Trains in this country are having a laugh aren't they!!

Anonymous

Man, when Jimmy Saville said "this is the age of the train" in the 70;s (showing my age, others google the british rail ads)......he must have been having a laugh.

Why are they so freking expensive man!!! jesus it's way cheaper to drive.

just looked at gettting the train from Aberdeen to Fort William on 5th September, loads of notice and time and the cheapest according to Trainline.com is near to £90 single!!! wtf!!!

I want the Orient express for that... and the government want's us all to get out of our cars....jesus, having a laugh arn't ya....i'm off the Europe where I can go 1,000 miles for 10p.

What a rip off!

bomberesque

and they'll probably want extra to carry your bike

not like the old days when you just said a cheery hello to the guard and he opened his van door with a smile, a tug of his forelock and a "can I help you with that youngster?", let me tell you. It's all that bloody Maggie thatcher's fault privatising everything like that british rail staff were *so* polite in the old days and the trains were much better value......

[/dementia]
.....hold on no they weren't

you're right, trains have been rubbish, expensive, slow and .... well ... just crap but they've been that way for decades.
[dementia]
I blame that Jimmy Saville myself ... etc etc

welshkev

i know, they want everyone to be more environmentally friendly aswell!!

for me to drive to work, a round trip of about 60 miles, it costs me approx £25 per week. and takes me on average 40 mins each way.

for me to catch the train it takes me about 1hr 15 mins each way and it costs me £37.50 per week just for the train!!!!!!! i live about 4 miles from the nearest train station so i have to get there and i work about a mile from the nearest station the other end!!!!

i know that people say when you drive you have to pay, tax, insurance etc but i'd rather go door to door and stay dry and warm than catch the rip off train and have to walk for ages.

and don't get me started on space for bikes on trains :evil:

Hercule Q

on sunday me and 2 mates were refused onto the train cos we had our bikes ONE OF THE CARRAGES WAS EMPTY! :evil:

Pete-C

thats way too much, it costs me £28 for a return to fort william from glasgow with the bike, something is seriously wrong there

KnightofCydonia

I was up in scotland and had to come home 2 days earlier than planned. Flights were about £140 cos it was within 36 hours notice and so I had to pay £80 to get the train back. It was a long, crappy journey with lots of drunk leeds fans around for a good two hours of it. My flight return inc booking seats and paying to check my bags into the hold only came to £93 return

llamafarmer

I can't stand trains either. The ticket costs a fortune, then you have to factor in travel to and from your home and destination either end. It's cheaper, quicker, more comfortable and more convenient to drive, even on your own.

Thewaylander

trains are no fun over here to be sure.

Rude staff, and if you have a bike woh betide you are second calss and a complete pain in there ass. to be honest i avoid them at all costs, as it is cheaper to drive most places than use the train, or so close in price why would you want to be in a box with crap seats,

welshkev

we've just entered the cycle to work scheme at my work and i though, cool, yeah, i'll get a bike on that that i can use to ride and train into work. i phoned arriva trains and they said that, yes they actively encourage bike users to use their trains. how many bike spaces do you have on each train? i asked. oh 2 came the reply!!!!! TWO on a whole bloody train, and to make things worse you couldn't take a bike at the time of day i wanted to travel.......they were BANNED!!!!!!! :evil:

i've taken my bike a few times at different times though and had to actually force my bike into the bike 'parking' spot while moaning fecks glare at me as i point to the bike sign.... :evil: :evil: :evil:

welshkev

we've just entered the cycle to work scheme at my work and i though, cool, yeah, i'll get a bike on that that i can use to ride and train into work. i phoned arriva trains and they said that, yes they actively encourage bike users to use their trains. how many bike spaces do you have on each train? i asked. oh 2 came the reply!!!!! TWO on a whole bloody train, and to make things worse you couldn't take a bike at the time of day i wanted to travel.......they were BANNED!!!!!!! :evil:

i've taken my bike a few times at different times though and had to actually force my bike into the bike 'parking' spot while moaning fecks glare at me as i point to the bike sign.... :evil: :evil: :evil:

