Rail Fares Going Up Again

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K. A. Pital
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Re: Rail Fares Going Up Again

Post by K. A. Pital »

The problem is, total investment quintupled. Private investment rose. Public funding increased manifold since 1995. So almost everything indicates a massive investment surge.

And yet, the railways are clogged and cannot deal with twice the passenger flow. This seems rather strange to me.
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Re: Rail Fares Going Up Again

Post by Zaune »

I reckon it's something to do with what we're spending the extra cash on. Prestige projects like High Speed 2, for example; sure, it'll shave a couple of hours off the journey between London and Edinburgh, but it won't be fully operational for twenty years and it's diverting resources away from more immediately useful projects like reversing some of the Beeching Report closures and electrifying existing lines, maybe getting around to switching the Southern Region over to 25kV overhead like the rest of the country like we've been meaning to do since Nationalisation in the 1940s.
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Phillip Hone
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Re: Rail Fares Going Up Again

Post by Phillip Hone »

Soontir C'boath wrote:Distance between Kent and London is about 57 miles. If one were to take Amtrak from New York City to Bridgeport, CT which is about 53 miles, a monthly unlimited ride pass is $756, or as converted 5871 pounds per year and takes about 1 hour and 12 minutes. So apparently the epitome of private rail is just as expensive as what is considered a dilapidated and overpriced government railroad. :wink:
Why would you take Amtrak to go between New York City and Bridgeport? Wouldn't you just use Metro North? My monthly pass from Fairfield CT (one town over from Bridgeport) to New York City was only $341 per month. Looking at Metro North's webpage, the monthly fare from Bridgeport to New York City is still only about $371. And that is actually much less expensive than the British rail rates we're discussing.

Of course, that's just Metro North - I will admit that Amtrak, often the only option for rail travel, is almost as pricey. The shoreline of Connecticut and New York State, however, does actually have pretty decent train service.

On the other hand, Metro North may be subsidized in some way that hides its actual cost.
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