That makes me happy, that your rail is so needed over there, and that your PM is hopefully on their way out. Fingers crossed for you folks.
Totally get the railways being less useful as you get out, I think that’s pretty natural. I’m heading from London to Scotland in a few weeks, I love that the trains are like, hourly. Going further north though I totally see it where the trains go to… maybe twice a day? Transit is very much “If you build it they will come”. People don’t use transit if there’s no transit to use… if it’s inconvenient then they’ll view it as inconvenient.
Also agree that the costs are high, it’s more than I’d like to get between those cities, but the convenience is right there and especially as a tourist it’s hard not to justify it. And you hit the nail on the head, I’d much rather have my headphones on sitting on a train listening to an audiobook rather than white-knuckle driving on a highway
If you ever get a chance to use the train heading into the south west (the Paddington to Penzance route), I recommend it for one solid reason: the view on the Exeter to Newton Abbott stretch is absolutely phenomenal. It’s worth seeing at least once. :)
I think public transport can end up in a vicious circle. It gets cut so it’s less convenient, so less people use it, which leads to companies and governments saying “well nobody is using this, why are we spending money on it?” so it gets cut further, so fewer people use it, and so on. They miss the fact that they need to spend more on it so it’s more convenient.
Thanks, I’ve actually been thinking about a trip to the southern half of the country, I’m a sucker and want to see the white cliffs, Brighton, and have never seen Wales either. I’ll look into that route, that sounds really pleasant!
That makes me happy, that your rail is so needed over there, and that your PM is hopefully on their way out. Fingers crossed for you folks.
Totally get the railways being less useful as you get out, I think that’s pretty natural. I’m heading from London to Scotland in a few weeks, I love that the trains are like, hourly. Going further north though I totally see it where the trains go to… maybe twice a day? Transit is very much “If you build it they will come”. People don’t use transit if there’s no transit to use… if it’s inconvenient then they’ll view it as inconvenient.
Also agree that the costs are high, it’s more than I’d like to get between those cities, but the convenience is right there and especially as a tourist it’s hard not to justify it. And you hit the nail on the head, I’d much rather have my headphones on sitting on a train listening to an audiobook rather than white-knuckle driving on a highway
If you ever get a chance to use the train heading into the south west (the Paddington to Penzance route), I recommend it for one solid reason: the view on the Exeter to Newton Abbott stretch is absolutely phenomenal. It’s worth seeing at least once. :)
I think public transport can end up in a vicious circle. It gets cut so it’s less convenient, so less people use it, which leads to companies and governments saying “well nobody is using this, why are we spending money on it?” so it gets cut further, so fewer people use it, and so on. They miss the fact that they need to spend more on it so it’s more convenient.
Thanks, I’ve actually been thinking about a trip to the southern half of the country, I’m a sucker and want to see the white cliffs, Brighton, and have never seen Wales either. I’ll look into that route, that sounds really pleasant!