So the fare rises for January are published in the press today. Last year the average rise for the commuter was 1.2% except for Southeastern which managed to get away with 8%.
The reason for this bigger than national average rise, was that we were paying for the new fast train service. OK now it’s up and running why are we still paying extra for it? Should it not be paying for itself?
Another thing the new line which was built for the train has been sold off to some Canadian consortium.
Where is my cut then? Huuu I part paid for it I was one of the original backers like one of the Dragons I want my cut… I knew I should have said “im out” when they put the fares up.
So what sort of rise are they going to give us this year 8% maybe 9% to really give me some pain? No they are going big this time they are looking at 12.7% are they taking the piss. There is always news about a double dip recession well I believe Southeastern are trying their best to create it in my household.
I think these prices are being hiked to pay for the lack of people on the high speed train. The HST has been shortened by 3 carriages because there are not as many people on it as Southeastern thought and who can blame them. I don’t use it as I feel like I am being ripped of already without paying an extra £1,000 per year + tube ride for the privilege.
The problem is what can you do about it. I am not using the trains for pleasure rides I am using it to get to work. The other option is to drive which at the cost of travel for me going to be over £100 per week it is looking to be the cheaper option even with my planet killer car and the price of petrol. I this what you want in these times of green-ey-ness-ness? Is me to kill baby seals with my car, because that is what I am considering doing Southeastern and it’s your fault.
Problem with HST is that many users are still dependent on the connecting 'slow' train service, which has been utter shite. Why spend 20% more to stand on a cold platform at Ashford for half an hour waiting for the slow train that you could have caught from Charing Cross?
ReplyDeleteI am appalled by this increase and the bare-faced response from Hammond this morning that all will be fine because we will all get new trains by 2019. Ignoring the fact that franchise agreements will probably include this as a negotiation point anway.
ReplyDeleteWe are being treated like fools by people who promised and campaigned on train fare cuts.
Lastly, whilst the headline figure of RPI + 3% is accurate, the Tories have removed the FLEX rule which now allows massive variation of ticket prices at not only times but from different location. So in some cases we are seeing increases of 12.3% annualised. This opens the door to gerrymandering of ticket prices on the basis of who your MP is.
I have this really crazy idea - maybe if Southeastern stopped the high speed trains at stations like Deal and allowed passengers to board rather than insist on running empty trains along the East Kent Coast line they might boost passenger numbers.
ReplyDeleteThe real reason Southeastern are raising their prices higher than any other operator is due to mismanagement and naivety.