Rail passengers are at 15% of pre-covid levels,
If the numbers don’t improve, then it brings the viability of the whole
railway system into doubt, this includes HS2 and the recently opened
Crossrail which have cost, and are still costing the taxpayers billions of
pounds whether we use them or not !!
Unless the prices of tickets drop dramatically then l can’t see how passengers
can be enticed back to using trains again, especially with WFH and the
recent explosion in the cost of living !!
Donkeyman! 
People need to go back into the office.
Not everyone though. Hybrid working is here to stay.
I work 100% from my office in my house and I have done since 2016. I’m 100% geared up for it, I have a work PC in the cloud which I access from my own personal MacBook here at home. I have Teams running and a host of other collaborative tools. My development team is in India, Project Office in Switzerland and Project Managers in the USA.
The problem is the companies allowing remote working aren’t geared up for it so it doesn’t work efficiently at all.
Also, people see it as a novelty and aren’t disciplined to work effectively from home, they don’t adopt the culture.
Along with your head, then. 
1 Like
cackle cackle goes the EU loving caring socialist.
again.
What have I said now? 
Honestly! You are so sensitive. 
Hi
Working from can be far more efficient than working from an office and far more ecologically responsible.
Bread has shown that it can be done effectively, all it needs is a little bit of organisation.
2 Likes
From which of his fibs do you deduce that? 
The results are in for many organisations, having employees work from home, either fully or hybrid leads to higher productivity, lower building costs and a higher quality of employee applying for jobs where home working is allowed.
It’s a perk employers can offer without it costing them anything and they can recruit from a wider area
So, things change.
You can’t insist people go back to the office to keep the trains going or the coffee shops open.
Those things evolved to service the office workers and if it’s more economic for employers to have them to work from home, then the need for those services is reduced
But that does leave a train problem. Still one of the greenest forms of transport, we don’t want to lose routes or leave people without cars stranded and cut off
Which is why the railways should never have been sold off and should be nationalised again
The bus and train companies are not interested in non profit making routes
So they should be run as nationalised not for profit businesses, as a public service we can take pride in
With the emphasis on providing greener transport especially in poorer and isolated areas and good quality jobs
Hi
I very rarely reply directly to posters.
Just my thing, this is a Discussion Forum, others can have different views and I can learn from them.
I disagree with Bread on so many things, that is the nature of Discussion.
He does however have some very valid points to make and I respect them and learn from them.
We have very different Political Views, we can argue like mad.
Personal Dislike is wrong on any discussion Forum.
Live and learn is the name of the Game.
We can fall out over fishing, which is serious. 
Falling out with the ladies is dangerous, they will trash you.
2 Likes
If he were capable of telling the truth, and had the intelligence to understand it, then I would totally agree with you. 
@Maree , Virtual work produced in a virtual office by virtual workers ???
Should be payed with virtual money !!
Donkeyman! 
1 Like
Nah, that’s the point and what people are going to have to get their head round
It’s REAL work done by REAL employees at home in a way that costs their employers less and makes them more productive
And that means the employers will be able to pay the best more REAL money
The old ways are gone….
And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin “
1 Like
I have noticed that the trains I travel on have many fewer passengers now, compared to pre-Covid days.
Most of my train travel is during off-peak periods, so this isn’t necessarily because of more people “Working from Home”
My train journeys tend to be into the nearby towns and cities for shopping, meeting friends for lunch, theatre, cinema - (I’m doing my bit to regenerate the economy here oop North!) I have also noticed cities like Newcastle are also much quieter overall, especially in the shopping centres, than they used to be, so I think there are fewer people travelling into towns and cities - they have got so used to shopping online.
I was in Newcastle last week and went to a particular shop - when I got there, I was shocked to see that the majority of shops in that shopping precinct were closed down and empty. It was like a ghost town in that part of Newcastle.
It doesn’t help that there is fewer trains stopping at the more rural stations like my local station - it’s a bit like the chicken and the egg - I’m not sure if fewer people travel because the services have been cut or the services have been cut because fewer people travel.
@Boot You don’t mention the cost factor Boot,? Maybe because you travel
off peak, what would be the difference between off-peak and peak in
your area?
I had occasion to travel by rail recently, luckily off peak, and also pre-booked,
And l was amazed at the difference, l think the difference amounted to as
much as three times cheaper than peak time ?
So the cheaper fares only benefit relatively few people ?
Also l saw a report that said someone had flown from London to Portugal
and then to Edinburgh because it was cheaper than rail ?
Surely something wrong with that ??
Donkeyman!
2 Likes
Yup, the fares are ridiculous and so complicated
I book for myself for work a lot and have got pretty good at split tickets to save money. But it’s ridiculous that it works and they don’t just automatically sell you the cheapest ticket
I got £20 quid off a Bristol to London return last week. Still £135 though
The longest trip I do just for a city shopping trip costs me around £11 or £12.
It costs around £26 for an anytime day return, without any rail card discounts, and an off peak return is only about £4 cheaper, at £22.
But if you book Advance single tickets for off peak times, it usually works out much cheaper, depending on when you book - and I have a Senior Rail Card which reduces the cost by one third.
(My rail card only cost me £10 worth of Tesco Reward Vouchers - if you buy a Senior Railcard with Tesco Vouchers you get the full annual cost of the £30 card for £10 worth of Tesco Vouchers)
Retirement has turned me into a penny-pinching free Voucher squirrel!
2 Likes
I get free travel on trains and busses.
1 Like
How nice - that’s a good perk.