Railcards for ex Armed Forces.

[Mick F]

Rail travel pricing is stupid in the extreme.
Why we need a discount card, or have to do research or go by different routes is beyond me!
However, you MUST do these things or you'll pay through the nose.

[pete75]

People living near where they work and being able to afford houses there too might be better. If everyone commuted by foot then how many tonnes of pollution could be taken out of the environment. Even cycling is a second choice behind walking distance. Plus more use of footwear that can be resoled too so less consumerism needed.

Now that would lead to the countryside becoming depopulated as hardly anybody there is employed locally any more.

[millimole]

Get a job on the railway, then one can travel cheap, maybe free

Not any more.
Only those employees with "grandfather" rights get free travel, or those travelling between jobs during their working day.
Even employees of National Rail have to pay

Free travel still seems to be the norm.

https://www.greatnorthernrail.com/careers
Free travel for you (and your eligible family members) means that you can get away to the beach, or check out the latest scene in the city, completely on us!


https://lnerjobs.co.uk/jobs/lifeatlner/
And you can hop on our trains for free.

It varies by TOC.
The last two franchises my son worked for did not give free travel, neither does the rail company he currently works for.
Where free travel is offered it will only be on the employer's trains (sometimes only off peak) - it's no longer a national perk.
Flashing a PT and getting away with not paying is a risk if the revenue protection squad hit the train or exit barriers.

[pete75]

Rail travel pricing is stupid in the extreme.
Why we need a discount card, or have to do research or go by different routes is beyond me!
However, you MUST do these things or you'll pay through the nose.

Yep. Sometimes first class costs less than second for the same journey. Sometimes a return costs less than a single. Going from Grantham to Newcastle I paid less by buying a Grantham Berwick ticket. All just weird pricing.

[Tangled Metal]

People living near where they work and being able to afford houses there too might be better. If everyone commuted by foot then how many tonnes of pollution could be taken out of the environment. Even cycling is a second choice behind walking distance. Plus more use of footwear that can be resoled too so less consumerism needed.

Now that would lead to the countryside becoming depopulated as hardly anybody there is employed locally any more.

+1 farm workers (not farmers) might be able to afford houses in the countryside instead commuting from towns or cities. Can't see a problem there.

[pete75]

People living near where they work and being able to afford houses there too might be better. If everyone commuted by foot then how many tonnes of pollution could be taken out of the environment. Even cycling is a second choice behind walking distance. Plus more use of footwear that can be resoled too so less consumerism needed.

Now that would lead to the countryside becoming depopulated as hardly anybody there is employed locally any more.

+1 farm workers (not farmers) might be able to afford houses in the countryside instead commuting from towns or cities. Can't see a problem there.

There's not that many farm workers these days and they mostly live in houses provided by the farmer they work for. The exception are those working for the contractors used by many arable farmers these days and seasonal harvest workers though the latter may be provided with temporary accommodation. It doesn't really many where they live as they will be travelling all over the place.

Other than contract and seasonal workers I've never heard of farm workers commuting from towns or cities and housing there is certainly no cheaper t than in villages. An ex council house in our nearest town sells for quite a bit more than in the villages. There's one for sale in the next village to me £110,000. A similar property in the nearest town, six miles away, is around £150,000.

[Paulatic]

Now that would lead to the countryside becoming depopulated as hardly anybody there is employed locally any more.

+1 farm workers (not farmers) might be able to afford houses in the countryside instead commuting from towns or cities. Can't see a problem there.

There's not that many farm workers these days and they mostly live in houses provided by the farmer they work for. The exception are those working for the contractors used by many arable farmers these days and seasonal harvest workers though the latter may be provided with temporary accommodation. It doesn't really many where they live as they will be travelling all over the place.

Other than contract and seasonal workers I've never heard of farm workers commuting from towns or cities and housing there is certainly no cheaper t than in villages. An ex council house in our nearest town sells for quite a bit more than in the villages. There's one for sale in the next village to me £110,000. A similar property in the nearest town, six miles away, is around £150,000.

Have you spent much time in the North West of England lately?
You appear to be relating very much to the norm in your area. As long ago as 15-20 years ago I interviewed a guy for a job was presently commuting from his home in Tebay to herd a Lake District farm where there was no opportunity of a residence. A 60 ml round trip commute I’ve also known for years a guy who lived in Euxton yet managed a farm near Blackpool. The reason being there are so many opportunities now which do not come with a residence. Anyone keen to take those opportunities has a different life to the ones available 40 years ago.
Just looking around my own area many privately owned farms have sold off cottages. Rented opportunities the estates have sold or rented out their properties. A lot of land becomes available without the farmhouse now. Infact a farm within two miles of me here was Crown estate. Crown sold off the two cottages and then put the previously rented farm on the market giving the current owner no chance to buy the cottages as they were already sold. The farm came with a farmhouse the owner doesn’t need so it housed one worker and others travelled in from nearby towns. It’s a really unsatisfactory arrangement and currently without a resident stockman the house is being split into two houses to ease the situation.
The area of east Lyndsey im familiar with the estate owned nearly all the village. The estate has sold off a lot of houses over the years I’ve been visiting but still own a lot and as yet no shortage to house their workers.

