It's that time of year again, when the Government hands over more of our money to Train Operating Companies and the fares still go up.
I don't travel abroad; why would I, I haven't seen all I want to see of this country; and anyway flying is not the greenest way to travel. The result is I have never needed a passport.
Some time after Yuletide I will be traveling to Newcastle to celebrate my son Daniel's birthday.
To travel by train it will cost me about £130 return. By EazyJet it is £55 plus intermediate travel which I estimate at £20 including a baggage allowance and insurance. Add in the cost of a passport, and within a very few trips I will have saved the cost of my passport and be in pocket.
Of course the planet will be in pocket several hundred kilos of CO2 too.
How can it be sustained. In country air travel should be taxed out of existance. Train Operating Companies must be forced into non-profit making status and the revenue from all transport taxation should be ploughed into rail infrastructure. 2 penny worth done.
1 comment:
Hear, hear. What so many people don't realsie is that government subsidy to the private train operators is huge in comparison to the subsidies paid to British Rail. Reliability and punctuality are worse than in the last days of BR. We are being ripped off, conned and laughed at by the highly paid executives of these companies and by the government who allow it happen and keep letting it happen. It will cost nothing to re-nationalise; simply allow the current franchises to run out and don't renew them. Hey presto, publicy owned railways at no cost!
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