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washerboy
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British rail went out in 1994 .its now network rail .the track belongs to the government and the trains are franchises .thatswhy they charge what they want private enterprise 

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6 hours ago, Swinton said:

British rail went out in 1994 .its now network rail .the track belongs to the government and the trains are franchises .thatswhy they charge what they want private enterprise 

Its also the reason they are able to cut their prices and offer discounted fares, back in the days of BR the prices were fixed - take it or leave it

Edited by Vince Green
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4 hours ago, Swinton said:

British rail went out in 1994 .its now network rail .the track belongs to the government and the trains are franchises .thatswhy they charge what they want private enterprise 

Most ticket prices are still controlled by the Dept for transport.

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20 minutes ago, mr smith said:

Most ticket prices are still controlled by the Dept for transport.

And even if they weren't, having a single operator for a particular geographic area (rather than forcing operators to compete by selling "slots" for particular routes, creating competition) creates a natural monopoly where they can charge what they like. What we need is three or four operators competing on the major routes - ticket prices would soon fall (as would driver salaries and perks, if that sort of thing bothers you).

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The only thing which hasn’t improved since the 1970’s however, is the food. I’m not joking. 

OH and me had a bacon sandwich on a Virgin train down to London last year which was seriously unbelievably bad. Neither of us finished ours, and I find it staggering that whomever came up with that particular item deemed it acceptable. I can only assume they had never tasted one. 

🤢

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20 hours ago, Vince Green said:

You can book a quiet carriage you know? Often its only a few extra pounds for first class and that can be a real game changer.

Where are you? I think you are in the US? Amtrak is good these days

Vince the Newcastle to Carlisle train only ever has 2 carriages, they never put an extra one on the train so a quiet carriage is never going to happen. If a train was cancelled there will be a lot more passengers waiting for the next one. Had it more than once, worst was a missing train resulting in double the passengers on a Newcastle -v - Middlesbrough  at home day (for NBI its a football (soccer) game ))= at least triple the number of passengers. Guess what still only two carriages, we cannot use a different train operator there isn't one on that route. 

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8 minutes ago, Sha Bu Le said:

Vince the Newcastle to Carlisle train only ever has 2 carriages, they never put an extra one on the train so a quiet carriage is never going to happen. If a train was cancelled there will be a lot more passengers waiting for the next one. Had it more than once, worst was a missing train resulting in double the passengers on a Newcastle -v - Middlesbrough  at home day (for NBI its a football (soccer) game ))= at least triple the number of passengers. Guess what still only two carriages, we cannot use a different train operator there isn't one on that route. 

My son uses this train to and from uni’. He’ll be using it tomorrow in fact. It isn’t the best of services, nor is the TransPennine service; heaters on full blast when it’s warm, and no heating when it’s cold! What’s that all about? 

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7 minutes ago, Scully said:

My son uses this train to and from uni’. He’ll be using it tomorrow in fact. It isn’t the best of services, nor is the TransPennine service; heaters on full blast when it’s warm, and no heating when it’s cold! What’s that all about? 

Driver and crew comfort ???

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12 hours ago, Scully said:

The only thing which hasn’t improved since the 1970’s however, is the food. I’m not joking. 

OH and me had a bacon sandwich on a Virgin train down to London last year which was seriously unbelievably bad. Neither of us finished ours, and I find it staggering that whomever came up with that particular item deemed it acceptable. I can only assume they had never tasted one. 

🤢

^^^^^^ this the food is seriously bad. Sad as it may sound if it's a leisure trip I like to take my own packed lunch lol.

I love traveling on the train when I can, nothing better than the view out of the window for as long as i can stay awake. There are also some spectacular routes throughout the UK. The route from Glasgow to Mallaig is worth doing just for the train ride. It's truly world class. In Scotland some short one way trips followed by a cycle or walked return take some beating. I did a trip from Spean Bridge that rates as one of the best ever. 

Getting the best prices is an art and I am sure i pay over the odds for my London Trips looking at the prices posted by Vince and others i will get on the case. 

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I find train travel (and bus for that matter) a pain (quite literally).  Genetics have blessed/cursed me with having much wider than average shoulders so I do not fit in the seats.  Even a half hour journey with the body twisted between upper and lower leaves you in pain for some time.

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19 minutes ago, oowee said:

 

Getting the best prices is an art and I am sure i pay over the odds for my London Trips looking at the prices posted by Vince and others i will get on the case. 

Try split ticketing website. I traveled from Perth to Birmingham recently for less than£30 there, unfortunately I had intended to travel to London but things changed and booked the return at last minute and peak times which was £80 ish train ended up being behind a slower one and I got a full refund. Split ticketing take a% of the money they can save you which is fare enough 😂

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5 hours ago, oowee said:

^^^^^^ this the food is seriously bad. Sad as it may sound if it's a leisure trip I like to take my own packed lunch lol.

I love traveling on the train when I can, nothing better than the view out of the window for as long as i can stay awake. There are also some spectacular routes throughout the UK. The route from Glasgow to Mallaig is worth doing just for the train ride. It's truly world class. In Scotland some short one way trips followed by a cycle or walked return take some beating. I did a trip from Spean Bridge that rates as one of the best ever. 

Getting the best prices is an art and I am sure i pay over the odds for my London Trips looking at the prices posted by Vince and others i will get on the case. 

Not only is the food seriously bad, its also seriously slow getting served. Then trying to carry two hot paper cups along three swaying carriages back to your seat without something bad happening.

I always take a flask of my own coffee and buy a sandwich plus newspaper from W H Smith at Paddington.

If you want to start looking at prices try www.trainline.com

Edited by Vince Green
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2 hours ago, Vince Green said:

Not only is the food seriously bad, its also seriously slow getting served. Then trying to carry two hot paper cups along three swaying carriages back to your seat without something bad happening.

I always take a flask of my own coffee and buy a sandwich plus newspaper from W H Smith at Paddington.

If you want to start looking at prices try www.trainline.com

Is it possible to sign up for notifications without fixing a travel date? I would like first class tickets bristol to paddington do I have to put down all the date options if I do not mind when I go? 

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On 31/03/2019 at 19:40, washerboy said:

What a joke, its 5 years or more since I last travelled on a train.. 

3 cancelled trains and two delays travelling from Preston to Thorne. Makes a long day even longer. My stupid fault for not wanting to drive this weekend 

British Rail ?

I think it's probably more than 5 years since you last caught a train !

Edited by Blackbriar
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