TR Slim Shady
TopJock. The trains should be cheaper. Why does it cost over £100 return, Nottingham to London, when I can fly FR EMA to Berlin or Alicante for less?
Maybe if the train companies adopted a similar loco model it would get people to use them instead of their cars.
TopJock
I have no idea why they are not cheaper, at least you get legroom, a nice drink and sambo on them.
The trains have 100 years of historical expense and infrastructure as, with varying years, do the legacy airlines.
The trains (through various companies) have to pay for:
- Every inch of track they run on
- The land beneath the tracks
- The land either side of the tracks for (I think) 2m
- Any trees that overhang the tracks they pay to have them pruned (or is that PPRuNed???)
- Maintenance and ownership of the tunnels through which they run
- Maintenance and ownership of the bridges over which they run
- Some countries recover these costs from the pax via the taxpayer and some directly from the pax
Once an aircraft leaves the ground, it runs for 'free' through the air bearing only it's own costs - not that of the air around it that supports it's very flight. Naturally, there are overflying costs and ATC costs but these are in a different league to owning and paying for every cubic inch of the air!
MoL would not run a train service because the legacy costs are too great.