Once again we can look forward to rail strikes .
It won’t affect me because I am retired and much as I love to travel by train , the civilised way to travel it’s just too expensive . I hate the way that rails are charged in my area . Unless you book months ahead you can pay a Kings ransom for even a short journey .
No where in Europe are prices like this .
Time to renationalise.
That was what shocked me when I visited the cost of rail travel was absolutely outrageous. I have no idea why it is so expensive. The trip from Wollongong to Sydney was about the same distance as the trip from London to Folkestone but it cost four times as much in te UK. At the time Thatcher was running down British Rail to sell so not only was it expensive but the carriage was filthy.
Now I am a pensioner the maximum I can pay on the train/bus/ferry is $2.50 a day so I can no longer compare.
@Muddy , Maybe the strike won’t have much effect Muddy ??
Just a couple of weeks ago they were complaining that the number of passengers after covid were only at 15% of pre covid levels ??
The high cost of rail travel you mention is caused by having too many
companies sharing the booty which then goes to investors who expect
a rise of at least 10% pa on their investment !!
As you say, time to renationalise !!
Donkeyman! 
The problem is that the railways are not privatised enough.
@Bread , Yeah, they should take over the track maintainence too !!
Then they can reinvest in the tracks instead of us ??
Donkeyman! 
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Exactly !
I’m sure that that is one problem, and of course prices are going up and I’m sure greed is a factor in it.
However, the strikes will be caused by the RMT union, presumably because the drivers want a pay rise. I believe that they presently receive £60,000 p.a. for sitting and holding down a lever and, if necessary, slowing, speeding up, stopping and starting - all due to signals and possibly obstructions. It doesn’t sound particularly highly skilled and certainly not exactly hard work.
I see it as one thing only: greed.
We don’t use the trains that often. However, in September we are going on a long-awaited holiday to Switzerland via the Eurostar. Whilst the Eurostar is independent of the RMT (I think!), we still need to travel from Manchester to Londonistan, and we are hoping that there will be no cancellations or delays due to the strike.
If such things are still happening then, we have decided to travel down by coach. It will take much longer, of course, but rather that than not arriving due to train drivers on strike.
@JBR Yeah the drivers are well paid JB, But the unions argue that the
drivers are only a small part of the workforce, and the lesser mortals
in the union can earn as little as £20,000 pa ! While this sounds good wages
to me, it is still only one third of the drivers ??
They also point to the fact that shareholder benefits have been at record
levels for the last few years ?? Whilst the companies are pressing for staff
reductions presumably to increase further the shareholder payments ??
BTW, I am anti. militant unionism, l am also anti rampant capitalism !!
I hope you have a pleasant and trouble free train holiday which sounds a
good way of taking a holiday to me !!
My daughter and family travelled right the way from Rome and then Austria and
through to Ostend a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it !
Donkeyman!
Well If that is so why are we all shareholders ?
@Muddy , But we are not shareholders untill we nationalise ??
At the moment foreign companies own most of them so the money
leaves the country !!
Donkeyman! 
It appears to me that driving a train is really quite simple.
I don’t know how long the training takes, but surely all they need to know is what the various lights and signals mean and when to stop at a station or the terminus.
I reckon that I could learn that in a week. Then £60,000+ a year!
Assuming that most of our intentionally unemployed wouldn’t want to take the trouble, there is another option:
well, we have thousands of illegal immigrants who would jump at a visa, and they’d probably do it for a lot less too!
Just one proviso: not allowed to join the RMT!
I seem to remember that the rail track was privatized and the people who bought shares, plus BR employees. were ripped off.
Cut subsidies, let the companies fold, then take them back into public ownership
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