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Subject: Exactly


Author:
Dave (UK)
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Date Posted: 16:31:30 12/08/04 Wed
In reply to: Ed Harris (Venezia) 's message, "A British perspective..." on 16:11:02 12/08/04 Wed

When I lived in London, I could get the tube from South Kensington to the city in less than half an hour, and is probably the best transport option. A small town on the Ayrshire coast is not London however, although the public transport is surprisingly good.

I live a ten minute walk away from the train station. The train station is a 20 minute walk from my office. A daily train journey is marginally cheaper than taking the car, but the total commute time is about an hour and a half longer, assuming the trains run on time (quite an assumption). I am quite prepared to pay a small premium to listen to my CDs in my car, than to listen to other people’s mobile phone conversations whilst catching their cold. This is in addition to adding an extra 1.5 hours to my day. Thankfully I work from home a lot, so I can escape the choice.

This Government fails to understand that you cannot force people to use public transport by pricing people off the roads. The people themselves have to choose to use it, and this requires a substantial improvement.

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Replies:
[> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Addendum...


Author:
Dave (UK)
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Date Posted: 16:34:33 12/08/04 Wed

...just read that over, and realised it didn't make any sense.

I meant to say "The destination train station is a 20 minute walk from my office"...

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[> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Substantial improvement? Hah!


Author:
Ed Harris (Venezia)
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Date Posted: 16:48:58 12/08/04 Wed

I read that next year, because the service is getting worse and worse, the train companies are reacting by putting up prices. Smashing. I'll sell my car, then.

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[> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Addendum #2


Author:
Ed Harris (Venezia)
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Date Posted: 17:06:59 12/08/04 Wed

I have just booked my flight ticket back to London for next week when term finishes. Including tax, the return fare in fact comes to much less than the train ticket from London Euston to Shrewsbury.

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[> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: and...


Author:
Dave (UK)
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Date Posted: 21:28:23 12/08/04 Wed

When I fly down to London, I often pay less for the flight than the rail connection from Stansted to Liverpool Street!

Work that one out...

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[> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: This is the age of the train....


Author:
Nick (UK)
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Date Posted: 13:15:27 12/17/04 Fri

Maintaining thousands of miles of ageing track and rural stations is more expensive than maintaining a few subsidised runways and departure lounges and using untaxed aviation fuel, and the more commercial and competitive operations of the low-cost fliers use exremely low advance teaser rates and last-minute deals to keep passenger numbers up, since an empty seat is almost as expensive to get in the air as an occupied one. However in real terms, railways are probably more cost efficient than flight for getting people from A to B, and certainly have a lot more capacity.

I don't know what the answer is. I think we should invest in a modern highspeed backbone, but the truth is that other European countries that have this tend to either price most of the population out of the new services (Spain), or run quite low quality or non-existent local services. Britain has the second largest railway network in Europe, and one of the largest in the world, despite our small size geographically. We have only marginally fewer miles of track then Germany, despite that country's extra 20m souls and significantly larger land area. This is expensive, but it's also a valuable asset that shouldn't be squandered.

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[> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Pricing...


Author:
Roberdin
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Date Posted: 19:40:32 12/08/04 Wed

It won't in a few years when someone realises that they just burnt the last drop of oil, oh wait, I forgot GNER's promise...

"If you find a method of transport more expensive than us, we WILL BEAT IT. Yes! That's right! If you can find a more expensive option than us, we will personally raise the price just for you! Be it a ferrari, private jet, or space craft, we Can do better!"

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