Increase in rail and bicycle usage in Britain

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

According to recent figures rail journeys in the UK have increased tremendously pointing to the fact that people leave the car at home more because of the cost of fuel going up, and up, and up.

Bicycle usage also has risen rather greatly from what I can observe on a daily basis and more and more people seem to join the throng of those riding through our parks on their way to work or from work, or to take the children to school, or to go to the stores.

With the equivalent of US$8 and more for a US gallon of ordinary gasoline this change in choice of mode of transport really is not surprising. What is surprising that not more bikes are about on the commuting trail and the school run or the trip to the stores for the pint of milk or the loaf of bread.

The way people are and have been using the car is not really sustainable and nor has it ever been. We clog up the village and town centers, the roads to and fro, and we pollute the air. Short journeys cause much greater emissions than the loner runs and vehicles idling are the biggest cause of automobile air pollution.

While most readers of this journal will know the facts as to pollution caused by idling cars and such like very well indeed already it is, nevertheless, interesting and, dare I say, encouraging, to see that rail journeys are going up and, as far as I can see, the use of bicycles too is very much on the increase, for commuting as well as for taking the kids to school or for the run to the shops.

Let us just hope – and, those who do, pray – that this increase will not just dissipate again if and when oil and gasoline become cheap again. Not that I, personally, think that this is going to be the case again, ever.

And if it is indeed the case that the era of cheap and abundant oil has come to an end everyone best prepare for a return to mass transport, such as, especially, rail, for the longer journeys and to the use of the bicycle and walking for the shorter journey. Unless, that is, you can afford to keep and maintain (no, not a musket, silly) a horse and cart.

The problem though is that this fact is not, as yet, really sinking in with the majority of the people who still think that they are entitled to a car and to be able to be running it.

I don't know about such entitlements. Even the Constitution of the United States of America does not make mention of any of that. There is no right to have access to cheap gasoline enshrined in that document, not even in any of the many Amendments to said Constitution.

© 2011

National Railway System

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Britain must, and I am serious here, re-nationalize its railroad system, including the operating and running of trains, for the good of the nation and the traveling public.

While British Rail of old may, at times, has been problematic and many of us complained and strikes caused problems at times, in general, it worked and was reasonably priced.

Ken Livingstone (and yes, he used to be known as “Red Ken”), the former Mayor of London, said on BBC Radio 4 recently that he would suggest that the government bring all the current franchises back into public ownerships as and when they come up for renewal and this is a noting that one can but agree with.

British Rain (BR) may not have been great and outstanding, and the public railroad systems of our European neighbors put us to shame each and every time, it was, however, like those of our European neighbors, publicly owned.

Other European Union neighbors of our and further afield still have their railroad system in public ownership and most if not indeed all their mass transit system too and their systems work and work well and are much, much cheaper than the systems in the UK – or in the USA where they are also private.

When rail fares are so much more expensive than flying – often four to ten times more – then there is something seriously wrong and one should take a very close and serious look into the situation as to why this may be thus.

I also makes no sense whatsoever, in the case of the UK, for instance, to have shareholders of rail franchisees reap the profits from rail operations during the good times while the going is great only for the taxpayer to have to foot the bill when the companies get into trouble during, say, a recession, as presently is the case, for example.

Time we really thought about this.

The only way to run a railroad and other public mass transit systems is to have then in public hands and ownership and not run to make profits for shareholders. This is the only way. Ken is right.

So far most railroad companies in the UK are not delivering a good service for the traveling public and the prices are well too high.

It does not make sense that a ticket – bought on the day – from a town in Surrey to Birmingham International is quoted to cost 215 GBP for second class rail travel when the same thing can be accomplished on inland carrier from Gatwick to Birmingham International on first class for about a quarter of that. Try again!

We also not not need a high speed rail system doing London to Birmingham in thirty-five minutes but we need a rail service that can do that reliably in a half-hourly departure sequence getting us there in say and hour-and-a-half for a price that can beat flying hands down, at say 25-30 GBP second class. It can be done in Germany! Why not in the UK?

For the USA a similar stupidity rules and train travel is x-time more expensive than flying and, once again, this does not compute nor does it make sense.

If government – regardless where – really is serious about getting people to use alternatives to the car then rail travel and mass transit systems must become cheaper, a lot cheaper. And there need to be more trains and/or buses and they must be more reliable. Otherwise people will not buy it.

© 2009
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High-Speed Railroads – Do we need them?

by Michael Smith

Many people may think this question rather frivolous and insincere but it is a serious question indeed.

In fact I would say that we do not need high-speed railways but instead railways that work, are reliable, can get to a destination in a decent time and are running to those destinations in a half-hourly or at least hourly tact.

The current Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has been on about that we need a high-speed railroad to Birmingham to get there in 35 minutes, so I understand, from London.

I would say that we do not need a high-speed railway to Birmingham but we need a rail service that is cheaper than flying there and reliable, which gets you there in an hour and a half or such for definite at a cost of say 40 GBP return and not, as I was quoted in 2008, for 215 GBP.

When we can fly for 65 GBP return to Spain but the train costs well over 200 GBP for a much shorter journey then somewhere along the line something is not right.

Personally I would not mind being on a train to say Birmingham for 1.5 hours or even 2 when I know that I will get there no problem and at a decent low price. And I am not alone here in this. Many a business traveler that I have spoken to and with is with me in this. We all would quite happy be and hour and a half on the train as long as we knew that we will get there at the specified time and at a decent price.

There is no problem spending a little time traveling when at the same time one can do work or, if so inclined, just relax with a good book. The price has to be right, though. No, of the rail travel – not the book.

He powers that be are not going to be able to get people from the car onto the rails if the companies are (1) kept in the hands of people whose only interest is profit for their shareholders and (2) when the prides keep rising, and that well above the rate of inflation. It is not going to work.

One can but wonder whether the “we must get people out of their motorcars” has not another agenda even for, otherwise the rail prices would be kept low. There can be no other answer for this. Something is not right in the state of Denmark, to paraphrase Hamlet – and no, I do not smoke.

Once upon a time, and no, we are not starting a fairytale, trains were relatively cheap and affordable in this country but now they no longer are.

Britain has become the most expensive country, as far as rail travel and public transport is concerned, of all European Union countries. The prices in the UK are 80% higher than those of the next most expensive one, France, and France sure is not cheap. So, how much cheaper are the prices then in other countries, such as Germany, Belgium, Denmark – yes, that place again, and other countries? One can but wonder, can one not.

Now, if it can be done so much cheaper in all those other countries without the rail companies and public transport operators going to the wall then somewhere along the line something does not compute as far as Britain is concerned. Or is it just me.

So, to reiterate once again, we do not need “high-speed” rail links to Birmingham or Scotland; we need cheap and reliable trains that doe the journey, if need be, in a couple of hours rather than 35 minutes or such. Speed is not the issue; the cost however is.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
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