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[Bionic]

Does it not make your blood boil when some pratt from ATOS makes three remarks that the pucntuality, reliability and public high opinion has INCREASED year on year since privatisation? How big a lie does he expect the public to swallow? When asked about the differential in price of a yaerly same ticket between a similar journery in the UK and in Italy the Italian job was £336ish and the UK one was a staggering ten times more at £3400ish? Worst of all he actually believed in the crap he was spouting!
If that is not a rip off then what is?
He then comes up with the comment that they get very few complaints per passenger volume. OK, maybe that is so BUT what if only a very few are willing to make the effort to complain? What if they shout and scream and grouch and grumble but are willing to put up with it which is the more believeable scenario?
Come on Railway travellers....time to put pen to paper when you are not receiving what you pay for - A COMFORTABLE SEAT, RELIABLE TIMEKEEPING, HIGH SAFETY, and not forgetting A COST THAT THE JOURNEY CAN BE COMPARED TO WITH TEH REST OF THE EU!
All privatisation acheived was to allow the rail companies to look after their shareholders at the expense of the rest who hold no shares but use the worsening service. The sooner it is returned to the control of the government the better because it is now worse than it ever was under them before..................PRIVATISATION

[jonny2112]

Not a subject I know much about tbh, but the comparison with Italy is astonishing! It is strange that good or encouraging reports are only made by reps and not actually by the user. I also agree with the comment about people not complaining - in the main people don't bother, for a number of reasons, but I'm learning you need to be more assertive in this area. Probably won't achieve anything, but would make you feel a bit better!

[Marks DTM Calib]

To be honest, for me, I find that train travel is significantly better since privatisation with more trains, cleaner and pretty reliable.

The fundamental difference on price is down to the government contribution, in the uk the we just dont pay a great deal into the railways.

You also have to consder how knackered the rail network was by 1990.....its likely to take 40+ years to sort the state it was in......and its arguably never recovered since the second world war.

[cleggy]

My personal experience in recent years is two journeys last April, one to York and the other to London. Both were very reasonably priced reserved 1st class seats admittedly off peak but on time, clean, comfortable with free refeshments.

I regularly used to use the Master Cutler or the Robin Hood from Nottingham to St Pancras ( how that has changed), and British Rail Breakfasts were a delight as indeed were all meals with Silver Service in the dining car

[pscocoa]

To be honest, for me, I find that train travel is significantly better since privatisation with more trains, cleaner and pretty reliable.

The fundamental difference on price is down to the government contribution, in the uk the we just dont pay a great deal into the railways.

You also have to consder how knackered the rail network was by 1990.....its likely to take 40+ years to sort the state it was in......and its arguably never recovered since the second world war.

I agree - but the costs are huge. I am fortunate to be able to travel first class and get a seat every day - I have done this for nearly 30 years. I agree with the OP that people should put pen to paper as regards more railcars per train which is all well and good if like Farnborough the platform can take 12 cars but if it is like Sandhurst where you have the equivalent of a Thomas the Tank engine setup with space for just 3 cars then the whole issue of getting people to travel by train is a joke without massive investment.

Things have improved big time on the main line - the backwaters remain so and the journey from Sandhurst to Reading is a PITA.

[Bionic]

Some decent responses there but my experiences, NOT First Class could be likened to cattle trucks with vast overcrowding, not even enough standing room and usually tiolets that do not work. Thank you Virgin and the other one that runs on the west coast (I forget the company) for your advertised promises that were sheer 'dangle berries'....... Its put me of railtravel for life.
I would love to try first class but unfortuinately with my income from being knackered at work leaving me disabled I can no way afford that sort of money! The prices in the original post were not for first class either so I would hate to even consider the actual cost of first class....

[pscocoa]

I was not just referring to first class when I referred to the improvements. Problem is that eventhough we now have more railcars per train and more trains than there used to be on the Farnborough to Waterloo line - the usage has gone up. The trains have AC and for those of us that remember hot summers with the slam door trains then current situation is vastly better at all levels. I find the trains a lot more efficient and generally very reliable and are on time leaving Farnborough but regrettably held up outside Waterloo waiting for platforms. 

Southwest Trains are now trying to identify crowded trains by means of charts on the station which is not very effective and I have indeed made some suggestions - but the idea is to allow people to make their own choice as to which train to go on flagging up in advance which are the trains on which you are most likely to have to stand. At least they are having a go to improve things.

[Bionic]

Be intersting to see just how effective and more importantly, the costs, are once their 'improvements' are made though. It is ridiculous that once again it is the travelling public who will have to bear the brunt of it by even higher fares because the shareholders always take out but never put in!
I do not think for one single instant that the fares will ever reach a level that is truly jusitfiable given the service levels the regular traveller has to endure in the lesser quality carriages. Neither do I beleive that the EU countries subsidise fares so much as to make them far, far cheaper than the UK. Even if they did there remains the questions of poor timekeeping and poor reliability. Considering the UK was the birthplace of the railways it is to their shame that has degenerated to the levels it is today due to privatisation and the utter greed of the management and company shareholders.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Its that the Uk is the brithplace and that during the war, most of europes railways were destroyed where as ours was not is a key issue....hence its all old and tired!

As an example, the German and French railways were all but re-built from scratch and they all put eye watering levels of cash into the systems.

In the UK, we have pretty low subsidies (comparatively) and a goosed infrastructure....yet we do have good train quality and they are pretty punctual (I often travel with work to various places around the uk). A good recent example is the Netherlands where tehy invested a HUGE quantity of cash and have since realised they need to keep this up to keep things on track!.....and they dont have many bridges, cuttings, embankments adn tunnels!

As an example, the prices may appear steep but certainly if traveling alone they are comparative with car useage (e.g. if I travel from Nottingham to Market Harborough its about the same cost as fuel and running costs).

Similarly I travel every month or so to Exeter, this costs 90 quid return and takes 4 hours....the same as by car .....and its always within about 5 mins of being on time!

The biggest challenge for the Uk is the press.......who report what they feel like!

[albitz]

If you were unfortunate enough to be one of the many people who commute to and from London on a daily basis I doubt you would be able to find any kinds words to say about the rail system.

[Nickbat]

Privatisation is a useful economic tool in certain situations. If it allows genuine competition, it can only be good. The problem with the privatisation of the railways is that there is no competition. Each company has its own bit of space. You don't - and indeed can't - have two or more competing rail companies running on the same line, so there can never be real competition. In my view, the rail network is part of a strategic infrastructure and should be provided by the state, ensuring that all lines, even those that are not highly profitable are kept running. Cheap transport is a prerequisite for a vibrant economy.

BUT, and it's a very big BUT, the state has a history of being absolutely useless when it comes to running anything larger than a peanut stand. That, and the ambitions of the horrid Bob Crow and his union cronies, mean that what we have now is probably the best we can hope for.