BBC News - Worst train companies to be named and shamed - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39vzg1rezno

Hartlepool in the Top 10 for cancellations.

like everything in this country railways are fucked. it would not be bad if they were cheap and nasty. mind you the usual suspects called shareholders will be happy.

The only sensible way forward is to privatise the whole shooting match, tracks,stock, and services all under one umbrella.

Don't you mean nationalise?

Tried that, hasn’t worked companies have made millions maybe even billions from it, from my experience trains in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal far superior albeit subsidised by their governments but if they want to force people from cars they have to make it affordable.

Yes I meant nationalise.

Cheers for me the worst train company is crosscountry the trains are shit.

We may be a bit spoiled in Scotland as off-peak tickets are not too expensive. I can get a return into Edinburgh for £8.20 and Glasgow for £14.60 which is comparable to the costs of driving and parking. The issue is when driving the cost doesn't increase much with the number of people travelling together.

Maybe the train companies should be looking at multiple person tickets to encourage families to travel together.

There used to be a 3 for 2 offer that wasn't publicised if all 3 adults travel on the same ticket. Only found out by accident as the ticket office gadgee mentioned it when I was buying tickets for me, my niece and her husband in person. I think they have now stopped it (probably due to lack of use as no-one knew about it)

The government needs to move at pace to get this under one umbrella ie GBR and sort the ticketing out. Asap

Agree Blue, but at least Cross Country turn up (usually) - for me you can't get worse than Northern.

Grand Central are notorious for cancellations.

Prices have to come down.

Cross Country trains are indeed shit, its like being squeezed into a Smartie tube when boarding one of their clapped out Voyager units.

Everyone knows how bad the Northern service is, their 40+ year old Sprinter units are a running joke (or not running in many cases). Cancelling trains rather than actually running them seems to be Northern’s prime business. When their trains do actually run, squeezing hundreds of passengers into a two car unit with standing room only is not only a health risk, it is also downright dangerous. Yet they get away with it as a ‘company of last resort’ ie the Government is running the show ( that explains everything).

However the daddy of them all has got to be Trans-Pennine who seem to cancel trains every time a driver or guard sneezes. I’ve missed countless connections over recent years, been stranded in Manchester on occasion and have often been enforced to utilise three trains in order to get home instead of the expected one.

Notwithstanding the above, rail fares have risen again by almost 5%. Talk about taking the piss.

Funny how we are rushing to net zero, but to do it they’ll need to drastically overhaul buses and trains…..cars will be unaffordable at this rate and people need cheap alternatives that are frequent, comfortable and reliable..and subsidised…unless we’re supposed to get kitted out in black with a ski mask and fly about on E Scooters… the Xmas shop could be fun on an E scooters.

What do you mean? We've all got 40k down the back of the sofa for a glorified milk float haven't we?

Speak for yourself….
Check second hand car prices.. ridiculous.
The roads will be quiet though, I suspect we are going backwards as regards freedom to travel.

Yep. Absurdly high.

I don’t know if I’m overreacting but along with further costs on flying they in the pipeline, the eco loons are taking back our ‘right to roam’ anywhere.

I don't go abroad anyway. Would it harm if we went back to the days when more had holidays in it UK? We are supposed to be in a cosy of living crisps anyway. If anyone is still going abroad Iv wanna know how they afford it.

I guess you'd need to go camping though as I understand all the hotels are full of Government placements.

thats the plan. they do not want us to travel and will get there 15 minute cities by default. if they did then they would be looking at public transport more seriously and at a far reduced cost. they are having it both ways where we are priced out of motoring as well as public transport. The biggest moan back in BR days and when the buses were run locally or by the BTC or later the National bus company was reliability with late running. At least usually the bus or train turned up and if you used them for work you caught the one earlier if the late running was regular.

you,ll be charged for that next even wild camping with a council clip border bothering you for some dosh that his leaders passed without anyone knowing.

Don’t bother anymore, too busy exploring the bits of this country not yet visited.while it’s still legal to have a petrol car…..Electric cars are like heat pumps…..for those with money.

I have never got a sensible answer as to why he railways don't use locomotives then you can attach corridor carriage of the number required for that route/time of day.. These sets like sprinters etc etc have a fixed unchangable capacity.

Probably cost a fraction more off the shareholders profit margin.

its never been the same for me since the end of the compartment stock. more or less we travel long distances in something that resembles sprinters and the better versions. even when i travel on my local preserved line i head for a carriage that has a compartment, sit by the door and glare at the tourists to put them off entering.

I hear the sprinters are so old they can't get spare parts and have sourced a company who can make them.Sad

The prime reasons why the franchises don’t use flexible loco hauled stock are that it would entail storing the extra carriages in sidings (£), stock not being 100% fully utilised (£) and utilising diesel shunters and/or main line freight locos to assemble the consist(£) and, of course - securing additional personnel to undertake the above (£).

need to go back to the early days of the railways to save and make even more money. get people to provide there own carriages.

That sounds about right.

The problem with knowing the cost of everything and seeking "costdowns" from that data is that no-one ever considers the cost of not having these things.

Some smart bastard with a spreadsheet can easily make a case for what appears to be a bona fide saving, and that person will likely get a big fat bonus.

Meanwhile in the real world, the cost of not having it becomes all too apparent to the employees who have to try and make it work, and also to the customer.

The NHS being a 24-carat example of this phenomenon...