100% this - and it starts to then become more of a conversation around why the UK trains are so **** [read: impractically expensive], rather than really about Universal charging for parking.
FORUMS - COASTERFORCE
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Universal UK theme park in Bedford
- Thread starter Matt N
- Start date
Pink Cadillac
Giga Poster
At least most of you won't have the M6 toll on top of the parking charge.
Maybe they'll run direct coaches from a number of UK cities with the branding all up the side of the coach.
Maybe they'll run direct coaches from a number of UK cities with the branding all up the side of the coach.
Wandering Northener
Roller Poster
When the park opens though, you'll change at Oxford for a direct train to Bedford, no going into London to then come out.
It’ll be a new option, but I think it would be ‘change at Didcot, to get to Oxford, to get to Bedford’?
It currently takes longer to get from Bristol Parkway to Oxford than it takes to get to London Paddington, so I’m not sure it’ll be much quicker overall - might be a little cheaper though.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
Wouldn't you know it GWR are currently running a trial service Bristol to Oxford direct. (Temple meads rather than Parkway though)
It's currently Saturday only but there are plans to expand that if the government gives approval
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Railways are being nationalised again, with all but one regional operator back in public hands by 2031... Prices won't go down, so don't get too excited there, but hopefully, in the long run, prices will no longer rise at levels way beyond inflation. More importantly, hopefully service levels, reliability and investment can all improve.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
I shall believe it when I see it I'm afraid. My local operator South Eastern has been under government control for a while.
They've got significantly worse since they became state owned. No longer a turn up and go service with huge gaps between some services, cuts to really useful routes, unstaffed stations everywhere now.
It's got to the point where I avoid using them at all if possible. And they seem surprised usage has dropped.
I actually think the unprivitisation is a good idea but I don't hold high hopes for improvements
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
British Rail was far from perfect, but privatisation of UK railways has proven to be a failure... Not all bad, but certainly a failure overall, leading to us having some of the poorest service, at the most expensive prices, anywhere in the world... Maybe there could have been a better model for privatisation, maybe not, but it is certainly worse than when it was public. Therefore, it's reasonable to hope that it will be better once again under a return to public ownership.
Rail Privatisation Failure – Why we pay more for Trains
A look at rail privatisation. Why it was left to last. What happened to ticket prices? Are there any benefits? Lots of nice footage of trains too00:00 Intro0...
www.youtube.com
I think we'll have to wait until more regions are back under public ownership. We won't see the benefits of scale until that is the case.I shall believe it when I see it I'm afraid. My local operator South Eastern has been under government control for a while.
They've got significantly worse since they became state owned. No longer a turn up and go service with huge gaps between some services, cuts to really useful routes, unstaffed stations everywhere now.
It's got to the point where I avoid using them at all if possible. And they seem surprised usage has dropped.
I actually think the unprivitisation is a good idea but I don't hold high hopes for improvements
Whether we trust them to get anything right these days is a different story, and probably where Brat is coming from...
Bee Network and TFL are infinitely better than what the rest of us mere mortals in other areas get... I'm always amazed when I visit Manchester or London. Don't get me started on the lack of service to rural areas since local transport services were privatised. Under council ownership, the local bus service would serve rural areas that were not financially viable, because of a social need... Nowadays, if it's not a profitable route, it gets cut, or reduced to a useless token gesture, one bus a week kind of thing. Nevermind all of the elderly who are now housebound... :/
James F
Hyper Poster
On paper there is more service, but in reality there are so many cancellations that it feels redundant. Some services are better than others, for example the V1/V2 bus service that connects Leigh & Atherton to Manchester is excellent under public service, but local trains and buses serving smaller towns haven't seen much improvement despite more scheduled services, in some cases they seem even worse. I'm cautiously optimistic that at least for Universal sake, public transport will be efficient and reliable.British Rail was far from perfect, but privatisation of UK railways has proven to be a failure... Not all bad, but certainly a failure overall, leading to us having some of the poorest service, at the most expensive prices, anywhere in the world... Maybe there could have been a better model for privatisation, maybe not, but it is certainly worse than when it was public. Therefore, it's reasonable to hope that it will be better once again under a return to public ownership.
Rail Privatisation Failure – Why we pay more for Trains
A look at rail privatisation. Why it was left to last. What happened to ticket prices? Are there any benefits? Lots of nice footage of trains too00:00 Intro0...
I think we'll have to wait until more regions are back under public ownership. We won't see the benefits of scale until that is the case.
Whether we trust them to get anything right these days is a different story, and probably where Brat is coming from...
Bee Network and TFL are infinitely better than what the rest of us mere mortals in other areas get... I'm always amazed when I visit Manchester or London. Don't get me started on the lack of service to rural areas since local transport services were privatised. Under council ownership, the local bus service would serve rural areas that were not financially viable, because of a social need... Nowadays, if it's not a profitable route, it gets cut, or reduced to a useless token gesture, one bus a week kind of thing. Nevermind all of the elderly who are now housebound... :/
Tonkso
Hyper Poster
This is actually due to privatisation as well. SE has an old fleet which should have been replaced earlier, they do have some newer trains (even some only a few years old) but it's their older stock falling apart which has lead to this problem. Under the privatised model, there is no leasing benefit (train companies lease their trains) to getting new trains, they're effectively incentivised to keep running old stock until it dies, this is fundamentally flawed.I shall believe it when I see it I'm afraid. My local operator South Eastern has been under government control for a while.
They've got significantly worse since they became state owned. No longer a turn up and go service with huge gaps between some services, cuts to really useful routes, unstaffed stations everywhere now.
It's got to the point where I avoid using them at all if possible. And they seem surprised usage has dropped.
I actually think the unprivitisation is a good idea but I don't hold high hopes for improvements
This is further conflated by a shortage in staff across the whole network. My Thameslink train regularly gets cancelled due to lack of train crew, and this is an issue which is going to take years to resolve.
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
On the topic of rail services specifically, one of the big positives of privatisation (at least potentially, it may or may not be linked to privatisation itself) is that usage of the railways has increased massively... In relation to these increases in passenger numbers, services have drastically reduced leading to overcrowding. i.e the number of trains per 1000 passengers is much less now than it was in 1997. Cancellations and poor reliability have made this even worse. And yet, we pay more, for a ****ter service, than almost anywhere else in the world.
I don't really know anything about local services such as Manchester's Bee network, other than I use it with great envy every time I visit, and it always seems to be an outstanding service, compared to what is available elsewhere. The same with TFL, Londoners may hate it, but the combined services of the underground, railway, busses, boats and cable cars are the envy of the rest of us. Everything just seems to work. (Until it doesn't I assume, but I've never experienced that.)
This video touches on what I was saying about unprofitable routes, and explains why that is exactly the reason the Iron Lady herself would not privatise the railways, despite privatising everything else. (as well as touching on why the current version of public ownership may not go far enough.)
British Trains: Did Privatisation Cause the Current Chaos?
TLDR Business: youtube.com/tldrbusinessBritish trains are terrible at the moment... I mean they've always had issues, but it's especially bad right now. So i...
www.youtube.com
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