[Jonwo]

Originally Posted by Mystical123

It's not a big booklet though, it's made very clear when you buy an advance single that it's valid only on the specific train you have booked and is non-refundable.

I really fail to see what's so hard to understand about that!

If you're doing a one off journey then two advance singles are cheaper than to do a return, its like flying, you can't turn up late and expect to be put on the next flight. I'm sure they offer compensation for late or delayed trains if the delay is significant

[Train driver]

There are a LOT more regatioms you must read and understand before flying though and that didn't put people off. Not only do you have very similar ticketing regulations but you also have all the baggage size/weight allowances, security regs (what you can and can't carry into the cabin), various forms of ID, how long before departure you must arrive and check in (you can get through the gates at kings cross upto 30secs before departure-you normally need to be at an airport at least 30mins prior to your flight).

No one seems to moan about the need to know all the rules and regs for flying though-rail travel is easy and unrestricted in that sense.

[Prince Monalulu]

Originally Posted by jonnyinscotland

It is only a one hour so programme so not really surprising that details are often truncated or missed out.

Assuming this is the same remit as The Tube, it's more about the day to day running and people involved at the sharp end rather than the in's and out's of the system.

Like the drivers breaks thing, someone picked on the point whether it was a Union rule or a Legal thing.
The program is more about their working conditions, what they think of them, how it affects their working day, home life, etc.

I failed my driver training at the first hurdle with the concentration tests, could have re-taken them 6 months later, but decided it wasn't a good fit for me.
I'd have to extend the rules about drinking alcohol before a shift to all liquids, with my bladder.

[Stansfield]

Originally Posted by Prince Monalulu

Assuming this is the same remit as The Tube, it's more about the day to day running and people involved at the sharp end rather than the in's and out's of the system.

Like the drivers breaks thing, someone picked on the point whether it was a Union rule or a Legal thing.
The program is more about their working conditions, what they think of them, how it affects their working day, home life, etc.

I failed my driver training at the first hurdle with the concentration tests, could have re-taken them 6 months later, but decided it wasn't a good fit for me.
I'd have to extend the rules about drinking alcohol before a shift to all liquids, with my bladder.

More or less this is, but next week they move to Leeds Station, and the surrounding network.

[alcockell]

Re rail travel, though, it USED to be a damn sight easier, with SuperSaver, Saver and Open fares - Apex tickets were fewer - the business model was based more on the walkup fare model. It's only been after deregulation that some TOCs went down the airline-style route.

"Permitted routes" are also confusing for the passenger - esp the casual passenger. Back when it was all BR, and for a while afterwards, you had all tickets valid "via any reasonable route".

[Jimmy Connors]

I never knew about this programme until I saw this thread. Having just watched it, I must say it has done nothing to make rail travel my preferred choice when I need to travel at short notice.

£300 return to Newcastle!! Many other options are far cheaper.

[VincentH]

On the train tonight, and the young (very cute) guard must have spent several minutes with every customer on the carriage. She explained to each the various options they had, as hardly anyone had bought a ticket before getting on.

Two things wrong here - I forever hear announcements about fines if you don't buy a ticket before travelling (BS by the sounds of it), and secondly this only shows how brain baffling stupid the ticket system is, and how even the guards on the trains have to spend ages explaining it to nearly everyone who gets on the train. How did we end up with such a dick of a train service?

[ZiQi]

Originally Posted by VincentH

On the train tonight, and the young (very cute) guard must have spent several minutes with every customer on the carriage. She explained to each the various options they had, as hardly anyone had bought a ticket before getting on.

Two things wrong here - I forever hear announcements about fines if you don't buy a ticket before travelling (BS by the sounds of it), and secondly this only shows how brain baffling stupid the ticket system is, and how even the guards on the trains have to spend ages explaining it to nearly everyone who gets on the train. How did we end up with such a dick of a train service?

Problem is, if the 'simplify' the ticketing system, we'll probably end up with like what happened to mobile phone international calling from the major networks, they put countries in a handful of bands and then the prices for most sky-rocketed.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Niceonejohn

Right then, I can tell you categorically that the "experienced worker" at the time the programme was filmed, had well less than a year's railway experience ,and that the "trainer" had over 26 years on the railway, working her way up from yts trainee. Just shows how gullible the viewing public are when faced with a cleverly edited "documentary"!

