Following the Christmas, New Year’s and skiing holiday rush season, I am now painfully overfamiliar with the handywork of The Network Rail. Equally, I spent the month doing just that- spending.
Take a train to or from King Cross in a busy season like Christmas and the Fringe, and you will find yourself splashing out upwards of £100 for a delayed, overbooked and overcrowded journey. There are consistent strikes which mean frequent dramatic delays; and the system is so prone to overbooking I’ve had more than a handful of trips spent sat on the floor by smelly LUMO toilets.
This can’t even be helped by reserving a seat, because they can simply remove your reservation and leave you and everyone else bolting through the platform like the opening of a Hunger Games.
Why is it they can do this? Because they can. If rail were to be nationalised, like 68% of the UK think it should be, trains would be more effective and cheaper. Trains are owned by unregulated private firms like LNER, Virgin and LUMO, who have final say on their prices. Despite the downsides, the train system links near every part of the country, making it arguably the most convenient mode of travel. People support train companies because they simply have no other choice.
“Train” by tejvanphotos is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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Short Rant: Nightmare trains
Following the Christmas, New Year’s and skiing holiday rush season, I am now painfully overfamiliar with the handywork of The Network Rail. Equally, I spent the month doing just that- spending.
Take a train to or from King Cross in a busy season like Christmas and the Fringe, and you will find yourself splashing out upwards of £100 for a delayed, overbooked and overcrowded journey. There are consistent strikes which mean frequent dramatic delays; and the system is so prone to overbooking I’ve had more than a handful of trips spent sat on the floor by smelly LUMO toilets.
This can’t even be helped by reserving a seat, because they can simply remove your reservation and leave you and everyone else bolting through the platform like the opening of a Hunger Games.
Why is it they can do this? Because they can. If rail were to be nationalised, like 68% of the UK think it should be, trains would be more effective and cheaper. Trains are owned by unregulated private firms like LNER, Virgin and LUMO, who have final say on their prices. Despite the downsides, the train system links near every part of the country, making it arguably the most convenient mode of travel. People support train companies because they simply have no other choice.
“Train” by tejvanphotos is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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