Friends of the Rail Forum

Rail fares Q&A: Why are they going up again?

Rail fare rise despite 'no perceptible improvement in services'

Train fare increases: 'Where is the green policy?'

Crumbs - a season ticket for £4,250.00!

I find that cost staggering. A full year 1st class pass for the entire public transport network in Switzerland costs £3000. With that comes discounts on travel in Germany and Austria of 30% among many other benefits.

Malcolm.

Rail fare rise unrelated to improvement in service, says passenger group

Trains may be crowded and late... but fares are still rising by up to 10%!

Minister defends rail fare rise and says travellers should pay up

Rail fare rises a ploy to 'fatten up profits'

50% rail fare rises in 10 years 'make rail an extravagance for many'

Rail commuters hit by 4.3% average fare rise

Rail Fares Are 'Not That Expensive' Says Lib-Dem Minister Norman Baker Amid New Year Price Hike

Blame government for rail fare rises, says First Great Western

Fury as rail minister says fares are not as high as people claim

Norman Baker tells commuters they are paying for 'premium product', but Bob Crow says passengers being bled dry by spivs...

Rail fare row: MPs reject peak-time premium

Commons transport committee demands long-term ticket price policy and argues against higher fares on rush-hour trains...

I have recently sampled the premuim product that the ministers tells us we are enjoying. I travelled from Aberdeen to Inverness, approx 100 miles. The train was a two coach suburban style Scotrail DMU with a single toilet that was out of use. The train was so crowded that it was impossible for the food trolley to travel along the train, not that that was a problem as there was no food trolley for reasons unknown to the passengers. The journey took over two hours and now the real painful part, for all this premium service I had to pay a walk on fare of £72.00. Next time I shall go by bus!

Maybe the headline should read, "Government shoots itself in the foot yet again"...

Rail fares minister under fire over travel expenses

Conservative cabinet minister Simon Burns is under fire after it emerged he takes a chauffeur driven car to work in London rather than take the train...

Rail fares minister shuns commuting for £80,000-a-year departmental car

Rail fares minister Simon Burns is under fire after it emerged he shuns commuting by train in favour of an £80,000 a year chauffeur-driven government car...

Rail Fares Minister Simon Burns Prefers Commuting By Chauffeur-Driven Car

Does anybody else remember the policy statement made by Mrs Thatcher, "We intend to privatise the railways to give the passenger more choice and cheaper fares". Oh yes, the cheaper fares well that appears to have fallen by the wayside as the current policy is the passenger should pay for trains not the taxpayer.

I can remember when the railways were nationalised in 1948, and the government of the day said that this policy would give a better service for all. Stories were rife at the time that the taxpayer would pay 10 shillings a year in extra tax - 50p in todays' funny money - and that would give everybody unlimited travel around the network! Ah well, it was a nice idea! There was however, one advantage to this policy, and that was a passenger could travel from Penzance to Wick on a single ticket and send any heavy luggage in advance.

Plane stupid: Flying now cheaper than the train following inflation busting rail fare hikes

AIR fares are now cheaper than train tickets on most of Britain’s domestic routes...