Milliband

[london_red]

Interesting, might just have worked if Beeching hadn't damn the railways to hell.

The problem I see with rail at the moment is a) overpriced and b) overcrowded and c) inconvenient.

So what you need is a cheap and frequent rail service that runs to where you need it. That is just too damned expensive to provide unfortunately. Plus, even if the infrastructure was there would it be profitable?

They seem to make it work in most other countries. Not saying I know what the solution is but they did a comparison recently of the commuting costs in the UK, France, Germany, Italy etc and the differences are frightening. Presumably their rail networks aren't losing money hand over fist?

[jonny72]

They seem to make it work in most other countries. Not saying I know what the solution is but they did a comparison recently of the commuting costs in the UK, France, Germany, Italy etc and the differences are frightening. Presumably their rail networks aren't losing money hand over fist?

Think there is a mixture of reasons for that. A lot is due to higher public subsidies in other countries. Though there is a greater variety of prices here, whilst we have the highest prices we also have the lowest due to the various discounted tickets available. Our services are more frequent as well.

[Batch]

Our services are more frequent as well.

I actually think the service for some lines is good.

But off peak it can be a nightmare. Even even going to a gig in London and trying to make the last train back to Swindon. Not exactly branch line. Though I guess this is more timetable issues than frequency.