Today was the first day back at work after a nice 2 week break, I knew the price of the train was going up by 6%, but even though my fare has gone up by 20 pence, it has got me thinking, over the 8 years I have been using the trains, the ticket price for the routes I have used have increased by a maximum of around 40% (over this 8 year period), however I can't say I have seen a direct correlation between the cost increase and the level of service that we the customer pay. (perhaps it's just on the lines that I use. (also I know the cost of fuel has increased as well, so I wouldn't expect to see a 40% improvement) The Station is staffed with incompetent staff that can't seem to use the ticketing machine in front of them efficiently, There is still a huge lack of information when trains get delayed and/or cancelled. The cleanliness of the trains hasn't improved, occasionally the heating within the older carriages is knackered and its just as cold inside as it is outside during winter and the number of carriages and services hasn't increased. For any of you that use the trains have you seen an improved experience/service?
I'm really annoyed by the Train fare rise. I use Merseyrail to get home from University (It's a 10 minute train ride, 1 stop in between mine and the one at University). As I only go back some weekends I have to get a single ticket. Merseyrail is the most incompetent train service I've ever used. They will cancel a full train at the next stop if it will screw with their statistics so they don't have to refund season ticket holders because they're on the borderline of the threshold for a refund. That means (And yes this happens at peak times) A full train will get off, then try and join onto the next train which is already full, causing danger to save some money. Now the bit that annoys me. A single ticket has gone from £3, to £3.40. A 40p rise for a 10 minute train ride (Or approx 12%), yet the return journey has gone up 15p from £3.75 to £3.90 Meaning the difference between a single and return has gone from 75p to 50p. Why do us guys who choose to get Single tickets get ripped off so much?
As a non-train user i can't really comment on the far rises [though prices going up is rarely a good thing regardless]... but whenever i have had to use the train for anything i've always been frustated by how little sense/logic there can be to the fares... and whenever i had to get the train to/from uni unless i booked *way* in advance it was often cheaper to get my dad to drive down and pick me up [and take me back again]
I often get the train from Horsham to London. The fare changes practically everytime I go! There is no logic to it at all. Service wise - I think they do a pretty good job.
Last time I used the trains to get to London mine and my friends tickets stopped working completely after getting through fine once. Forced us to have to jump barriers to top up the oyster. and even then we ended up £1.40 in the red after paying way more then we we're told what we needed.
Ok, I don't work for any of the Rail Services in the UK, but i know a fair amount to do with trains, so i hope to give a fair argument as to why things have gone up. The Rail Operators, or TOC's (Train Operating Company) for short, Don't always own the rolling stock you use. Alot of the stock is owned by them, but how do you think they bought them in the first place? The Government pays for most of the stock, but the TOC's then have to pay that back. Secondly, TOC's down own any part of the Railway, only stations and station buildings, as well as maintenance depots, but the actual railways are Network Rail, This means if there's a problem with Signals or Points, it's Network Rail to sort out, not the TOC, however they do have a responsibility to look after the passengers. Thirdly, Fuel has gone up in Price. Alot of trains in the UK are Diesel's (For Example, First Great Western's entire fleet is Diesel i believe) So again, the TOC's have to pay more. Now, there are 'some' benefits to the price increases, and while these are local to me, it does show improvements are being made. First Great Western are increasing the amount of Coaches in their HST trains by a single coach, Not much, but it is a start. This will increase capacity between London and Reading. South West Trains are refurnishing and breaking down the 'Gatwick Express' trains. The spare coaches will be added to other existing trains. 4 Car trains will become 5 car. Services out of London Waterloo to Ascot (To be completed by 2013) Southern. Have already increased capacity on trains running between London and Brighton. Ex London Overground stock now operate local services, and the trains that used to do that, are now on London - Brighton routes. Gatwick Express services have also been extended to run to Brighton at Peak times. South Eastern. New services out of St Pancras to Kent on HS1. The Future? Well it's clear 'More' needs to be done, We need more trains, and more coaches on existing trains, and tbh, we need HS2, and a HS3, and a HS4. Unfortunately, It's going to get worse, before things improve. Sam
Generally speaking I would advice not talking to the staff if you have a ticket/oyster issue. At bromley south they will just do you fine on the spot for not having the ticket because "if they weren't there you would have jumped the barrier". My fare has gone up by 120 from 1870 to 1990 or there abouts. I managed to get my ticket just before the hike fortunatly, but that does mean I'm hideously into my overdraft. Overall I think the trains are fairly priced in London, especially for off peak 1-6 travel cards with a young persons rail card. The inter city trains tend not so good. My main issue is how willing they are to just fine you at every opportunity. If you forget your young persons rail card they simply fine you instead of checking your name on a database. How does that make sense? But yes I do think that some train staff are incompetent ******s who take great pride in fining everyone they can, and as with every profession it only takes a few ******s to ruin it for all of them (see the police force).
I commute from Zone 4 to central London and I don't mind the price rise, the trains are great and I always get a seat
Part of the problem with the railways is the systems were designed long before the world got so interconnected, you say they should be able to check on a database I've had customers say the same when they've lost tickets. Not so long ago there was no way of checking a live database even now huge parts of the network don't even have a voice connection never mind a 3g data connection. So every thing has to be hard copy and if you forget something, tough, if you turned up at Heathrow with out your passport what are the odds of them letting you fly? Things are much better now than when I worked for Virgin if nothing else the fare structures are much simpler.
It depends on the guy your dealing with in the end. On that same journey my oyster just stopped working on the final gates (went into minus £1.40) too open to jump it so just flashed the oyster to guard and he buzzed me through. But I know I've been stopped with a legit ticket a few times and they've basically given me a bucket load of crap.
The Portsmouth to London line has to be one of the biggest jokes. For a 90 minute commute at the very fastest, South West Trains still insist on using carriages designed for light suburban railways for this long distance countryside route. The seats are thinner and more numerous, but to the point where one slightly overweight man will mean no-one can sit next to him in a reasonable way for anything more than a few minutes. Thus, people stand as it is more comfortable. South West Trains argue the reason behind it is to provide more seating (ignoring that they have enough rolling stock of long distance trains to service the line), but the effect is counter-intuitive as more people stand. A peak return travelcard from Petersfield to Waterloo is £51 if you rock up on the morning and buy it. £51 pounds to sit on a train that you cannot sit on for an hour each way and then use the underground. Remove the travelcard, and it's still over £40. How on earth is that VFM? To make it worse, these trains are normally utterly filthy, like really quite disgusting. Sadly, I fail to see how this will be solved. Many people rely on trains and as long as that continues, the population will deal with the price rises and the poorer service. As Sam says, it will get worse before it gets better.
Because the ticket doesn't work? I've paid £16 for a day ticket and people who paid £5 got through easier then me. I think my local station is sabotaging my tickets tbh lol.
If you show them a valid ticket and explain that it is not working, why would they give you a bucket load of crap? I know there are a few less helpful people working in the underground, but this makes no sense to me.
It's an honest question I ask myself everytime I get grief for no reason. There are just a lot of ignorant people in this world
Again I can't comment for train but up here on the Metro, they barely give you a chance to find your ticket before they [try to] slap the £20 no ticket fine on you.