[paddler]

Rail travel pricing is stupid in the extreme.
Why we need a discount card, or have to do research or go by different routes is beyond me!
However, you MUST do these things or you'll pay through the nose.

And therein lies the problem. It's hassle for people so they go by car instead. And don't forget that the hassle is added to that of getting to and from the station, plus on a holiday or similar, getting about to various other places.

[Psamathe]

Rail travel pricing is stupid in the extreme.
Why we need a discount card, or have to do research or go by different routes is beyond me!
However, you MUST do these things or you'll pay through the nose.

.... And don't forget that the hassle is added to that of getting to and from the station, plus on a holiday or similar, getting about to various other places.

I suspect that easier systems to take bikes on trains might help. I have very limited experience of bikes on trains but when I depart/return from tour, 1st train to ferry I have to book my bike in advance (selecting a specific train), other train is a "1st come 1st serve" but no bikes around rush hour. But for booking my limited experience is station staff are cooperative and will allow you on an earlier train if there is space - but I've heard stories where they are not cooperative.

But searching out those different rules (and a thread here earlier this year about one operator changing their rules) is grief and takes time and imposes barriers. And if it's a book in advance train you have to make sure you get there on time ...

I suspect a lot of that grief is because the Government has fragmented our rail service without requiring common minimum standards for bike transport and those fragmented elements are only after profit rather than providing a service.

Although it's probably a lot more complex than that because I don't take train often (but make more in future) so don't closely follow rules/regs./pricing beyond headlines.

Ian

[reohn2]

People living near where they work and being able to afford houses there too might be better. If everyone commuted by foot then how many tonnes of pollution could be taken out of the environment. Even cycling is a second choice behind walking distance. Plus more use of footwear that can be resoled too so less consumerism needed.

But that requires a complete change in the way people live,and at a time when successive governments have failed to build enough housing.
Unless something changes PDQ it ain't gonna happen.

[reohn2]

Rail travel pricing is stupid in the extreme.
Why we need a discount card, or have to do research or go by different routes is beyond me!
However, you MUST do these things or you'll pay through the nose.

And that is the root of the whole problem,rail travel should be very cheap,for the good of the whole country,and frequent when most needed.
Of course that would need a forward thinking government who really cared about it's citizens and the environment,as it is unfortunately we are a backward and stupid nation that walks forward with it's head facing backward in the belief we won the war and so know best.

[paddler]

Rail travel pricing is stupid in the extreme.
Why we need a discount card, or have to do research or go by different routes is beyond me!
However, you MUST do these things or you'll pay through the nose.

And that is the root of the whole problem,rail travel should be very cheap,for the good of the whole country,and frequent when most needed.
Of course that would need a forward thinking government who really cared about it's citizens and the environment,as it is unfortunately we are a backward and stupid nation that walks forward with it's head facing backward in the belief we won the war and so know best.

Yes, I do wonder sometimes if people think we are more of a world force than we are. We might be getting a lesson about that in the next decade or so unfortunately.

[reohn2]

Rail travel pricing is stupid in the extreme.
Why we need a discount card, or have to do research or go by different routes is beyond me!
However, you MUST do these things or you'll pay through the nose.

And that is the root of the whole problem,rail travel should be very cheap,for the good of the whole country,and frequent when most needed.
Of course that would need a forward thinking government who really cared about it's citizens and the environment,as it is unfortunately we are a backward and stupid nation that walks forward with it's head facing backward in the belief we won the war and so know best.

Yes, I do wonder sometimes if people think we are more of a world force than we are. We might be getting a lesson about that in the next decade or so unfortunately.

I strongly suspect it'll be sooner than a decade.
Perhaps we'll have come to our senses by then though I'm not holding my breath if the past decade is anything to go by

[paddler]

People living near where they work and being able to afford houses there too might be better. If everyone commuted by foot then how many tonnes of pollution could be taken out of the environment. Even cycling is a second choice behind walking distance. Plus more use of footwear that can be resoled too so less consumerism needed.

But that requires a complete change in the way people live,and at a time when successive governments have failed to build enough housing.
Unless something changes PDQ it ain't gonna happen.

If global warming is truly A THING, and I'm inclined to think it is, then whether the government likes it or not there will have to be change.

[Tangled Metal]

Now that would lead to the countryside becoming depopulated as hardly anybody there is employed locally any more.

+1 farm workers (not farmers) might be able to afford houses in the countryside instead commuting from towns or cities. Can't see a problem there.

There's not that many farm workers these days and they mostly live in houses provided by the farmer they work for. The exception are those working for the contractors used by many arable farmers these days and seasonal harvest workers though the latter may be provided with temporary accommodation. It doesn't really many where they live as they will be travelling all over the place.

Other than contract and seasonal workers I've never heard of farm workers commuting from towns or cities and housing there is certainly no cheaper t than in villages. An ex council house in our nearest town sells for quite a bit more than in the villages. There's one for sale in the next village to me £110,000. A similar property in the nearest town, six miles away, is around £150,000.

My work colleague also has a farm with her boyfriend. They use a local farm worker that comes in from morecambe every dart he's needed. He does the same for other farms in the area but that's only about 25 or 30 minutes away. Cheap accommodation in morecambe not as cheap or available near his work. Apparently that's common. I mate helped on his dad's farm but they also used a guy from Lancaster part time, they're beyond kirby lonsdale. It's common enough round here.