Hm Forces Railcard

[foldingwings]

Just renewed a Forces Railcard for the princely sum of £10 for the year; good value for money, I reckon, but why the 400% increase in price from last year!!!!!

And when did they announce that :mad: stealth tax?

Foldy

[Tombstone]

Blame the southern railway companies, they've cut the subsidies & forced the Rail Card prices up.

[MG]

It's going up to £12.50 in November.

[Vim_Fuego]

Coincidence...Just about to go do mine...Do you still need just 1 photo?

[foldingwings]

Just take the old photocard, it's good for life!

Foldy

[LFFC]

IIRC, the cuts to leave travel allowances that were made several years ago were softened by our ability to get free rail travel cards. So this is just another example of erosion of our overall pay and allowances package. Oh, if only we had someone to fight for us! At the moment our "package" seems to be under attack from all sides and who do we have to represent us?! :ooh:

[Wader2]

The increased costs of the cards was in SROs several months ago and I opted out.

The provision of 'free' rail cards is a commercial consideration by the rail companies who agreed to carry on this concession originally set up with BR. They were under no obligation to offer the cards and, like National Bus, clearly see a business case for the concession.

As I, and I am sure many others, had the card purely as a standby they were not getting any profit from me, hence the need to increase the fee. Next time I need a card I shall apply for one at the time.

[Two's in]

I'd completely forgotten how much leave you get in the Military. Clearly you would need it all to even consider trying to get anywhere by train these days.

[Prop-Ed]

Has anybody recently managed to obtain the Forces National Express bus card?

I had one years ago but recently enquiring at PSF I was told they didn't know how to get hold of them, if indeed they are even still issued.

[The Gorilla]

Oh really and how would you know being in the states?
Tried to use our road system to go anywhere lately?
:eek:

[Two's in]

Gorilla,

As a youngster, years of trying to get between exotic places like Gloucester and Oakington by rail scarred me sufficiently and the privatization of the network simply made a piss-poor service unworkable. As for the roads, the A303 roundabout at Amesbury on any given Friday afternoon, the old A1 Doncaster roundabout before they "motorwayed" it; and of course the glory and majesty of the M25 between the M3 and the M4 at any time, are just some of the highlights of the UK's transport infrastructure that made my decision to move somewhere with a lot less traffic that much easier. Every time I am back in the UK on business it takes the 12 miles going from Gatwick to the M25 to remind me how much the transport system sucks. Mind you, that is somewhat balanced by the fact that every tw*t on the roads over here is a congenital idiot with a death wish.

[The Gorilla]

Two
Can't really disagree with that, round my way the roads are full of Iraqi and Kurds who buy a cheapcar for £100. They don't insure, tax or MOT it neither do they bother with a licence. When the odd thick policeman actually catches one they end up with a £40 fine! Not going to tax or MOT mine from now on!!

Trains are improving though somewhat slowly. In excess of £10 billion of purely public money is being thrown at it yearly as well as some private TOC cash.

Pax numbers are up by 4% PA and in my area 6 to 7% PA, that's a lot of people not on the roads!
:D

[Vim_Fuego]

I think we reside not far from each other Gorilla...

I too am sick of playing dodgems with the rest of the world that has moved nearby so next week I'm taking the train!

Now armed with railcard it's cost me £43 to get to the Lakes and back...If I drove it would be circa £70...

There are no changes and I'll get in 2.45 hours later...If it's delayed I won't much mind as it has historically taken me up to 6 hours of joy in my car via the M6 car park...

I will be partaking of a beverage and some cheesy combustibles and may even stretch my legs...Difficult to do in my car unless I pull into 'Stand and Deliver' services...

Its been a while but to be honest I'm looking forward to it...Can't be any worse than the motorways these days?

[Two's in]

I was in Abbotsford, Canada, the other week which is about 30 miles East of Vancouver. My colleague dropped me off at the bus stop, 12 minutes later the bus took me 5 miles to the monorail station, where I caught the monorail to downtown Vancouver. Took me 42 minutes to go 28 miles and all for $8 CDN (and it was all relatively new and clean). Now I know its a bit unfair to compare the UK with the engineering and transport infrastructure might of Canada, but I couldn't help thinking that here is a country that is trying to get people around by using public transport sensibly. More importantly, the other passengers were not care in the community cases or tramps, unlike in the USA.

