edited by Bremenacht at 17:04:05 30-01-2012

David_Richardson 14 Aug 2018 21:33:19 1,332 posts
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Everybody ready for their yearly ticket to go up by 3.5% tomorrow? One of my favourite times of the year. \0/

THFourteen 15 Aug 2018 06:23:03 54,987 posts
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Given I work from home 1 day a week, have 30+ days annual leave, walk from Waterloo on the odd occasion, and end up not going to the office on the odd day for whatever reason it actually works out cheaper for me to just get a daily thesedays for Ł11.60.

JamboWayOh 15 Aug 2018 08:09:37 25,236 posts
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THFourteen wrote:
Given I work from home 1 day a week, have 30+ days annual leave, walk from Waterloo on the odd occasion, and end up not going to the office on the odd day for whatever reason it actually works out cheaper for me to just get a daily thesedays for Ł11.60.

Stealth I'm alright Jack post.

challenge_hanukkah 15 Aug 2018 08:15:00 14,394 posts
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I love the "everyone lives in London" -ness of the post.

Deleted user 15 August 2018 08:18:54

My daily ticket would be Ł54. My season ticket is over Ł5.5k without any underground or parking (I'm forced to drive to the closest free parking to the station, which is 15 mins walk away, because of the cost. Good for exercise but not for my total commute time each day). All for a journey that takes 1hr on the trains.

Total. Rip. Off. But they know you can't do much else but pay it.

THFourteen 15 Aug 2018 09:08:17 54,987 posts
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JamboWayOh wrote:

THFourteen wrote:
Given I work from home 1 day a week, have 30+ days annual leave, walk from Waterloo on the odd occasion, and end up not going to the office on the odd day for whatever reason it actually works out cheaper for me to just get a daily thesedays for Ł11.60.
Stealth I'm alright Jack post.

Stealth?

THFourteen 15 Aug 2018 09:08:52 54,987 posts
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challenge_hanukkah wrote:
I love the "everyone lives in London" -ness of the post.

Do they even have trains in other parts of the country?

senso-ji 15 Aug 2018 09:12:47 10,271 posts
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No, we still use a horse and cart up north.

challenge_hanukkah 15 Aug 2018 09:24:00 14,394 posts
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I'd walk if I could afford legs.

Armoured_Bear 15 Aug 2018 09:26:52 31,233 posts
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kentmonkey wrote:
My daily ticket would be Ł54. My season ticket is over Ł5.5k without any underground or parking (I'm forced to drive to the closest free parking to the station, which is 15 mins walk away, because of the cost. Good for exercise but not for my total commute time each day). All for a journey that takes 1hr on the trains.

Total. Rip. Off. But they know you can't do much else but pay it.

The fuck?
You can get a season ticket for the whole of Switzerland for less than half that!

Deleted user 15 August 2018 09:58:27

Armoured_Bear wrote:

kentmonkey wrote:
My daily ticket would be Ł54. My season ticket is over Ł5.5k without any underground or parking (I'm forced to drive to the closest free parking to the station, which is 15 mins walk away, because of the cost. Good for exercise but not for my total commute time each day). All for a journey that takes 1hr on the trains.

Total. Rip. Off. But they know you can't do much else but pay it.
The fuck?
You can get a season ticket for the whole of Switzerland for less than half that!

Most days in the summer the air con doesn't work
A lot of days have reduced carriages
Almost every day it is late
Again on a lot of days one of the two toilets isn't working
Not that the above really matters because nobody could get to the toilet anyway, as people are crammed on in inhumane conditions, and can't move. People (rightfully) protest about how cattle are transported, but seemingly it's fine for humans to be packed in literally skin to skin*, for close to an hour, with no opening Windows and very little air circulation.

*Not as erotic as it sounds.

Edited by kentmonkey at 09:59:01 15-08-2018

Deleted user 15 August 2018 10:07:34

Yeah I was pretty shocked when living in Reading how much the annual ticket into London was. Luckily I worked from home so didn't have to do it. The thought of spending the equivalent of a small second hand car, every year, on an experience that kentmonkey describes is pretty sickening alright. Can see why people do it but yeah fuck that noise.

