An Attempt to Justify the Unjustifiable 29.11.07

The rail industry hit the headlines again today for all the wrong reasons. The latest fare increases were announced, and as expected they have increased significantly more than the rate of inflation. Some fares are capped by the government and they will rise by inflation plus 1% but the rest will increase by anything up to 11%. It seemed that every time I turned on the radio or TV a different selection of railway bods were squirming and stuttering in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable! I know the Prime Minister has been doing a whole lot of squirming for different reasons this week, but I think somebody ought to be asking him some probing questions about this too because it has his government's mucky fingerprints all over it. The government wants more trains, more carriages and more people to travel by public transport, great, but what are they doing about it? They are promising a 7% increase in the number of trains, but there is a 40% increase in the number of passengers! If they really believe all the stuff they spout about sustainable public transport and the need to reduce our impact on the environment then they really must put their money where their mouth is! Correction, I mean our money, tax payers money (they just like to pretend it is their money!). To have a coherent public transport system they have to bite the bullet and tax motorists, airlines etc and invest in the railways and in bus services.

I know it is hard for the government to understand, but you can't change things by just talking about it, they actually have to do something to bring about change. I am just an ordinary person and I don't know anything about the railways, but I know when I am being conned and the present situation is little short of exploitation. Many commuters have no choice about the train service they use to get to work and some have no viable option except rail transport, but they are still customers and they are entitled to expect a basic level of service which includes decent station facilities, accurate information, punctuality and a seat! I was amazed to discover that there is usually no penalty for trains being overcrowded and this is not included in the performance criteria of the train operating companies. It is ridiculous to expect rail passengers to pay extortionate fares, because many can and do vote with their feet. I enjoy visiting family in Devon and Cornwall and it is nice to travel by train rather than taking the car but the snag is that once we get there the public transport connections are almost non existent and the return rail fare would cost £548 for me, Robbie, Emily, Laura and Sam! If I drive I add a few miles to the car and I can get up to 7 people there and back on a tank of diesel (about £65). Until this ridiculous situation changes people like me will not use the railways!

A Load of Bull 27.02.07

I work in Rugby and on Monday this week our mind numbingly boring training course about finance software was disturbed by the distinctive sound of the police helicopter. It sounded as if it was hovering over our building and I secretly wished they were coming to arrest our uninspiring course leader for mental cruelty. The truth proved even more bizarre. A bull had broken free from the cattle market and it was loose in the street not far from our offices. A man was badly injured as it escaped and he had to be airlifted to hospital. The bull decided it was time to leave town and it headed for the station. Apparently it got as far as a platform before deciding that it didn't like what it found and heading back to the relative sanity of the cattle market. Perhaps he was put off by the exorbitant cost of rail travel!