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October 21, 2005
The system is overcomplex - no wonder some odd things happen
I travelled one stop on the train - from Keynsham to Bristol - yesterday morning. The tracks over which I travelled are owned by Network Rail - that's a government owned sorta-quango that's set up in such a way that its assets don't actually appear in government stats. I bought my ticket from Wessex Trains - they're a part of the National Express group. I travelled on a train operated by South West Trains - they're part of the Stagecoach group. And I arrived at a station at which my ticket was checked upon exit by First Great Western. The whole shooting match is administered by the Department for Transport who have taken over in the last few months from the Strategic Rail Authority, and the whole shooting match is regulated by the Office of the Rail Regulator.
I dread to think how much of my 3 pound fare for the six minute ride was spend in allocating my payment around between the 10 names I have quoted.
And I think it's little wonder that with such an overcomplex system that services being specified for the future are being criticised as inappropriate in Bicester, in Cornwall, in Westbury, and in Melksham.
Posted by gje at October 21, 2005 06:08 AM