Now all the old bastards quote the damage done by Dr Beeching's cuts to the rail network, which is undoubtedly true, but it was also 40 frickin' years ago! Could some Government in the intervening period not have thought about reactivating/building some of those branch lines that used to provide such a sterling service?

Sorry to ramble, I'll get my tartan flask and anorak and get the numbers of those trains that don't run anymore.

TI

[trap one]

Can't get most of the line back cause some git has built housing over parts of it. Either that or some by pass has taken the track bed and you know how long it takes to get expansion approved by gov and planning and green groups. Just look at cross rail. By the way as no longer qualified for Rail card I travel up M4 from Bristol to Slough and its actually cheaper to use the car. Plus as I am Network R@il and joined after R@iltrack finished I don't get any perks at all from travel. Unless you count 40% off season ticket of £6600 but in actuality limited to a Max of £2260 not £2640, And even then it would still be cheaper to use the car.
PS whatch ya Gorilla if you ever make it to my patch, boy are you lost!!:ok:
Trap One

[DON T]

I'm fast approaching 60. Enquiries with railways for return jourmey to London, which takes 1 hour each way, produce cost of between £37 and £82. Enquiiries with National Express for same, journey 2 hours each way, £7.85 return. No contest and you get a bus lane on the M4 past Heathrow.

[The Gorilla]

Aye up trap one knowing you as I do I have told all my mates to avoid your PSB!
I thought you guys got the same free travel perks as us non protected guys?

We only built the railway in the first place by plundering the world's wealth, we called it Empire! The latest cost analysis for a new line to go from London to somewhere in t'north would cost an entire years Defence Budget!
:{

[BEagle]

And, DON T, you also get a guaranteed seat which is more than you get on the apology for a railway system these days.....

Occasionally I have to go up to The Smoke; however, it is impossible to park at the local railway stations so I have to drive to Didcot.... Car park and cheap day return (including tube travel) is £24 which is fine - except for the dreadful service back again in the evening!

[Pontius Navigator]

so I have to drive to Didcot.... Car park and cheap day return (including tube travel) is £24 which is fine - except for the dreadful service back again in the evening!

Or you could use the Oxford tube and park your car at the side of the road.

[BEagle]

Oh sure...... Park the car on the side of the road for some ne'er do well to steal. Great idea, that.

First try actually getting to Oxford - or preferably past it! Driving to Didcot is on back roads, so the trip is reasonably easy. The useless, non-integrated travel system in the UK doesn't have buses which meet trains either, so if I walked to the bus stop it'd be pot luck as to whether the bus could get me to the Cotswold line station on time....and there are few trains from there. Oxford itself? YGBSM!!

Back to the topic of Forces rail travel, one used to be able to buy 'Forces Leave' tickets at a substantial discount (about 33% off) but that perk disappeared when the military salary came in.

[Pontius Navigator]

Beagle, just to be sure, I was of course joking. I was fl*bb*rg*st*d when I saw it. Mrs PN explained the principle as we purred past in a German 6-cyclinder.:)

[vecvechookattack]

I have to admit to giving up on the railcard. I travelled from Plymouth to London over summer leave and used the megatrain for the first time. IT had been recommended to me by an oppo who uses it regularly. I couldn't believe the price they quoted me.....Plymouth to Waterloo for....£1 yep, a quid. Brilliant.

[The Gorilla]

Beagle

A misconception I am afraid, national rail condition of carriage - you don't buy a seat when you purchase a ticket! You merely purchase a right to go from A to Z possibly via B to Y at some point within that day!

Neither are we here to provide you with a service, yet another misconception. The travelling public are allowed to pay for the privilege of travelling by rail in order to satisfy the demands of the TOC shareholders. Of which, of course, I am one!! Hee hee...
:O

[trap one]

Gorilla
Who in their right mind would want to travel through my blighted patch if they didn't have to. Reading security alert completely scr£wed up whole of Sat night service. As for Prive cards/free travel not a jot mate. Union just got 40% rise from 25% for season tickets to travel to work only, (min 6 months) on last pay deal. Goal of 75% on all rail travel, would welcome that but would love to get your benifits.
Still just applied for Bristol PSB, that will make the traveling a lot less of a pain.