Armoured_Bear 15 Aug 2018 11:04:28 31,233 posts
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https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/business/mafia-in-awe-of-uk-train-companies-2014082789914

fontgeeksogood 15 Aug 2018 12:42:42 12,913 posts
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I guess the key thing is, people want to go to London. Nobody wants to go to Switzerland (sometimes they have no choice)

RGeefe 15 Aug 2018 15:27:09 2,409 posts
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It is absolutely sodding ridiculous, especially after the timetable fiasco this year. I used to feel great about getting the train to work because of the environmental factors and less stress but I switched to driving because it was about half the price. Take out the walk to and from the station, it's only about 10 minutes longer in the car.

Armoured_Bear 15 Aug 2018 16:10:15 31,233 posts
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fontgeeksogood wrote:
I guess the key thing is, people want to go to London. Nobody wants to go to Switzerland (sometimes they have no choice)

Desperately posting some drivel as an attempt at insult all the time is quite tiring, especially when it doesn’t make any sense.

fontgeeksogood 15 Aug 2018 16:36:15 12,913 posts
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Innit

Tricky 15 Aug 2018 16:44:05 5,088 posts
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Armoured_Bear wrote:

kentmonkey wrote:
My daily ticket would be Ł54. My season ticket is over Ł5.5k without any underground or parking (I'm forced to drive to the closest free parking to the station, which is 15 mins walk away, because of the cost. Good for exercise but not for my total commute time each day). All for a journey that takes 1hr on the trains.

Total. Rip. Off. But they know you can't do much else but pay it.
The fuck?
You can get a season ticket for the whole of Switzerland for less than half that!

Yeah but that would make it just about the only relatively cheap thing in Switzerland :-)

Armoured_Bear 15 Aug 2018 16:48:31 31,233 posts
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Tricky wrote:

Armoured_Bear wrote:

kentmonkey wrote:
My daily ticket would be Ł54. My season ticket is over Ł5.5k without any underground or parking (I'm forced to drive to the closest free parking to the station, which is 15 mins walk away, because of the cost. Good for exercise but not for my total commute time each day). All for a journey that takes 1hr on the trains.

Total. Rip. Off. But they know you can't do much else but pay it.
The fuck?
You can get a season ticket for the whole of Switzerland for less than half that!
Yeah but that would make it just about the only relatively cheap thing in Switzerland

Fair point!

Electronic goods are well priced, that's about it.

Fake_Blood 15 Aug 2018 17:00:48 11,093 posts
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I regularly see gifs/videos on reddit of train rides in la Swisse that look absolutely gobsmacking though. Like train gets out of tunnel and there is this huge mountain with a lake and green hills and a few chalets.

Armoured_Bear 15 Aug 2018 17:16:29 31,233 posts
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Fake_Blood wrote:
I regularly see gifs/videos on reddit of train rides in la Swisse that look absolutely gobsmacking though. Like train gets out of tunnel and there is this huge mountain with a lake and green hills and a few chalets.

Yeah, there's some really nice routes.

Like these two

Load_2.0 15 Aug 2018 17:19:56 33,582 posts
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AKA Dildo's.

anephric 15 Aug 2018 17:23:13 5,274 posts
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Huh. That's nothing compared to going down the GNGE and taking in the bucolic delights of Sleaford and Spalding.

Edited by anephric at 17:23:32 15-08-2018

Deleted user 15 August 2018 17:28:37

Ironically the ridiculous amount we spend on train fares make many of the railways in other countries much better as our railways are owned by foreign interests that pay for their infrastructures.

Yay privatisation and franchises. They are the best.

David_Richardson 15 Aug 2018 18:01:58 1,332 posts
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Only 3.2% in the end. I hope everybody is planning what to do with the saved 0.3%. I know I am. Only an extra Ł111 next year now. Great news!

TheSaint 15 Aug 2018 18:02:03 20,950 posts
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I did the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express a few years back, both were amazing and pretty good value with a Swiss interrail pass. I seem to remember a good one from Montreux to Interlaken as well.

HelloNo 15 Aug 2018 18:09:58 2,283 posts
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@RGeefe Just read up about the timetable fiasco, Jesus Christ. Can't say much good about my job but the 15 min cycle ride to it suddenly seems like a perk.

Why do we have (likely) the most expensive train service in the world? • Page 5