As a pre-emptive strike to combat the current financial crisis, I recently moved out of my flat in London and now commute into the city.
My usually inscrutable calculations indicated to me that the amount of money I would save on rent living outside of London, would be less than my travel costs to work every day. Significantly less, in fact. So imagine my dismay when I woke up a few days ago to the news that train fares were increasing countrywide by above inflation rates of up to 11%.
It is my firm belief that if you are to increase the price of your product or service, then you are obligated by some sort of moral code to consequentially increase the quality of your product or service. Am I right? Unsurprisingly, my experiences with Chiltern Railways tell me otherwise.
The real sting in the tail is the message it sends out to consumers. We’re being charged through the nose to drive, and encouraged to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport. But where’s my motivation? Why does the only viable alternative to driving cost twice what it did ten years ago, back when the 08:36 from High Wycombe to Marylebone was just as reliable and had just as many seats?
Two years ago I had to give up my car as I saw fuel costs increase disproportionately, along with road taxes. I then started to brave the bus for the majority of my journeys. I didn’t much care for the bus, but at least it took me to my destination (albeit slowly) for what seemed a reasonable amount of money at the time. After a few price increases, I was given yet another hard pill to swallow - just over a year ago, some Darwinian nightmares sat around a table in a council office and decided to take my bus route out of service.
Because of all these changes, all of which were beyond my control, I found that my only way around was to walk, cycle, or take the train. I reside happily in a small village approximately 28 miles from the office in which I ply my trade. Unless I want to run or cycle the rough equivalent of 2 marathons a day, it’s probably best I take the train.
The issue here is that the train companies are profit-making companies. Their ultimate goal is to charge as much as possible, whilst spending as little as possible, in order to increase a profit margin. Now I don’t mind paying over the odds for a taxi, because this is a luxury service. A cab will pick me up from my house, and drop me exactly where I want to be dropped. Who knows, I might even get a cheeky bit of banter with the driver. But I am infuriated that I’m paying over the odds for trains.
Overcharging passengers to use basic travel connections is absolutely criminal. The simple fact is that people pay far too much for inadequate services. But the train companies know they can get away with it, as more often than not there is no alternative company to compete with them on price. My thanks go out to John Major on that one.
I for one would like to see the government fully nationalise the industry, rather than merely regulate some fares and not others. At least that way I could complain about the public sector squandering my money rather than it lining the pockets of the big cheeses at the rail firms.
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