Don't do any more SPADing
Trap one

[MarkD]

Two's in - Vancouver transit cops are armed so I guess they have their problems too :D

Here in Toronto they have transit beyond the dreams of a lot of cities - subway, suburban train, streetcar, light rail and bus and they never stop complaining :D :D :D

[The Gorilla]

Trap

He SPADed me again 2 weeks later on a check ride with a senior manager! Same bloke can you believe it??

I didn't realise that matey!
TF

[Cumbrian Fell]

Disappointed to hear that the cards are going up, but they do represent VFM. I am a 'weekday bachelor' and commute to Town by train - 700 miles return for £46 - good value in anyone's books. However, there are many other good deals around (but generally don't fall into the commuter times) where the card doesn't apply. The ticket collectors (sorry 'Train Managers') tend to be lenient if you ahve a 'HMF' card if the expiry date of the ticket is frighteningly close, as well.

[TheBeeKeeper]

Other benefits
You will also have access to a number of generous benefits, including:
Free rail travel within a 70-mile radius of London
Sports and social clubs and facilities
Housing and accommodation support
Professional advice on health, welfare and safety issues
It is also possible to work part-time or flexible hours and we are happy to make provision for instances such as maternity and paternity leave, adoption leave, career breaks and sick leave.


This is with reference to joining the MET Police.... nightmare difficult job I know, but notice the free rail travel within 70-mile radius of London!

I also particularly like the reference to sick leave.... it's not leave!!! Reminds me of the civil service who know HRMS won't flag up their sick absence until an accumulated total of 14 days sick!

Rant Over

TBK

[angels]

Beekeeper - Must take issue with you on the sick leave bit.

Earlier this year I was suffering from depression and got a place in hospital (I suppose you could call it a loony bin!) where the treatment would take two weeks. I didn't have any leave left.

My work colleagues and bosses were tremendously supportive (as were the folks on JB!) and immediately said 'head off to hospital, don't worry about the time off.' It was called sick leave and I needed it.

I think that's what the Met police phrase means.

I'm sure the Forces give sick leave to people affected by PTSD after serving in Iraq/Afghanistan etc, so perhaps the phrase isn't as daft as it initially sounds.

Not sure about the 70-mile rail travel bit though!

[trap one]

Trap

He SPADed me again 2 weeks later on a check ride with a senior manager! Same bloke can you believe it??

I didn't realise that matey!
TF

Gorilla
Bit lucky otherwise you'd probabley got down and SPADed him.:ugh:
And yes I can some of the blokes in the boxes ain't the sharpest in the drawer. Probabley on a par with Rock Apes/Snowdrops.

[TheBeeKeeper]

angels,

Sorry to hear about your depression earlier this year... but you have only reinforced the point I was trying to make! There are people such as yourself that really need the time off! You were in hospital, and fair play to you, I hope you are feeling a whole lot better for your time away from work!

My point (maybe not very well made) is such that civil servants have annual leave every year, but on top of the 'normal' annual leave, they know that nothing would be said until an accumulated total of 14 days sick (self certified I believe) had accrued. Now I am not for a minute suggesting that all civil servants are cast in the same mould, but from what I have seen, the system of having 'sick leave' is abused!

Slightly drifted off from the main thread here I fear, so to get back on track.... the 70 miles radius free rail travel for MET Police? Yes, a Cpl in my section has a partner who works for the MET, lives in Bedford and has free rail travel, not only for the work journeys, but for any other journey within 70 miles of work location!

TBK

[angels]

TBK - Ah! Got ya now.

The 'sick leave' I got was the result of the kindness of my company and colleagues, it's certainly not a 'right' per se!

14 days eh? That's nearly three full five day weeks!

[Kidderminster Kid]

Was flying out of KWRI in New Jersey earlier this year. The local rail company allowed us Brits travel the hour to and from NY for free on production of our F1250s!! :ok:

[A2QFI]

"The ticket collectors (sorry 'Train Managers'". On Southern Connect, or whatever Thameslink has morphed into, they are called "Revenue Protection Officers"