Recent content by grey_man

jonmorris I take the point and I've enjoyed cheap fares but I know what the average fare is and even that is only acceptable when one or two people are travelling. Three or more makes a car the best option. So too do prices for one person at times. I'm not convinced by the 'stands to reason'...

I know you're sincere, but you can't just cherry pick numbers and challenge people who are raising a legitimate concern without any evidence while glibly expecting them to fork out an extra 20% on an already uneconomic fare. Assuming my £261 standard return to London increases by let's say 4% a...

I'm sorry if I sounded patronising. It's not always possible to factor the costs of travel to clients without jeopardising the work. I actually already work for companies in Germany, Sweden and Turkey and they expect to pay these costs, so no problem. UK companies are more reluctant for...

I'm not against any of that. What concerns me is that we have a long term plan for HS2 when the whole transport infrastructure of the UK now is not only less than ideal in a number of ways but is often not meeting the needs of passengers and businesses. One example is how the Government and...

Geezertronic You seem to not be listening to what I'm saying. I'm not daft. I don't rock up at stations buying First Class tickets. It's my own business so I always book standard class in advance. I said First Class was sometimes the only way of booking a seat, and it is. What I do instead is...

I don't think that a £100 return from Birmingham assuming all the chips fall into place is reasonable in any way. I refer you to a number of points I made a few pages ago about what my extensive experience is. I run a very small business and we can spend the equivalent of somebody's salary on a...

That's not so easy when you are working on business. Those figures are not sensationalist. They are the reality for businesses. Fares are inflexible and expensive. HS2 won't change that. Even standard class is ridiculously expensive and there is no guarantee of a seat. The idea of 'off-peak'...

Excellent. Now what are the guarantees about service levels and costs for passengers? A first class return on the train tomorrow from Manchester which is usually the only way I could guarantee a seat at short notice would cost me a basic £399 and prices are currently rising at way above...

In answer to the main question within all that. Because it is yet to be shown that it will deal with some of the main issues facing travellers, not least cost. If it's supposed to compete with air travel, it should be cheaper and guarantee some degree of comfort. Rail fares are already out of...

A few points. £17 billion is the start up cost of course. It will be way more than that when finished. Let's be honest and double it. Nobody is talking about passengers in all of this. I read something by a lobbyist called greengauge21 yesterday. In page after page of one sided but...

I think most people want the same things from the rail network. I know we may see different ways of getting there and identify different prorities but the real tension seems to stem from the people who can do actually something about it either not wanting to or having a separate agenda or being...

Having thought about it... I think the point is more that you've already got a **** coffee machine, you've had it twenty years and the office has been putting prices up so now it's about £20 a cup. You're not allowed to buy coffee from anybody else and there's no tea or hot chocolate. In fact...

I think the point is more that you've already got a **** coffee machine, you've had it twenty years and the office has been putting prices up so now it's about £20 a cup. You're not allowed to buy coffee from anybody else and there's no tea or hot chocolate. In fact they make you buy the coffee...

Fair enough.

I think all that's great Metroland, but there is a world of difference between Ashford which is both a commuter town and which benefits from the links to Europe and Inter City services to Glasgow and Manchester. I understand that HS2 will almost certainly be good for the transport infratsructure...