Is First Class good on a FGW HST?

[Squaddie]

Move to Germany, Switzerland or Austria then!
If it is so much better over there why are you over here?

There's no need to be so aggressive.

I was merely pointing out that it is not such a great deal to pay £5000 a year for unlimited travel between two points 40 miles apart on Britain's rail network when the same amount of money will buy you unlimited travel on some of the world's finest rail networks.

 

[bb21]

There's no need to be so aggressive.

I was merely pointing out that it is not such a great deal to pay £5000 a year for unlimited travel between two points 40 miles apart on Britain's rail network when the same amount of money will buy you unlimited travel on some of the world's finest rail networks.

I think the issue is that when you compare "value" you have to take into account local circumstances. The countries you mentioned have small networks, presumable a smaller cost base and are funded to such an extent that they can afford to offer such a low fare. We don't, and we have a government who are hellbent on shifting more of the cost onto the passengers rather than helping them in these tough times. Perhaps in pure monetary terms it is not so good value, yet when you compare that to the cost of daily tickets, or the cost of driving, suddenly there is a different perspective.

5. Over the past few months, on trains using platform 7 In Reading, First Class has not been on the platform due to building work. The strange thing is, on these trains, I have gone from having to kick out a dozen or more people from the vestibules to having NOBODY standing in the vestibules. Coincidence - I think not.

When I was on a rush-hour Exeter train out of Paddington about a month ago in First, I did wonder whether all the Reading commuters had decided to go on holiday.

 

[Goatboy]

I think the issue is that when you compare "value" you have to take into account local circumstances. The countries you mentioned have small networks, presumable a smaller cost base

I'm not sure thats really fair to say about Germany! The German network is 3 times the size of ours!

 

[bb21]

I'm not sure thats really fair to say about Germany! The German network is 3 times the size of ours!

Then funding and cost base could be part of the reason why they offer such a (comparably) cheap annual unlimited-travel product. I didn't mean for all three factors I listed to apply to every case.

 

[Goatboy]

Whichever way you look at it, the German way of doing things is a serious incentive to lower dependancy on cars and is especially interesting from a country known for its love of cars.

It's obviously a governmental priority thing, the government of Germany beleives it to be more important than the government of the UK which is looking to reduce its contribution to rail journeys not increase it.

But given that the government is responsible for fare prices for regulated fares, its an entirely valid opinion to disagree with the governments chosen spending priorities.

 

[bb21]

Whichever way you look at it, the German way of doing things is a serious incentive to lower dependancy on cars and is especially interesting from a country known for its love of cars.

It's obviously a governmental priority thing, the government of Germany beleives it to be more important than the government of the UK which is looking to reduce its contribution to rail journeys not increase it.

But given that the government is responsible for fare prices for regulated fares, its an entirely valid opinion to disagree with the governments chosen spending priorities.

Absolutely. I was not passing judgement on the issue in hand, merely offering two different perspectives.

 

[LateThanNever]

But if they were at the other end it wouldn't be so far to walk at Penzance

And you'd get off in the dry! But probably that would not be a great marketing slogan...
Also you don't get on in Exeter (for London direction) in the dry if you travel First Class. Surely there's a case for having First Class Front and Back. It would keep some of the First Class passengers fitter at Paddington!

 

[bnm]

And you'd get off in the dry! But probably that would not be a great marketing slogan...
Also you don't get on in Exeter (for London direction) in the dry if you travel First Class. Surely there's a case for having First Class Front and Back. It would keep some of the First Class passengers fitter at Paddington!

There's a shelter adjacent to the stopping point of coaches F & G for London bound HSTs at Exeter St Davids, although it's often taken up with catering staff who regularly change here. At Penzance it not unusual for no-one to have shelter on arrival. Either with HSTs stopping short of the trainshed or using P4.

I don't think there's any case for having 1st Class at both ends. Means half the 1st Class accommodation is nowhere near the buffet/kitchen, making the at seat service very difficult. There's certainly no case to do this just to keep a few 1st Class passengers dry at a few locations in Devon and Cornwall. Us Westcountry folk are used to a bit of rain and we do have umbrellas!

 

[Flamingo]

Of course, given that DB have the franchise for a significant chunk of the British railways system, I suppose we're subsidizing the cheap fares on the German rail system to an extent, but that's getting off-thread...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Surely there's a case for having First Class Front and Back. It would keep some of the First Class passengers fitter at Paddington!

It's hard enough to police as it is! :eek:

 

[Goldfish62]

Because everyone knows that Reading commuters are much more important than the rest of FGW combined ..... or at least they are the ones who shout the loudest! :roll:

Yes! My friends who work on FGW and have to suffer them would heartily agree!