JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Simpler rail tickets? Now it is peak pandemonium!

My love affair with the railways goes again to the early Seventies after I purchased a weekly rover ticket with college good friend Chris Jones.

What enjoyable we had as we travelled to Weston-super-Mare the place the tide appeared to exit for miles and I gained a bucket of liquorice allsorts on the pier. We additionally went to Edgar Street and watched Hereford United simply earlier than they acquired promoted to the Football League.

Since then, I’ve been hooked on the railways – it has all the time been my most popular approach of journey. Yet my love affair is drawing to an finish. Our railways are descending into chaos.

The infrastructure is creaking on the seams, the unions (Aslef) proceed to wreak havoc with strikes, and fares have gotten prohibitively costly. Travel over the Christmas interval goes to be a nightmare with engineering works taking precedence.

We all have private tales to inform about delays and cancellations. For instance, over the previous couple of weeks, I’ve sat on a stranded (and packed) practice for greater than 4 hours simply outdoors London’s Paddington Station whereas a bevy of officers have cogitated over what to do – evacuate the 900 passengers on board or return the practice from the place it got here.

Chaos, utter chaos as they took us again to Paddington after which funnelled everybody to a taxi rank that could not address the demand. I did not get residence.

I’ve additionally had CrossCountry trains cancelled on me when going up and getting back from seeing my mum in Birmingham – not shocking given the operator’s dire file for reliability.

Avanti’s 10.49am practice out of Euston seven days in the past (one other journey to see Mum) was additionally delayed whereas my first practice out of Wokingham within the morning has been late extra instances than on time.

On Tuesday morning, in response to the primary South Western Railway (SWR) practice certain for Reading being 23 minutes delayed, the operator advised me there was ‘an issue within the depot’ – code for the driving force failing to show up on time.

Yes, I’ve managed to assert compensation for all these delays, though it solely covers a slice of my whole outlay – and pales into insignificance towards the £100 superb and prison prosecution I’d face if (God forbid) I travelled with out a legitimate ticket. Yet, let’s reduce to the chase, our rail service is not match for goal. Privatisation has not labored.

We will quickly study by how a lot (regulated) fares will go up subsequent 12 months. The expectation is for an eight per cent rise – in that case, it’s wholly unjustified. But some costs are already growing as practice commuters within the South East have simply found, a lot to their horror.

The worth hikes, launched earlier this month, mark step one in a Government drive to simplify ticket costs nationwide. Fine, however sadly as many hard-pressed commuters within the South East are discovering out, simplification doesn’t essentially imply higher worth for cash.

An extension of the morning interval when peak costs apply – and the introduction of a brand new night peak journey worth – is leading to greater fares for a lot of (not all) commuters who journey by way of c2c, Chiltern, Southeastern, London Northwestern Railway and SWR.

At various stations, the brand new (greater) costs have angered passengers and left employees bewildered. In some circumstances, ticket machines haven’t been up to date to embrace the brand new costs. Pandemonium guidelines.

For instance, some commuters from Sevenoaks in Kent have seen their fares to London (and different locations) rise by 30 per cent or extra.

Tony Clayton, chair of the Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association, has described the worth hikes as ‘one of many worst assaults on rail travellers I can bear in mind – all performed with none discover or session’.

Laura Trott, Conservative MP for Sevenoaks and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has even criticised the worth rises. Writing in native paper the Sevenoaks Chronicle, she says the will increase act ‘as a deterrent to utilizing the rail community – and punishes those that journey for work or to see family and friends’.

She is now searching for an ‘pressing resolution’ from the Department for Transport and people rail firms concerned.

I belief Ms Trott finds one as a result of, if not, the backlash from commuters will solely intensify as ‘simplified’ pricing is launched throughout the rail community.

Rising costs and a shambolic service are a mixture made in hell.

• Have you seen your practice fare rise because of this new pricing regime? Email: [email protected].

Less waffle please – and extra punctual trains 

While with reference to trains, absolutely it’s time for the practice operators and Network Rail to cut back the variety of irritating buyer bulletins they make.

Last Monday, as I wound my approach residence by way of Reading station, I used to be repeatedly advised to take care utilizing the escalators (why would I NOT take care) – and to remember that the doorways would shut 40 seconds earlier than the practice departed the station (superb if there was a practice able to depart). 

I used to be additionally advised to look out for something suspicious – ‘see it, say it, sorted’ – and textual content 61016 if one thing caught my eye (a practice arriving on time?).

And most irritatingly of all, on board a GWR practice, the guard repeatedly telling his colleague over the PA system whether or not they might make the following ‘IC’ name. 

Couldn’t they only textual content one another as an alternative and save passengers from an ear bashing?

Less waffle please – and extra punctual trains.

Marvellous… A financial institution opening

How splendid it’s to see a banking hub (a shared financial institution department) lastly open its door in Haslemere, Surrey.

On Friday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, whose South-West Surrey constituency embraces Haslemere, formally opened the hub within the outdated Lloyds department.

Having reported three months earlier on the acute want for a face-to-face banking service within the city, I used to be there to see the Chancellor reduce the ribbon. The hub, full with an exterior money machine, may have employees from one in every of 5 banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander) accessible on particular days of the week to cope with buyer points.

There may even be a counter service, run by the Post Office, which is able to enable prospects of all the foremost banks and constructing societies to make money deposits and withdrawals.

With the City regulator – the Financial Conduct Authority – having simply introduced new guidelines to cease cities dropping entry to private banking, let’s hope extra hubs are on the best way.

John Howells, boss of money machine community Link, tells me that we might see 1,000 of those hubs on our excessive streets by 2028. To date, 30 are up and working. Maybe, he was born to be optimistic, however I hope he’s proper.

Hubs are removed from good, as some readers have been eager to level out. But they’re higher than banking wastelands.