Facts on Trains
 

Rail Annual Subsidy = £5 bn, baggage screening = none, departure tax = none. Airline Subsidy = none, departure tax = £2bn per year.

Man Euston
 

Virgin offer free wi/fi as well......... in First

The subsidy debate is a red herring, the rail fare is often higher so you are not competing on price, rather the choice in ease of use and frequency.

The railways appear more green and probably are once the infracsture is in place.

For me its the security hassel that clinches it, sure some of the railways staff are not the best, but at least they don't pat you down and search your bags.

At most airports there are signs in the security section that read " our staff have a right to work with out the threat of abuse" yes of course they do, but you don't get that type of sign in retail business, you'd just go elsewhere, the question SRG group4 or who ever should ask is why their customers feel the need to abuse their staff?

Security is big business now, it employs 1000's of staff at UK airports and 99% of it is a waste of time,it defeats the object of flying (saving time) the `you've been naughty trying to squeak a 120ml bottle of water on board' you can take it on if its empty? you can buy 80% alcohol airside

The airlines have the share of the blame, Ryanair,Jet2,baby & Easy jet are all now very strick with the one onboard bag rule, the times yesterday reorted of some one who had to cough another £30 to take a large bar of Toblarone on to a flight,,,,,for F**k sake

Ryanair lead the others follow, which just makes Ryanairs rip off policy seem legit

First class on the rail is now at prices that airlines can only dream of, you get the leg room, no crap over bags or security, wifi and at that price level you are sure not to have to sit next to some smelly chav

Let the train take the strain, the loco's can continue to milk the chav's

On my tight budget I would never contemplate taking the train unless I got one of the mega cheap advance deals.

Going by car beats everything hands down for me. £30 return in diesel, my own space, my own music, no baggage restrictions, room for the family, OK i have to be careful as to what time I set off to avoid rush hours but it works for me.

Manchester London, genuine door to door about 3 1/2 hours.

No brainer really

Airlines and Trains you have lost my business I am afraid, UNLESS the jobs paying, now thats a different story :)

I just booked the train to London for next week...£10 return...if you know when you need to go and come back...as with most flights...then that is a real no brainer.....Far cheaper than the car

Heard a horrible rumour yesterday that both BMI and Singapore will be pulling out of MAN in October.

It's not substantiated, so please don't have a go, it is a rumour mill after all.

Hovis where did you hear that please? Your rumour affects hundreds of peoples livelyhoods, so please could you give more detail.

I kmow, mine included.

The source is another airline that operates to MAN. Can't be anymore specific, sorry.

Just thought I would throw it out here and see if anyone can put the lid on it. :ok:

Slightly off-topic, but down here in the far southwest our air links to London & the rest of the UK are very important, due to the 1930's-style rail infrastructure, long journey times, and long gaps between trains, especially if you live in Cornwall.

We now have 10 daily returns from NQY to LGW/LCY/STN, thanks to ASW, FlyBE and FR.

As for the argument that aircraft are heavy polluters, have you ever seen the dense clouds of black noxious effluent pumped out by the 125 diesels that serve many of the rail routes in this area?

MAN 777

Can you tell me what time of the day, and what route you take? I've never done MAN-LON by car in less than 4.5 hours, and the M6 in Cheshire is a total nightmare!

It's only two hours by train. Assuming there are no signalling problems/broken trains/points failures/etc, that is:)

R.i.p Man/lcy
 

Started the base off as crew in '02... was a cracking service we did (especially if you were the only crew member!)... that 1730 off LCY with 50.....you all got your G and T though!!!:ouch:

Heard a horrible rumour yesterday that both BMI and Singapore will be pulling out of MAN in October.

I can't see bmi pulling out of manchester, although i suspect it will become very London centric over the next 6 months with even GLA/EDI at risk.

Much will depend on what LH does when/if the takeover is complete, the combination of taxes, LoCo operators and the trains will deminsh mainline services from all regional airports, for much of Europe you no longer have to go via LHR from Scotland or Manchester.

The odd regionel jet into LHR is all that will be left outside of peak times, unless the banks business pick up i suspect regional at LBA will share the same fate, probably down to two aircraft by the winter.

Barry LLoyd

If I am going early morning then i avoid The M6 in Cheshire / Staffordshire like the plague. Usually running parallel on the A34 then joining M6 briefly north of the Toll. Wizz round the toll, M42 M40 and A40 into London, my destination is near Northolt.

If its an overnighter then I leave about 8pm using motorway all the way.

I also have a satnav with live traffic updates, which usually gives me plenty of warning to avoid hold ups.

heard a rumour today that Hovis are going to start an airline flying man-lon and man-sin
sorry cant give you my sauces mr heinz wud not be happy:}

Interesting: thanks - will keep that in mind:ok:

Can see why Manchester Airport is supporting this, but i just can not see any major changes to Manchester's trans-atlantic route network even if it does get passed by United States law makers.

http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090520/FREE/905209995/1175/-/-/manchester-airport-lobbies-

Bless 'em.

Travel to London from Manc up to 3times a week, would never ever consider the plane, simply no where near as good a journey, much less flexible and miles more expensive.

Wife often travels down with me, when she does we ensure we book the tickets a week or so before we travel and often get returns for about £15 each.

A 2hr journey, every 20mins is a huge benefit for Manchester, the fact that the rush hour trains are full tells a big story.

For the vast majority of people, over short distances, the plane will never compete with a high quality fast rail service.

Hi

(PIA) Pakistan International Airlines, Boeing 747-300 AP-BFU, is returning back into the Manchester.

It is planned to operate the PK709/710 Lahore service next Wednesday, May 27th for the first time since they where banned from EU Airspace.

With ATI, there is a greater prospect of BA extracting their digits and aiding AA with restored routes to BOS and MIA at least with proper support rather then the lukewarm response when AA first operated them.