A new baby meant that we needed to catch trains on New Year’s Day. Congratulations to SW Trains for having a full (and well used )service on Jan 1st!

It’s a difficult balance isn’t it?
SW Trains were offering trains on Bank Holidays, which cost more money to run, and are now, in 2017, charging even more for your season tickets.
We were grateful for the services on the 1st.
Disrupted travel plans meant we needed to catch a train back from London on New Year’s Day- and SW Trains were running a frequent service- thank you!

But to hear that fares, including the cost of a season ticket, are rising even higher to cover costs of improving the service seems incredulous when you see the number of people travelling every day.

It is said that 14% of income is now spent on public transport season tickets if travelling by train, but I have to say, I think it was just as high as that (if not higher) when I started commuting nearly 40 years ago! The difference is that accommodation prices (rent and own home) are higher now too, so there may be less left to save!!

I want to see the train service being consistently good, with stations and trains which have good facilities for purchasing or collecting tickets, parking, disabled passengers, and enough capacity for us all to sit down as we travel.
Surely, that isn’t too much to ask?

We will hear which Train Company has won the franchise for the services in this area very soon.
I know that costs are important, but I hope that access and capacity are two of the criteria that decide the victor.