Cost of Living Crisis

[mangocrazy]

The state.

To be fair, trains are/should be a big part of the government's climate change targets. They're hugely more efficient and cleaner that nearly all other popular forms of (powered) transport and for that reason alone I'm not averse to funding them.

Second to taxis they are the most expensive way of travelling I know of, it's about time they were modernised but the unions don't want anything that will reduce their subscriptions.
They are also painfully slow, crowded and unreliable.

Why is it always the unions that are the butt of all the complaints about the railways? All they do is try and keep the bloody things running. The problem lies with the people tasked to manage the railways and (not coincidentally) the short-sighted decision to privatise the railways. You know, the ones paying themselves eye-watering salaries and bonuses for presiding over decay. That and the dividends that these privatised companies pay to shareholders. The management level seemingly have no interest in trying to make railways more attractive and relevant to the general public, all they're concerned about are their bloated salaries.

As an example, on the (admittedly infrequent) occasions I visit the NEC for the Bike show, I always, always use the train. It is just so superior to any other means of travelling to the show that there is no competition. I don't have to deal with the traffic in and around the NEC, don't have to pay parking fees and (if I unaccountably chose to use the bike) I don't have to endure November weather and walking around all day in bike gear.

[Mr. Dazzle]

This is the daft thing right?

Trains use way less fuel than cars, per passenger mile. They run on a highly controlled network with rigorous traffic planning (they kinda have to, there's no steering wheel). They can travel safely at speeds much quicker than cars. They go right into the town centre and don't need to park.

So why are they expensive and shit?

[weeksy]

So why are they expensive and shit?

Because the station isn't outside my front door.

[v8-powered]

So why are they expensive and shit?

Because shiny new trains that passengers demand are expensive to buy - the last new fleet that I managed the acceptance of cost just under £1bn and they weren't exactly from an expensive manufacturer. Someone somewhere has to fund this as the government doesn't.

[Mr. Dazzle]

So why are they expensive and shit?

Because shiny new trains that passengers demand are expensive to buy - the last new fleet that I managed the acceptance of cost just under £1bn and they weren't exactly from an expensive manufacturer. Someone somewhere has to fund this as the government doesn't.

Yeah it ain't cheap - but then just in this country people buy nearly 2 million brand new cars every year. I dunno the combined value of that, but it's a shit load more than £1bn! In one year.

[Mussels]

I'm not bothered about shiny new trains, they tend to be worse than the old stock they replace.
If I take the train to see my father in law it costs £25 off-peak and is a horrid 5 hour round trip, in the car it's £15 in diesel and a comfortable 2 hour round trip. The car is much more reliable as well.

[irie]

I don't necessarily think they're overpaid. I just think they need to STFU about it being unfair a bit...their pay is good AND increases faster than most people's.

And according to the below has since "privatisation" comfortably outstripped inflation.

Rail worker weekly pay averaged £398 in April 1997, shortly after British Rail was dismantled, according to Oxford Economics.

This has risen to £940.50 by April 2022, according to research by the forecaster. Had wages risen in line with inflation over the same period, workers would be receiving £681.77 – some 28pc less.

[Count Steer]

This is the daft thing right?

Trains use way less fuel than cars, per passenger mile. They run on a highly controlled network with rigorous traffic planning (they kinda have to, there's no steering wheel). They can travel safely at speeds much quicker than cars. They go right into the town centre and don't need to park.

So why are they expensive and shit?

They don't have to be rubbish. At my last house we were walking distance from the station, stroll down the hill, hop on a train, get a seat, get off in London. Used to use it v frequently. Cancellations got to be a problem and the service went down the pan. Eventually they knuckled down and sorted it, new rolling stock and everything.

If I wanted to go to a different London station I had to change at the next station or at Croydon. Some of the trains that came in on the other lines Packed like sardines in carriages that looked like they'd been around since the war. Absolutely dire.

Get the service right and demand follows. They reopened a chunk of a line that Beeching close in Notts (Robin Hood Line) Worksop to Nottingham. Pre-pandemic it was getting 1.4 million passengers pa. They cut some evening services and reduced stops at quiet stations for economic reason but it's still a (Ironically they could open it up again pretty easily as the line was still used by coal trains from the, now gone, local collieries).

Now I have a choice of stations if I want to get to London but have to drive to get there and parking is a bit rubbish (and expensive). Still use them if I do want to go though.

