That reminds me.

Quote from: Big Insect on 02 August 2023, 06:28:50 PMHowever, any civil servants or ministers attending from London, came up by train and stayed overnight ... as that was 'policy' regardless of the cost !!!

I'm currently civil service and we're allowed to use flights now where the cost is cheaper than the train. I remember it was always about the image of civil servants flying was bad, but the costs have eventually won out.

Quote from: Genom on 02 August 2023, 08:33:58 PMI'm currently civil service and we're allowed to use flights now where the cost is cheaper than the train. I remember it was always about the image of civil servants flying was bad, but the costs have eventually won out.

A sound, practical & very sensible change, as I can remember discussing the personal challenges placed on one of our clients families by the need to arrange overnight child-care to allow him to travel up by train & stay over.
But I can also understand the perception challenges - especially when the tabloid 'red-tops' will publish inflammatory stories regardless of any truth to the perceived 'wrong-doing'.

And private sector companies can be just as bad or unthinking. I fought my company for years (& eventually won) to be able to buy a weekly rail pass into London, on the occasions I was required to be working at UK HQ for 2 or more days in a week, as despite it being significantly cheaper, the Global Expenses policy stated that you couldn't claim weekly, monthly or any form of season ticket on Expenses.
What was 'interesting' was that my daily (standard class) peak time return to London from Bristol was over £250 in the end, whilst a similar length journey from Bristol down to Exeter would cost me £80 peak. The London train was of course rammed packed (even at 05.30) whilst the Exeter train was mainly a quarter to a half empty. So, most likely, the London commuters were subsidizing the Exeter commuters. Or GWR were making a sizable profit out of the London travellers.

Yep, when I travel down to London on business (from Shropshire) £250 each time, bonkers really.

I had to travel to Italy earlier in the year on business and it was cheaper than that to fly to Rome, train up to Arezzo and back again with the odd taxi thrown in as well.

Hi

I was trying not to comment on this one but.....

QuoteHowever, any civil servants or ministers attending from London, came up by train and stayed overnight ... as that was 'policy' regardless of the cost !!!

When I was a Civil Servant (MoD), originally in London but then in Bath I had to travel up to Glasgow about 4/5 times a year for various reasons and there certainly was not any department wide policy about having to use a particular mode of transport. We were just expected to use the most efficient and cost effective way of doing it which in effect always meant flying. Like Mark, when based in Bath I could drive to Bristol airport (from my home in Somerset) park up, fly up to Glasgow, get the bus into the city and travel back the same day at considerable less cost than it would have been to travel up by train. In fact when in Bath I had to travel up to London at least once a month and the only option was to use the train which cost considerably more than flying up to Glasgow and back.

In the village I live in we have 4 busses a day which pass through the village going to Frome one way and Midsomer Norton the other, if I want to use my relatively newly acquired bus pass I can only use 3 of those services due to restrictions on the time of day that I can use it. Ther are NO bus services at the weekend so having a car is virtually essential. Living in the Mendips we have been 'snowed in' several times partly at least because only the bus routes are gritted (the bus route is about half a K from my house). Some times it does feel like, and I mean this with all due respect, that I am living in a third world country public transport wise at least.

My son is starting at the University of Lincoln in September and my wife and I would much prefer to use public transport to visit him, but having looked at the options, driving up is really the only practical way of doing it.

Rant over.

Cheers Paul 

The reason we don't use public transport - Ernest Marples, Minister for Transport 1959-64.
Closed 30% of railway route miles, 55% of stations and his company got the contract to build the M1. Odd that.

Quote from: Gwydion on 03 August 2023, 07:03:03 PM
The reason we don't use public transport - Ernest Marples, Minister for Transport 1959-64.
Closed 30% of railway route miles, 55% of stations and his company got the contract to build the M1. Odd that.

He wasnt corrupt - awared the flypver contract at Birkenhead end of Mersey Tunnel to Marle Sharps - his company     

The best he can do is drive a Mini? Where's the Jag or Roller? Maybe he was just buying British to support British Leyland     

It was a 3 door hatchback - supposedly made especially for him, it was one of three models made by the Austin experimental division.
British Leyland didn't exist.