So Eurostar is better for Paris-London?

In article 1gsmg93.bsaqbp1x0yy6nN%this_address_is_for_spam@y ahoo.com,
(chancellor of the duchy of besses
o' th' barn) wrote:

The UK mobile providers have not offered realistic prices for data
services- hence why there is such a slow uptake. I suspect they will go
the way of broadband providers and realise that numbers of customers
_is_ actually more cost effective than average _spend_ of customer.

Well I'm no fan of these data services they're trying to push. The next
big thing will be downloadable songs straight to your mobile phone. But
people expect they will charge more than the download services for your
computer.

For one thing, they've gotten rich selling ring tones for more than it
would cost for an iTunes song. Wonder if they put data transfer
surcharges on top.

Anyways, you have to remember that the European govts. charged tens of
millions for those 3G licenses. This was at the height of the dot com
mania but immediately after the auctions, analysts were questioning
whether the winning bidders would ever recoup the costs for the licenses
as well as the capital for the infrastructure.

OTOH, the costs for a voice call over a 3G network is much less (of
course they may not be priced less). So they have an economic incentive
to migrate all their customers to 3G, even if they don't make a single
cent from data.

poldy wrote:

In article
1gslyk8.15g22jq1ox4d4wN%this_address_is_for_spam@ yahoo.com,
(chancellor of the duchy of besses
o' th' barn) wrote:

I'm not sure how far in advance you can purchase tickets, but buying at
a month's notice, I've always managed to get the cheapest tickets-
recently, I've paid around £60-70 for a return to either Paris or
Brussles.

"Return" as in one-way?

No, round-trip.

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

Keith Anderson wrote:


Nevertheless, major projects (such as the
electrification/re-signalling of the East Coast main line from London
to Edinburgh) were completed to deadlines and within cost limitations
in BR days, whereas the upgrading/re-signalling of the West Coast
London-Glasgow line is chaos - costs spiralling out of control,
deadlines missed - and a crazy policy of completely closing the route
at weekends. BR managed to do major work and still keep the service
going with single-line working and diversions, but that seems to be
beyond the capability of the men in suits who are now in charge of
things.

One of the reasons BR managed to do what you describe above is that they
were allowed to do this. BR couldn't do it like that anymore today, just
as Railtrack or Network Rail (a gouvernement agency) is unable to do
this today. Insane safety regulations are seriously harming railways in
the UK. The HSE doesn't allow work on a line anymore unless it's
completely closed.

As to railway safety in the UK; Yes, there have been a few high profile
accidents. But the number or severity of accidents has not increased
since privatisation, only the way they are reported in the press has
mushroomed aparently. Travelling by train is as safe in the UK as it is
in most European countries.

Krist

chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn wrote:

There is clearly something wrong when the peak trains are not as full as
the off-peak trains, so I'd address it for a start by lowering the peak
fares.

The railways are not as free in setting fares as you asume.

Train staff are paid market rates, trains are bought on the open
market.

No, they're not. These trains are actually leased. One of the biggest
scandals since privatisation has been the rocketing costs associated
with leasing from third parties.

Many railways in Europe now lease their new trains. The hihg costs
associated with the recent new rolling stock in the UK might have more
to do with regulations that did not exist in BR days. Slam - door stock
without airco is a lot cheaper than stock with pneumatic doors and airco...

The infrastructure costs are, in the main, written off by
a previous generation and only ongoing maintenance is paid for
out of income.


And these costs have gone _up_ since privatisation.

And since railtrack has ben renationalised the cost have even gone up
further. There might be something completely different going on. Like to
much interference by people who know nothing about railways...

If you're asking me? Renationalise the railways,

Better would be to reintegrate the railways. A lot of the problems
originate in the separation of wheel and rail, something the Netherlands
has done too, with similar problems arising as in the UK.
Renationalisation will not improve things. Just see what happened to BR
after the first nationalisation...
The worlds most efficient railways are all private companies...

What the UK needs is to create a couple of big railways (similar to the
big four before BR) and have them own the infrastructure too. Some
regional lines can be spun of in their own companies, a bit like it is
now in Switzerland.

Krist

/rist wrote:

chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn wrote:

There is clearly something wrong when the peak trains are not as full as
the off-peak trains, so I'd address it for a start by lowering the peak
fares.

The railways are not as free in setting fares as you asume.

They certainly are on the route I'm referring to- Virgin was very keen
to get rid of regulation on their fares for the west coast mainline
services- and that's why they were able to increase the


Train staff are paid market rates, trains are bought on the open
market.

No, they're not. These trains are actually leased. One of the biggest
scandals since privatisation has been the rocketing costs associated
with leasing from third parties.

Many railways in Europe now lease their new trains. The hihg costs
associated with the recent new rolling stock in the UK might have more
to do with regulations that did not exist in BR days. Slam - door stock
without airco is a lot cheaper than stock with pneumatic doors and airco...

There has been some investigation in to this, and the upshot is that the
rising costs are associated more with companies getting away with
charging whatever they like. There's profiteering going on.


The infrastructure costs are, in the main, written off by
a previous generation and only ongoing maintenance is paid for
out of income.


And these costs have gone _up_ since privatisation.

And since railtrack has ben renationalised the cost have even gone up
further. There might be something completely different going on. Like to
much interference by people who know nothing about railways...

That's definitely a factor.

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

Following up to The Rev Gaston

Also - there is a Marks +
Spencers food shop on Waterloo station concourse for stocking up on
bacon, chocolate pudding, and other necessities unavailable in France.

LOL, yes, cant go to France without our baked beans
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Following up to Sandy Kemsley

I took the Eurostar London to Paris in October, and it departed from
Waterloo Station. Great trip, probably the same amount of time end-to-end
and much more relaxing than flying.

I'm not fan of using public transport, but Eurostar is one
exception, the best way to go to Paris, assuming you start in
London.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 12:10:43 +0000, The Reids
wrote:

Following up to The Rev Gaston

Also - there is a Marks +
Spencers food shop on Waterloo station concourse for stocking up on
bacon, chocolate pudding, and other necessities unavailable in France.

LOL, yes, cant go to France without our baked beans

Don't remind me - had to cart a load of M & S Christmas puddings from
M & S Victoria out to a coach company at Twickenham last year.for a
tour I led to Austria. The bag started to break when changing trains
at Clapham Junction. Nightmare!

wrote:
SNIP
A day trip might cause problems with luggage as someone else has
said.

Actually, you should be fine.

The only point at which a human sees you, your ticket and your luggage
together is just before you board the train.

The Eurostar staff on duty are matching your ticket to the departure
(i.e. making sure you are board the right train). I can't imagine that
they would be even slightly interested in whether your ticket was a
cheapo day return or flexible Premium fare...

Nick

Following up to Keith Anderson

had to cart a load of M & S Christmas puddings from
M & S Victoria out to a coach company at Twickenham last year.for a
tour I led to Austria.

and there would be stollen in Austria, I assume?
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-Photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap