Great Western Coffee Shop

Frustrated commuters have now had enough, and a national day of action is now planned on 3rd Jan. Riots are predicted as scores of angry commuters are expected to refuse to pay and storm the barriers. TOCs are bracing themselves for "nightmare conditions" and are advising customers not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Parliament has been recalled in emergency, and it is expected that unprecedented powers are to be used to allow reclaim control of the rails.

http://www.bringbackbritishrail.org/
http://www.farefail.org/

Shame I've already paid for my fare to London on the 3rd! ;D

I know you and it doesn't surprise me.. :)

Also I posted what I did as ChrisB had asked for the previous post to be removed (I think) by saying "Please Remove".. He seems to now have removed his "Please Remove" comment which now makes what I wrote seem a bit strange.. oh well.. ::) (I'm pretty sure I didn't dream it up  ;D)

You just need to weigh up (get the calculator out!) whether 1 or 2 days less validity on that Season still represents a saving versus the increased prices valid from Jan 2nd.

As for the calculator.. once you get to my age it's best not to rely on the brain (regardeless of degree  ::) ::))

Or apparently, spell check....  :P ;) ;D

Really sorry Jo. I was momentarily possessed by TerminalJunkie....  :-X

(I don't even know who them is!)

Registrant ID:MNTAB65359048
Registrant Name:Ellie Harrison
Registrant Organization:bringbackbritishrail.org
Registrant Street1:Flat 2
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Glasgow
Registrant State/Province:Lanarkshire
Registrant Postal Code:G20 6NH
Registrant Country:GB
Registrant Phone:+44.7929565855
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:info@bringbackbritishrail.org

Is there any information about this (potential) "protest"?

Campaign for Better Transport is taking part in a day of commuter action on January 3 when people will be tweeting, texting or calling George Osbourne to show their anger at fare rises. To take part go to www.farefail.org

It's not that hard to find:

THOUSANDS JOIN RAIL FARES REVOLT

Thousands of protesters will this week stage a nationwide revolt against rail fare increases, with some prepared to break the law if necessary.

As Britain returns to work after the holidays, commuters already struggling to meet travel costs are bracing themselves for an average six per cent increase.

Some travellers will be paying as much as eight per cent more than they were before the Christmas break.

Now passenger groups, campaigners, unions and environmentalists are joining together to show their anger at what they see as the great rail rip-off.

Some opponents of the increases are using social media sites to register commuters^ discontent direct with Chancellor George Osborne.

Others are advocating mass civil disobedience which could cause serious disruption at mainline stations in London and other major cities.

From flash mobs organised via social networking sites to fare strikes where travellers refuse to show their tickets, tens of thousands of travellers will take the fight to the Government and train companies.

Organisations involved in a commuter-led day of action on Tuesday include environmental campaigners Climate Rush, the transport union TSSA, and the Campaign for Better Transport. The call for ^fair fares^ will see protesters converge on St Pancras Station in London. Those who cannot be there are being called on to tweet, text or call Mr Osborne to show their anger at fare rises.

A letter sent to national newspapers will also publicise the protest. The 22 signatories include MPs, actress Jenny Agutter, comedian Josie Long and celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Some of the groups within the protest coalition are hoping to channel rail users^ resentment into more direct action, including a fare strike and fare dodging.

Tamsin Omond, of Climate Rush, said: ^We are expecting a lot of support on Tuesday because of the anger at what is happening. We want to harness that anger and build it up to a major day of action and civil diso^bedience on Thursday. Some of our supporters will be refusing to pay, but as well as fare dodging other people will be encouraged to go ^on strike^ and not to show their tickets.^

Tom Condon, of the TSSA, said details of any planned protests would not be made public ^until they happen^. He added: ^We will not advocate breaking the law but what we have planned at a number of London^s biggest stations will certainly cause problems.^

Last week the Campaign for Better Transport revealed some passengers are paying three and a half times more for their season tickets than in other European countries.

The Association of Train Operating Companies says fare rises are necessary to continue much-needed investment in rail and Tube services. The Government is determined that passengers, rather than taxpayers, will bear more of the cost.

The Department for Transport said: ^We recognise the pressure on family budgets and that^s why we announced that 2012 regulated rail fares will rise by an average of inflation plus one per cent.^

Re dummy Postcode unless you purchase the PAF (Postcode Address File) from the Post Office at a considerable price(plus update costs) there is no way of validating a Postcode.

Unless you look each one up manually and then you are only allowed a couple of free searches at a time.

I don't get all the sensationalist headlines.

Ministers ready to 'review' next year's train fare rises
Ministers are ready to reconsider plans for steep train fare rises over the next two years, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The price of rail season tickets, which are controlled by the Government, are due to rise by three per cent above inflation in 2013 and 2014 under current Treasury spending plans.

But the Daily Telegraph has learned that these rises, which were announced shortly after the Coalition took office, are ^not set in stone^ and are being kept ^under constant review^.

Commuters are already facing an average six per cent rise this week in the cost of their season tickets.

The increase would have been higher but for the intervention of Justine Greening, shortly after she became Transport Secretary.

Her predecessor, Philip Hammond, drew criticism when he described rail travel as a ^rich man^s toy^.

However Ms Greening won a major concession from the Treasury and the increase was scaled back to one per cent above inflation rather than three per cent as originally planned.

This meant that the cost of commuting, which is capped by the Government, rose by an average of six per cent, rather than eight per cent.

However with commuters on some routes facing rises approaching 10 per cent, there has been mounting anger from passengers, despite the concession.

Some are planning to block the Treasury^s switchboard in protest, while others are threatening to use Twitter to deluge George Osborne, the Chancellor, with tweets.

As the next election approaches pressure is likely to increase for more Treasury support to water down the following two years^ fare rises.

With the commuter belt housing many marginal constituencies, the issue of season ticket fare rises is likely to become politically sensitive.

Ms Greening has sought to win commuters^ backing with a series of announcements including extra carriages for people travelling into London from the Sussex coast and returning one of Eurostar^s Waterloo platforms to domestic use.

Nevertheless the cost of rail travel is also a difficult one for the Coalition with the Liberal Democrats having fought the election on a pledge to make it cheaper to use the trains.

There is also understood to be some unease among Tory MPs at the political damage high fare rises could do in the run up to the next election.

In the long term the Government says its plans improve the efficiency of the rail industry could make annual fare rises a thing of the past.

But this will depend on implementing recommendations made by Sir Roy McNulty, who told the Government that there was scope to cut 30 per cent from rail^s running costs.

The prospect of a rethink was welcomed by Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport.

"Any suggestion that the Government may retreat on the eye-watering rail fares rises planned for future years will be welcomed by hard-pressed commuters, who are making their anger known today at this year's rise by blitzing the Treasury with phone calls, tweets and texts,^ he said.

^A retreat would also make good political sense: we've calculated that up to 50 marginal constituencies have high proportions of rail commuters and could be at risk at the next election".
 

Should've bought it yesterday, and got it pre-increase!

There's always the wonderful, luxurious 1st Class accommodation on the Turbos.....

 :-X