The proposed brand-new rail link......

[Dottie1943]

BigAl

I know what you are saying and would love to see it happening, however, it's not "we" who. Have to change its "them" and they are not worried about us only their bank balances

[granny bee]

Some of the ticket prices quoted recently will make it prohibitive for most pensioners to travel on it anyway!!

[Papaumau]

Yes Big Al...I agree !

As governments and companies are pressurised by cost to stop the "small is beautiful" for "the big is beautiful" - and more efficient - ethos this means that many more people are forced to travel that did not before.

Even when we see lots of people now doing work from home on computers that in the olden days used to have to travel to use a company computer these new-age workers are only a tiny tip of a massive iceberg of commuters.

Because most people are now forced to commute we see the TOCs ( Train operating companies ), taking advantage of this captive audience and making them pay very high travel-rates that they cannot avoid.

[avalonmpk2]

Spend the money on ultra high speed internet then the will be far less necessity to travel and less pollution and more importantly fewer accidents and fewer strikes.

[Oldtimer]

Apparently it will take 14 years before anyone can travel on it at speed?
They will have to install a steam catapult at Euston station to stop it when it reaches London?

[Maisie]

Yes Big Al...I agree !

As governments and companies are pressurised by cost to stop the "small is beautiful" for "the big is beautiful" - and more efficient - ethos this means that many more people are forced to travel that did not before.

Even when we see lots of people now doing work from home on computers that in the olden days used to have to travel to use a company computer these new-age workers are only a tiny tip of a massive iceberg of commuters.

Because most people are now forced to commute we see the TOCs ( Train operating companies ), taking advantage of this captive audience and making them pay very high travel-rates that they cannot avoid.

My ex-husband (deceased) once had a contract of employment that required him to live within 12 miles of his place of employment.

I myself have, in the past, travelled 40 miles to work - by car - as there were no buses or trains from my home town to where I worked. And I know a number of people who commute over 100 miles to London.

Given the current road congestion, poor train services, and pollution problems, I think there may something to be said for requiring a person to live close to his/her place of  employment on appointment to a new job. Local government, and some private sector employers, pay relocation costs - though the amount does not cover the cost of moving from a place where property is high low cost to one where it is much more expensive.

[BigAl]

I see Nottingham City Council is putting a workplace parking levy in force from April. This supposedly is to pay for future public transport improvements. The problem is the companies or their employees are picking up this tab now and may never see these future benefits and bear in mind the company is in all probability paying rates on these parking spaces already. One company boss interviewed said they wouldn’t be passing on the charge to their employees to pay from their pay packets. But, he said that they’d set on four apprentices last year and were hoping to employ another this year, but not now. Perhaps a lot of hot air, who knows, but you can see the downside to this sort of thing. During these hard times you can’t keep pushing more and more expense onto small companies and their employees.
The proposed cost for each of these parking spaces is likely to be £288 per year to start with rising to £??? who knows in years to come.

[Papaumau]

Big Al.....

This is just another example of entities cashing in on a "captive audience".

With the government allowing the TOCs to bang up prices all over the place and the people that have parking space available for the use of commuters charging unreal parking rates we are getting caught between "a rock and a hard place".

With "punishments" like these being laid on our heads just because we want to get to work there is little we can do about the situation.