Thewaylander

Sounds about right Kev, its crap

Anonymous

Pete-C wrote:

thats way too much, it costs me £28 for a return to fort william from glasgow with the bike, something is seriously wrong there

totally! it's only from Aberdeen, it's not like its Oslo or something!

llamafarmer

Definitely agree with you there kev, bikes and trains should work really well together - if I worked in Bristol, I could bike down to the train station in Bath, travel to Bristol and then bike on to work, which would be really quick and easy. But in practice you just couldn't do it at 8am because you wouldn't be allowed on the train.

Our train system has needed modernising for ages, but it just keeps getting plasters stuck over gaping wounds.

Jimbob_no5

Don't charge for bikes up in scotland, its about the same for me to get from nairn to fort bill

Anonymous

Jimbob_no5 wrote:

Don't charge for bikes up in scotland, its about the same for me to get from nairn to fort bill

aye that's true, on the smaller local trains....plus i've never been charged on the others, must be different other places.. I am sure you can reserve well in advance...

how much from nairn to bill though?

Porgy

bomberesque wrote:

and they'll probably want extra to carry your bike

not like the old days when you just said a cheery hello to the guard and he opened his van door with a smile, a tug of his forelock and a "can I help you with that youngster?", let me tell you. It's all that bloody Maggie thatcher's fault privatising everything like that british rail staff were *so* polite in the old days and the trains were much better value......

[/dementia]
.....hold on no they weren't

you're right, trains have been rubbish, expensive, slow and .... well ... just crap but they've been that way for decades.
[dementia]
I blame that Jimmy Saville myself ... etc etc

Before Thatcher privatised the Railways we were mid League in Europe, but since privatisation we've slipped into the relegation zone below Italy and Spain!!

I gave up using trains around 1993 / 94 once I realised that I couldn;t afford them (and despite only earning half what I do now I could afford to travel around the country on a weekly basis - now I can afford about one train trip a year - and own a car instead!) and any attempt to get a bike onboard would result in an argument with the staff and on one notable occasion - I was very nearly arrested (Midland Mainline - cocks!! - still owe me the price of a D lock)

supersonic

I just put the journey in national rail page and got quoted 41 quid.

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

I just put the journey in national rail page and got quoted 41 quid.

aye for a journey of 7 hours and one way only, x2 return is at the price quote...go on quote me happy mate

supersonic

Ah right, you said 90 quid single!

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

Ah right, you said 90 quid single!

it was, but if you selected the return it was like a few quid near the 90....which is a rip off still though.. 7 hours, when it takes 3 by car.... you like trains?

supersonic

I think it is just an awkward location lol. Never had any problems myslef, but have always travelled city to city and had great prices.

thekickingmule

There's a petition to get bikes allowed on trains during rush hour here:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/guardcarriage/

Not got many signatures though, so I don't see much happening. There was one not long ago to increase the number of bikes allowed on a train from 2 to 4 (apparently they changed it from 4 to 2 not that long ago). Personally, I think they should have an entire carriage dedicated to bikes, and then I recon you'll get loads of people commuting in on two wheels!

Nick Dastardly

My girlfriend currently lives in Warwick. If she books far enough in advance she can get the train to London, across London on the tube, then out to mine in Essex and back for less than it costs me to get a return to London if I buy on the day.

How does that make sense?

Hercule Q

just looking at fares to go to cannock (forum ride) 23.50 outward journey £66.50 return journey

or for the return ticket is £74.20

how on earth am i supposed to ride with one arm and leg???????

nonnac85

I dont understand why the return tickets where I live are so cheap (kind of).
I'll explain...
The single ticket from Bedford to Luton is around £5.50
The return ticket from Bedford to Luton is around £6 making the return journey effectively 50p?!?!

