Is it me or are transport costs continuing to spiral. Is there an almost pathological avoidance by the government here in the UK to avoid having a coordinated, coherent and fair transport policy?
Train fares have just been seen to rise between 6 and 11% creating more misery for commuters and making it a less attractive option for leisure outings. Add on to this the relentless rise of petrol prices and it seems like a downward spiral.
Its pie in the sky I know but I would just like a fairly priced, well coordinated travel infrastructure in this country that benefited commuters and leisure travellers equally. Some have proposed the renationalisation of the rail network and although virtually impossible it has a certain attraction. Train fares, probably more than petrol prices, epitomise the terrible state of affairs in the UK for travel options. How can a train fare be more than a flight for the same distance? I recently priced up Bristol to Edinburgh for a business trip and was staggered to discover that the actual train fare was 4 times that of the flight.
Ok this post is most of a rant than a coordinated bit of writing about travel costs. I am someone who travels 400miles a week commuting (no petrol allowance and no company car) and I would like to blow off a bit of steam by travelling to some mountains for time-out without it costing a fortune.
Ok, rant over. Well almost. If you want to come to Wales, it will now cost you £6 to cross the Severn Bridge.
Happy New Year Mr Osbourne
Saddlebags and Backpacks - a brewer's outdoor adventures 
I like to use trains rather than take the car, when I go walking but the main problem I have other than price, is the lack of stations and/or buses to get me there and back. This goes right back to the Beeching cuts of 1963, where many so called unprofitable routes were stopped. Ever since then each government in power has neglected the public transport system, so we are now where we are. I guess if we want better transport now we will have to pay a high price in fares or taxes – the money has to come from somewhere, but if there had been more investment over the last 50 years, we would not have to pay so much to catch – up now. I agree with you it is difficult to see how this can be done now !!
Rant approved! 😀
Dont forget that all the rail franchises are trying to make money so innevitably prices go up to maintain a dividend. Thats why I favour nationalisation for transport (and energy and banking btw) in this country. I know it will never happen again and I know that it wasnt that well run by the government back in the 50’s and 60’s. But, as a boy, I remember seeing buses everywhere and full, fares affordable, trains running all the time, a whole generation employed with jobs for life.
Maybe we are too far down the road of capitalism for it to change (for the better) but it cant go on like this forever…..?
I agree with you regarding public transport being a privatisation too far. Not sure about energy and banking though. We actually have some of the cheapest energy prices per unit in Europe, but probably spend more because of poor insulation in most houses – another pet rant of mine 🙂 Lack of spending by successive governments on insulation programmes – would make a big different on CO2 emissions, but that is another story !!
good point on insulation programmes (or lack of). I would also love to see affordable invidual household solar and wind power options rather than large scale programmes personally. Again thats not going to happen because thats taking the power (literally) and control out of the few (the power companies) and giving it to the many (us)
>>>>If you want to come to Wales, it will now cost you £6 to cross the Severn Bridge.
Not that I really needed another reason not to visit, but…. 😉
you know you want to 🙂