Just seen the programme and I don't think the staff came across too badly. I agree there was a bit of playing upto the camera.
The older guy who disagreed with the trainer was seen earlier in the programme saying that he had joined the railway recently as his pension money was only lasting until Friday.
As in all these programmes they've gone for the personalities or else it would be a bit mundane. I don't think many cleaners will have all those animals (snakes, chickens etc) she had, most will have been on a long-distance train journey and I doubt most would stay 21 years.

[mrsdaisychain]

I really enjoyed the show, only managed to watch it yesterday.
We were gob smacked at the fare to Newcastle, £300, we thought we had miss heard and rewound it. That is pure greed on the railways part. How on earth can they justify that amount of money for a return fare? I immediatly said it would be cheaper to fly which the man buying also mentioned.
I also can't get over the amount of money the train drivers earn, double gob smack.
The cleaning lady made us laugh, how can you tell if a rat does not look well?
Those training days hey, they are boring. These companies just try to brain wash you, you get treated like a robot at times.
It moved me when the driver was retireing after so many years, gosh he will be like a fish out of water without his job, you could tell he had a passion for it.
It didn't suprise me to hear that most of the new recruits these days are on fixed term contracts. It seems it's going on throughout industry.
Very interesting programme and we are looking forward to watching the rest of the series.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by mrsdaisychain

.
We were gob smacked at the fare to Newcastle, £300, we thought we had miss heard and rewound it...I immediately said it would be cheaper to fly which the man buying also mentioned.

Everyone always says that, I've said it myself a few times, but they always compare a very expensive last-minute train ticket with a cheap plane ticket booked in advance.
Try booking a flight Friday afternoon returning Sunday afternoon on both types of transport the same weekend and you'll find they both take a lot of money off you! If the last-minute rail price was £300 and the air fare a lot less then they would sell no last-minute rail tickets!
I can think of better ways of spending £300 but I guess at those prices it's probably companies paying.

[googleking]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Everyone always says that, I've said it myself a few times, but they always compare a very expensive last-minute train ticket with a cheap plane ticket booked in advance.
Try booking a flight Friday afternoon returning Sunday afternoon on both types of transport the same weekend and you'll find they both take a lot of money off you! If the last-minute rail price was £300 and the air fare a lot less then they would sell no last-minute rail tickets!
I can think of better ways of spending £300 but I guess at those prices it's probably companies paying.

That's an excellent point, plane tickets for comparable times booked at the same notice will almost certainly cost even more. To get the £100 plane tickets these days you have to book months in advance.

[ZiQi]

Originally Posted by googleking

That's an excellent point, plane tickets for comparable times booked at the same notice will almost certainly cost even more. To get the £100 plane tickets these days you have to book months in advance.

That depends on if you use no-frills airlines, who do increase the cost the more seats they sell and therefore closer to departure or you use regular airline where there is a set price and works out cheaper than last minute booking of a no-frills airline.

[googleking]

Originally Posted by ZiQi

That depends on if you use no-frills airlines, who do increase the cost the more seats they sell and therefore closer to departure or you use regular airline where there is a set price and works out cheaper than last minute booking of a no-frills airline.

Nope, all airlines work the same these days, as the seats sell out, the remaining seats on a particular plane are more expensive, so the ticket effectively gets more expensive the closer to departure you buy it. This applies to SAS, BA, etc just as much as it does to Ryanair. Just that some of them like SAS are more open about how many seats are left in each price band (all bands in the same class of travel).

[Mystical123]

Originally Posted by ZiQi

That depends on if you use no-frills airlines, who do increase the cost the more seats they sell and therefore closer to departure or you use regular airline where there is a set price and works out cheaper than last minute booking of a no-frills airline.

No airline has a set price, they all rise on demand. No matter whether you book a train or a flight, short notice will still cost you.

[ZiQi]

Originally Posted by Mystical123

No airline has a set price, they all rise on demand. No matter whether you book a train or a flight, short notice will still cost you.

Has been 10 months since I last used a non-no frills carrier. Do fly several times a year and do go with the cheapest I am happy with, if there's only a couple of quid in it then I go with the one I believe is better based on my own experiences.

[able1]

£50k+ for a train driver.

Smug, overpaid beergutted oiks in the main.

With their skillset and qualifications what would they do in the real world? Binman? Cabbie? I doubt it.

Very lucky individuals, but to be fair of the four in the pub one of them almost managed a complete sentence at one point.