I found the worst for bikes are Virgin trains atm - I booked a ticket and reserved a bike space from MK to Birmingham and had to wheel my bike upright on its back wheel through the carriage to get off at Brum as "no-one has booked a bike reservation so how did you get it on the train" (response from ticket bod who saw me extracting myself, bike and luggage from the 'wrong' part of the train).
Yet when I have been abroad they can deal with bikes on trains efficiently and sensibly - why cant train companies do that here?

Hercule Q

thats nothing £3.30 return to exeter
£3.20 single to exeter

coming home on the train costs 10p

MacAndCheese

It is rediculous, I saved£ 28 a week for my 9mile commute by riding- I can also do it quicker if you include the walk to the station. As for when I looked at prices for the south-coast to Cannock trip for the forum ride......

Stoo61

Public transport is terrible in this country. The price is extortionate. 20 years ago it was 35p to get into town (3 miles away) from my village. Now its £1.95.

If the government want us to take public transport they need to sort out the prices, flying is almost always cheaper than the train. Driving is about the same as the plane and more convenient as you can go right to the door.

I HATE PUBLIC TRANSPORT.

KnightofCydonia

I was actually impressed in Scotland at how good the edinburgh to glasgow service was, the trains were clean, looked fairly new and well run. The one hour journey from ed to glas was a pleasure, whereas here the Derby to Birmingham route is a filthy, run down affair, and if you want to goto manchester missing out brum, which means derby to stoke then stoke to manc, the derby - stoke trains are ancient and like a fetid slum.

Anonymous

dotn get me started on buses either!!!

my journey to work is only 3 miles, so on foot it take 45mins stroll. by bus it takes 30mins,
by bike it takes me 20mins or so depending what I feel like.

By car it takes 15-20mins depending on the route I take.

Now, it's £1.40 single, or £3 for a day pass on the bus!! which would be 5 x £2.80 = £14.

Car I can put a tenner in and that would last a week... (small car).

Bike, free...unless I get a puncture which would cost me a pack of leeches / 4 or something.

So not only are the buses, loud, stinking and always packed full of people sneazing, coughing and generally terrible diesel inefficient vehicles they charge you stupid amount for a small journey. (to get the bus I want I would have to either take 2 buses or walk a mile to the stop that goes to my work...) needless to say I prefer two wheels, that why we are all here right?

So public transport makes no sense at all!

Scandanavia has it right man for sure.

rant over.

thekickingmule

GmanUK101 wrote:

dotn get me started on buses either!!!

my journey to work is only 3 miles, so on foot it take 45mins stroll. by bus it takes 30mins,
by bike it takes me 20mins or so depending what I feel like.

By car it takes 15-20mins depending on the route I take.

Now, it's £1.40 single, or £3 for a day pass on the bus!! which would be 5 x £2.80 = £14.

Car I can put a tenner in and that would last a week... (small car).

Bike, free...unless I get a puncture which would cost me a pack of leeches / 4 or something.

So not only are the buses, loud, stinking and always packed full of people sneazing, coughing and generally terrible diesel inefficient vehicles they charge you stupid amount for a small journey. (to get the bus I want I would have to either take 2 buses or walk a mile to the stop that goes to my work...) needless to say I prefer two wheels, that why we are all here right?

So public transport makes no sense at all!

Scandanavia has it right man for sure.

rant over.

I caught the bus in today as I'm meeting a friend (who's coming back to mine ) and going out after work. £4 for a day ticket! There is a car park nearer work than the bus stop that charges £4 for the day, and is in a secured space.
To add to the hate of buses, the driver on the one this mornin was a complete bell end. He sarcastically told me how much it was, (obviously not realising that not everybody catches the bus religiously so may not know the price) and then, every time he stopped, it felt like he was doing an emergency stop! Almost gave me whiplash :evil:

I hate public transport too. I can see where it needs improving, I just hope one day the company owners think logically too.