I used Eurostar weekly for a while. Drive to Ashford, park up and hop on the train. They more or less closed Ashford and now it would be a real pain to use the service...easier to drive and use Eurotunnel and drive on the other side.

Like I say, get the service right and the passengers will use it but the government seem to be determined to wind rail down, apart from InterCity and commuter services in the SE....and still build HS2.

[Horse]

Is there a union for dog walkers ... ?

If you stage a walkout, take the dog with you.

[Skub]

I have free travel on buses and trains and I still don't use them. Paying for them would be doubly horrible.

[demographic]

Plus like I said before, Barristers are really good at arguing already

Shall we mention that Rail Worker's pay increases have actually outstripped the UK average for the last 10 years?

Train drivers get £60k a year nearly ??? WTF.. That's bloody good isn't it ?

Isn't the train drivers union ASLEV, ASLEF? Something like that anyway.

The government ministers seem to be trying to conflate train drivers wages with the RMT unions workers which is as far as I know, more like guards, ticket workers and so on who are more like on 20 grand or so.

[mangocrazy]

Isn't the train drivers union ASLEV, ASLEF? Something like that anyway.

The government ministers seem to be trying to conflate train drivers wages with the RMT unions workers which is as far as I know, more like guards, ticket workers and so on who are more like on 20 grand or so.

Exactly. Construct a straw man as the fall guy, then set fire to it. But the truth is that most people fall for the deception.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Train Drivers have been on strike too remember, albeit not right now.

The article that info graphic came from also talks about who's represented by which Union and so on. Even on the lower estimates railworkers are slightly better of that the average UK person. The unions also seem much more vague and unwilling to publish their calculations.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/61840077

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Is anyone on here actually affected by a rail strike?
It would be a 4 mile walk (or taxi ride) and a 20 minute train journey for me to get to work, or I can do the 15 minute drive I'm doing now, ironic when we've got 3 rail freight terminals at work.

[weeksy]

Is anyone on here actually affected by a rail strike?
It would be a 4 mile walk (or taxi ride) and a 20 minute train journey for me to get to work, or I can do the 15 minute drive I'm doing now, ironic when we've got 3 rail freight terminals at work.

Mrs Weeksy had to pick me up from the pub.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Is anyone on here actually affected by a rail strike?
It would be a 4 mile walk (or taxi ride) and a 20 minute train journey for me to get to work, or I can do the 15 minute drive I'm doing now, ironic when we've got 3 rail freight terminals at work.

Mrs Weeksy had to pick me up from the pub.

There's a pub about 200 yds from my house, I've not been in it since we lived here, I'm not sure if I've ever been in it, if I have it was in about 1984.

[v8-powered]

Is anyone on here actually affected by a rail strike?

Yep, commute to London so means I have to WFH. No big deal
...

[DefTrap]

Is anyone on here actually affected by a rail strike?

My (grown adult) kids rely on public transport primarily (they live in and around cities). Normally this isn't so much of a problem if schedules are interrupted, plans can be rearranged - but there are some trips that are an effing ballache to rearrange, and when the strikers collude to take advantage of the impact of striking during peak, or at least newsworthy, usage then it stings a bit.

That's not to say I don't support (most of) the strikers. Solidarity brothers (and sisters!), etc.

[Count Steer]

Is anyone on here actually affected by a rail strike?
It would be a 4 mile walk (or taxi ride) and a 20 minute train journey for me to get to work, or I can do the 15 minute drive I'm doing now, ironic when we've got 3 rail freight terminals at work.

Mrs Weeksy had to pick me up from the pub.

There's a pub about 200 yds from my house, I've not been in it since we lived here, I'm not sure if I've ever been in it, if I have it was in about 1984.

*rummages in the medal box*

My Mrs used to have to pick me up from the pub. She was very pleased when she got a car.

[weeksy]

Is anyone on here actually affected by a rail strike?
It would be a 4 mile walk (or taxi ride) and a 20 minute train journey for me to get to work, or I can do the 15 minute drive I'm doing now, ironic when we've got 3 rail freight terminals at work.

Mrs Weeksy had to pick me up from the pub.

There's a pub about 200 yds from my house, I've not been in it since we lived here, I'm not sure if I've ever been in it, if I have it was in about 1984.

There's one closer to me, however dragging 30 work colleagues here wasn't happening