British train fares are amongst the highest in Europe yet the service British commuters get is inferior. I wonder how other European countries manage it.
-
-
-
In Europe the railways are there to provide an efficient & effective service to customers, unlike the UK model where the trains are operated by franchises which exist to create shareholder value.
-
Simple. You either tax everyone for the few that use the trains or you "tax" the users of the trains. Other countries do the former, we do the latter
-
We *massively subsidise* roads and private car use. Car fuel duty has been frozen for *nine years*. Why should rail commuters subsidise car commuters?
-
Train prices in the UK are obscene. In response to Grayling, you *can* freeze (or reduce!) rail ticket prices AND provide greater investment and better services -- IF the railways are no longer used to enrich greedy private interests. !Railways for the people!
-
So you stop the "greedy" investors and you are £1b short of money that they invested. Where do you get that money from then?
-
We can take 1/50th of what we gave to motorists this last few years in discounted fuel duty. Gap filled. Then revoke the failed franchises and run it ourselves. Our railways are already nationalised - just by ***other nations***.
- 1 more reply
New conversation -
-
-
Well actually, he is wrong you can freeze fares and invest. You just make less margin per ticket and pay shareholders a smaller dividend rather than the millions that take today. As transport secretary this is something you should be pushing for - guess the brown envelope is

-
Stop paying any shareholders and put them all back into the hands of the govt. Oh I forgot this govt doesn't want to have any responsibility for public services whatsoever
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
They say they are investing for years ... Funny how services are still bad and getting worse we are still forced to stand in cattle trucks. And the company profits still going up....
Thanks. Twitter will use this info to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
or is it to give the share holders more money?
Thanks. Twitter will use this info to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
While, weirdly, in Europe trains are much more efficient and cheaper. Why do the UK media NEVER compare situation in the UK with that in other European countries?
-
New conversation -
-
-
This argument has been used every year and it’s utter nonsense. The services are getting worse each year, the new SWR franchise is far worse than SWT and long suffering tail users end up with Grayling as minister! Shambolic.
- 1 more reply
New conversation -
-
-
And in some cases, you're actually freezing passengers.
Thanks. Twitter will use this info to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
I catch a train very sparsely and in the 4/5 year gaps between each trip I’ve never thought - “this is better than the last time”. It’s garbage, with rubbish train times and horrible smelly trains.
Thanks. Twitter will use this info to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
What Chris Grayling can do is scrap
#HS2 and redirect savings to improve current rolling stock and services@transportgovuk - 1 more reply
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.