[CrazyLoop]

Originally Posted by tempobus

This should be good, locations/topics being covered in each episode are;

1. London Kings Cross
2. Leeds "Summer Madness"
3. Reading
4. West Coast Mainline
5. Railway & Communities
6. Scotland

Fans of The Tube will also be pleased to hear that a second series began filming on New Years Eve!

Yaaaay & double yaaaaaaay I LOVED the Tube


Loved the first episode when I watched it earlier this week :')

[montyburns56]

Originally Posted by able1

£50k+ for a train driver.

Smug, overpaid beergutted oiks in the main.

With their skillset and qualifications what would they do in the real world? Binman? Cabbie? I doubt it.

Very lucky individuals, but to be fair of the four in the pub one of them almost managed a complete sentence at one point.

But if they f**k up then hundreds of people could die, that's mainly the reason why they are paid so much.

[ZiQi]

Have ago on the BVE Trainsim, it's not easy

[Mystical123]

Originally Posted by able1

£50k+ for a train driver.

Smug, overpaid beergutted oiks in the main.

With their skillset and qualifications what would they do in the real world? Binman? Cabbie? I doubt it.

Very lucky individuals, but to be fair of the four in the pub one of them almost managed a complete sentence at one point.

Have you ever tried driving a train?

Personally I'd rather someone got paid more and drove the train safely than have some under-paid, disgruntled person not paying attention...

[CrazyLoop]

Originally Posted by Mystical123

Have you ever tried driving a train?

Personally I'd rather someone got paid more and drove the train safely than have some under-paid, disgruntled person not paying attention...

Same!!!

[Sun!]

People saying that £300 is incredibly expensive are partially correct, however they don't see the full picture. He walked up to the train station at a peak time, so of course the tickets are going to be very expensive. If he booked a few weeks in advance he would have been looking at closer the £30, than £300.
(Note: I think it has been said before but; If he had bought an 'Anytime single' to Newcastle, and then on the next day bought a 'Super Off-peak single' from Newcastle to London then he would have saved money. If anything the man on the ticket desk should be criticised for not telling him this.)

Also, just did a dummy day return booking on ba.com from Heathrow to Newcastle. It's currently 4am on Monday morning. For a return flight leaving at 7.20am and returning again tonight at either 6pm or 8.10pm the cost is.......... £ 338.64. Going straight to the airport may cost even more. From this perspective the fares are comparable/ slightly cheaper than by flying.

[Corky Duke]

Originally Posted by able1

£50k+ for a train driver.

Smug, overpaid beergutted oiks in the main.

With their skillset and qualifications what would they do in the real world? Binman? Cabbie? I doubt it.

Very lucky individuals, but to be fair of the four in the pub one of them almost managed a complete sentence at one point.

They are responsible for everybody on board, including me so I would say you don't know anything abouh the job.

[Daveb0789]

Originally Posted by Sun!

People saying that £300 is incredibly expensive are partially correct, however they don't see the full picture. He walked up to the train station at a peak time, so of course the tickets are going to be very expensive. If he booked a few weeks in advance he would have been looking at closer the £30, than £300.
(Note: I think it has been said before but; If he had bought an 'Anytime single' to Newcastle, and then on the next day bought a 'Super Off-peak single' from Newcastle to London then he would have saved money. If anything the man on the ticket desk should be criticised for not telling him this.)

Also, just did a dummy day return booking on ba.com from Heathrow to Newcastle. It's currently 4am on Monday morning. For a return flight leaving at 7.20am and returning again tonight at either 6pm or 8.10pm the cost is.......... £ 338.64. Going straight to the airport may cost even more. From this perspective the fares are comparable/ slightly cheaper than by flying.

Interesting. Assuming the departure point was Central London I would allow 1 hour for the journey and 1 hour to check in and allow another 45 minutes to travel from Newcastle Airport to City Centre after landing. In this instance the train is not only faster but more comfortable and has a plug socket (and possibly a table) for a laptop. It's a wonder anyone uses the plane for this kind of journey.

The cheaper alternative is the coach but seating is subject to availability and reservation and all other coach travel related foibles apart (such as having to wear a seat belt, sharing a mucky loo, forced to sit next to someone smelly or with a crying baby) , your actual safety and journey experience is at the hands of someone being paid a few quid above minimum wage. How motivated do you think he/she will be to provide a smooth and safe journey? In my experience - not a lot. The 50k train driver qualified to drive you and hundreds of others at speeds up to 125 mph northwards - very much so. He/she will have been hand picked for that job that is seen as elite alongside Virgin and Eurostar.