Most of my blog page is about travel but unfortunately, I am not loaded with spare cash so it's not always possible to jet off randomly. I do however suffer everyday from a very un-fun sort of travelling, one that is common knowledge to many people living and working in London....the morning commute.
I think I want to dedicate this little piece to what is probably the most stressful part of any day.
My shift patterns are pretty strict and I either start at 8, 9 or 10. This means that I can catch fixed trains and you'd think would have a pretty robust routine that would lead me walking into work smack on time if not before. Wrong! Unfortunately, my area is covered by Great Western Railway. Anybody who speaks to me knows the of the utter contempt in my voice whenever I mention that company. There is a reason of course, mainly the £3550 they charge for an annual season ticket from my home to London Paddington. From July 2017 till January 2018, the trains were old, cramped and delayed. From January 2018 they are new, cramped and delayed.
It actually baffles belief but since the start of the new year, my trains have been on time 6 times only. The rest have been cancelled or delayed from 5 mins to 1hr 30 mins. As I have an annual ticket, I am not entitled to compensation. Instead, they assume that I want to renew my annual pass and will make it a bit cheaper for me to do so if the punctuality % is below a certain amount however, the 3.4% increase in January will likely cancel any savings I make out so either way, I am stuck.
On what planet can a company have such poor performance yet continue to increase charges? SO why post this rant? Is it important? Yes! The UK has some of the worst performing yet most expensive railways in Europe (opinion based on experience). It is maddening that rail users have to continue to pay too large a chunk of their monthly salary (https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jan/03/rail-fares-cost-commuters-up-to-14-of-their-income-says-study) to private companies for such a shitty service. End of rant.
It actually baffles belief but since the start of the new year, my trains have been on time 6 times only. The rest have been cancelled or delayed from 5 mins to 1hr 30 mins. As I have an annual ticket, I am not entitled to compensation. Instead, they assume that I want to renew my annual pass and will make it a bit cheaper for me to do so if the punctuality % is below a certain amount however, the 3.4% increase in January will likely cancel any savings I make out so either way, I am stuck.
On what planet can a company have such poor performance yet continue to increase charges? SO why post this rant? Is it important? Yes! The UK has some of the worst performing yet most expensive railways in Europe (opinion based on experience). It is maddening that rail users have to continue to pay too large a chunk of their monthly salary (https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jan/03/rail-fares-cost-commuters-up-to-14-of-their-income-says-study) to private companies for such a shitty service. End of rant.
