Wednesday 26 May 2010

Forcing folks to fork out

I hate this business of waiting for trains at Kings Cross. I always end up with 30-45 minutes to kill - a necessary margin in case traffic problem delay the bus. Kings Cross is being renovated which means it is more of a hell hole than it ever was. Normally I wander over to St Pancras since the renovation is complete there, and it has a bunch of cafes and shops, as well as an M&S Simply Food.

The trend these days, I notice, is to only provide a handful of public seats in stations. There is copious seating attached to retail outlets, forcing folks to fork out for a drink or snack just for the luxury of having somewhere to sit. Once again commercial interests prevail over the welfare of the travelling public.

Public transport is such a series of trials and tribulations. No wonder the government struggles to encourage people out of their cars.

I had thought that train fares were regulated, but I recently discovered that only off-peak fares are covered by regulation. The train companies can charge what they like during peak hours, and they get to decide what constitutes 'peak hours' too. South West Trains recently expanded their definition of peak time, giving themselves free reign to increase fares for 114 trains a week.

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