UK RAILWAYS

Im going to Paris towards the end of this month, from Manchester, and
was first of all considering going by Eurostar. Its about 2 and half
weeks away but discovered price of London-Paris return was Ł120 and
that was the leisure fare. I would have actually preferred going
via Virgin or MML to London (using a Virgin Value or Capital return),
followed by the Eurostar, but now I discover I can get to Paris from
Manchester Ł80 return by flying. That even beats a return with
Eurolines coaches!

Im sure this has been brought up on here before, but isnt it
ridiculous that making an equivalent short-medium haul European
journey by plane should be so much cheaper than by train when the
operating costs of the former are higher. Obviously the lack of a tax
on aviation fuel has got something to do with it...If the market
operated fairly and logically then the situation would be different.

Also in addition to pricing issues (again, Im sure this has been
brought up before) surely theres a big case to be made for having
better integration between Eurostar and inter-city services in
Britain, or maybe even Eurostar operating direct services once or
twice a day to places like Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, etc. I
guess theres problems limiting this - eg, capacity constraints, etc,
but if they ever sorted this out think what a boost it would be for
the regions.

Mr Invisible wrote in message
news:3418dd7c.0405111240.16acbbbc@posting.google.com...

As you say the market is distorted by the hidden subsidies to airlines, but
that doesnt help when you get treated like dirt by them with no rights.

I would ring up Virgin telesales and ask if they can sell you an
all-inclusive ticket which is probably about 80 quid return from Manchester.
Much more pleasant and reliable, if they have any quota left.

Virgin Europe tickets must be booked in advance (sorry cant remember how
long)

Richard

Mr Invisible wrote in message
news:3418dd7c.0405111240.16acbbbc@posting.google.com...


But unfortunately they are not.

The plane only has to contribute to its infrastructure costs when it
takes off and lands (and a small amount for signalling aka ATC
when in the air) A 1000 mile train journey has to pay for the cost
of providing 1000 miles of track


It makes a difference, but its not the whole story.


It would be nice if we could charge airlines for use of airspace
but it seems that we cant

tim

tim wrote in message
news:c7rfsk$g4l$06$1@news.t-online.com...

We can charge them according to the pollution they exude, indeed our
government says it will do this fairly to all industry, but it sees fit to
exempt airlines.

Typical story - Ryanair build a new hangar in Prestwick (I think) and then
refuse to employ any more people until they are exempted from business
rates.

Its about time they were told to pay the same tax as other industries or to
go bust.

Richard

On Tue, 11 May 2004 22:25:54 +0100, Richard
wrote:


What, like the railways, umm, dont?

Pots and kettles spring somewhat unfortunately to mind.

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
To e-mail use neil at the above domain

Neil Williams wrote in message
news:40a14665.4180080@news.freeserve.net...

Yes they do. Look at the Treasury taxation policies.

The railways pay all the taxes they are expected to, according to the
relative pollution of the mode. Cars pay a certain contribution towards the
pollution they produce. So does every other industry, save air travel.


Try looking at the facts before you spout this kind of stuff. If the
airline industry is a pot, the railway industry is not a kettle.

Richard

In article ,
Mr Invisible wrote:

North of London Eurostar collapsed as a concept. A post mortem would be
interesting. Ive got to go to Paris next week and Id accept an hours
time penalty to avoid CDG, perhaps two, but not the complexity of a
cross-London change.

ian

Ian G Batten wrote in message
news:c7ri6e$bif$1@news-out.ftel.co.uk...

Did TPTB ever consider running sleepers on NoL services? This would seem
like a highly civilised thing - get an 11pm train out of Manchester and
arrive in Lyon in time for breakfast; Id certainly pay a premium over
flying for that...

--
john[at]stalinism[dot]com
http://www.stalinism.com/shot-by-both-sides