| Product: |
Railways |
| Date: |
16/01/04 (31 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: it covers the country
Disadvantages: reliability, cost, safety
Thank God that of late there haven't been any major rail accidents , especially those those that concern deaths relating from.
However , it seems that the railways are never very far from the news , be it punculity , safety or even customer disgust , eg. the Post Office calling a day to the mail train , due to costs and reliability .
Every morning I switch on the TV for the news , and during the local news section , railway delays / cancellations are always made known . Not a day goes by without a mention .
I fortunately do not have to rely on them , but many of you out there do , but I do have the odd occasion to use them . The last time my daughter , not me , travelled using the train from Newport , South Wales to Plymouth . Essential track repairs were being carried out , so a special bus service had to be used between Taunton and Exeter . With two kids in tow , it made the journey a nightmare . The distance between the two cities is 150 miles . This particular SuperSaver fare cost £44.00 , and the journey took five and a half hours in all each way .
When I take my car to Newport and back , it costs me £35.00 including Severn Bridge tolls , and each one way journey takes approximately two hours . So here we have discussion regarding cost , reliability and punctuality.
Without delays and track repairs the travelling time by train is still three hours .
GET TO THE POINT BRIAN .....
I have an old copy of Punch Magazine , issue No. Six ( back then it was published yearly ) , and one remark was noted and of relevance - it seems 150 years on , despit the train being a British invention , we still haven't advanced very far....lets have your comments / thoughts via a review on it .
Punch Volume 6 : July-December 1844 : Page 258 .
"The Railway Monitor .
To Travellers.
The existing railway arrangements render it imperative that you shoild provide yourselves with a large
stock of philosophy , to enable you to put up with certain inconveniences , which you will be sure , to a greater or less extent , to encounter on most lines , and whereof a classification is hereby appended for your benefit .
FIRST CLASS.
The chief inconvenience peculiar to this class , is , that your fare will be about twice as much as you ought in fairness to pay . You run , perhaps , rather less risk in this class than in others , of having your neck broken ; but you must not be unprepared for such a contingency .
SECOND CLASS.
In travelling by second class , you will do well to wear a respirator , unless you wish to be choked with dust and ashes from the engine close i front of you . Also , if you are going far , you are recommended to put on a diving-dress , like that used at the Polytechnic ; because , if it should rain much during your journey , the sides of the carriage being open , you will have to ride ib a pool of water . Your dignity must not be hurt should you have for next neighbour a ragamuffin in handcuffs , with a policeman next him . The hardness of your seat is a mere trifle ; that is the least of the annoyances to which you are judiciously subjected , with the view of driving you into the first class cabin.
THIRD CLASS.
Make up your mind for unmitigated hail , rain , sleet , snow , thunder and lightning . Look out for a double allowance of smoke , dust , dirt , and everything that is disagreeable . Be content to run a twofold risk of loss of life and limb . Do not expect the luxury of a seat . As an individual and a traveller , you are one of the lower classes ; a poor , beggarly , contemptible person , and your comfort and convenience are not to be attended to .
ALL THREE CLASSES.
Punctuality may be the soul of business , but suppose not that it is the spirit of railways . If you do not care whether you keep appointment or not , make it on the faith of the Company by all means l but otherwise
by none . Regard starting or arriving at your destination , only half an hour too late , as luck . You pay nothing extra to attendants for civility , so you must not hope for it . Remember that oyu are at the mercy of the Company as to where you may stop for refreshments ; for which , accordingly , be not surprised if you have to pay through the nose . Beware , if you quit the train for an instant , lest it move on ; you have paid your money , the rest is your own look-out and , you may depend will be no one else's . For loss and damage of luggage , and the like little mishaps , prepare yourself as a matter of course ; and if at the end of your journey you find yourself in a whole skin - thank your stars . "
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