Or is it East Coast trains formerly known as National Express, also formally known as GNER. With so many companies trying and inexplicably failing to turn a profit on one of the country’s busiest routes its hard to keep up with who is running the trains still. When I last caught this service the take over had been so recent that the branding hadn’t caught up yet.
I’m not entirely sure on this but from what I recall, the tracks are owned by the government, who farm out the right to run the business for the next decade or so. Naturally the contract goes to the company who will claim to make the most profit so bids are angled in that way. But heres the catch, the profits don’t go to the government but to the shareholders of the company. So once a company has the contract, they have the keep the shareholders happy. So the fares go up while the amount spent on track maintenance goes down. In the end the taxpayer looses out, paying more for less service while the profits are taken out of the railways.
Despite all the companies coming and going some things haven’t changed. The toilets are still dank, dark pits only ever to be used in moments of sheer desperation. The guards are the usual mix of hopelessly surly and unhelpful at one end, or manically cheerful types who seem on the brink of snapping. The ‘wide range of snacks and treats’ from the buffet bar are still just packets of crisps and soul-sapping soggy sandwiches.
Some things have changed in the past few years though. The trains have been wired up so you can connect to the internet, something which is very popular judging by the proliferation of laptop bearers elbowing for table room. The heaters work – far too effectively for such a mild winter day in fact. And very importantly the trains can still be cheap enough to be a viable alternative to flying.
My train ride from London to Glasgow will take 5 1/2 hours for the princely sum of £65. A flight would take about 40 minutes for £140 (more if you want to check in a bag full of Christmas presents or even just use the loo). On that basis flying seems to win out. But then you have to factor in the time taken to get to one of London’s satellite airports, checking in and getting through security, and then getting into Glasgow from the airport at the other end. All of which can mean the journey time for flying starts getting up over the 4 hour mark.
Or I could nip up to a central London station a few minutes early then sit at a table surfing the internet or watching a film for an extra 90 minutes and arrive in the middle of Glasgow – without having to strip down for airport security.
Train travel in Britain could easily become the ‘way of the future’ but it would need a serious overhaul of the current industry – toilets and all.
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