Rail companies slammed for price increases in Gloucestershire

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

The latest rail fare hike will make Britain's a ^middle class rail service' - only to be used by a minority elite who can afford it.  That is the claim of Gloucestershire rail experts, after details were released of an ^eye-watering' inflation-busting increase in ticket prices which will come into effect on January 2.
 
In Gloucestershire, where the two busiest route franchises, between South Wales and London, and the cross country service from Penzance and the South Coast to Nottingham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Aberdeen are run by First Great Western and Arriva, rail users face price hikes of six per cent for regulated tickets - those which are bought on the day of travel including most single and open return tickets.

Rather bizarrely, the article is illustrated with a picture of a Virgin Voyager. 

For the full article, see http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/headlines/Rail-companies-slammed-price-increases/article-494627-detail/article.html

[ReWind]

Perhaps FGW^▸ (First Great Western) arn't the most expensive in our region after all!!   

[G.Uard]

I hate to ride my pet hobby horse again,    but isn't this is more politically opportunistic and sloppy,  Daily Mail style 'journalism' from a group subsidiary?  Lord help us if the DMG takes over the Independent

[willc]

I hate to ride my pet hobby horse again,    but isn't this is more politically opportunistic and sloppy,  Daily Mail style 'journalism' from a group subsidiary?  Lord help us if the DMG takes over the Independent

If only they were organised enough to issue orders about this kind of thing. Editors are pretty much left to their own devices.

And I don't see what's opportunistic about it. It's reporting yet another round of eye-watering fare increases at a time when the cost of petrol is 25 per cent down from where it was in the middle of the year and inflation is falling. These decisions are down to the rail industry and the government's policies.

Sloppy? Well, if you're not an expert and the picture caption says "Cross Country train" in it, then you might well use it when the story mentions CrossCountry. Most journalists' knowledge of rail isn't that much more sophisticated than that of the general public - and the general public doesn't care who runs the trains and what the paint job is, as long as the fares aren't extortionate and they get to their destination on time.

[G.Uard]

I hate to ride my pet hobby horse again,    but isn't this is more politically opportunistic and sloppy,  Daily Mail style 'journalism' from a group subsidiary?  Lord help us if the DMG takes over the Independent

If only they were organised enough to issue orders about this kind of thing. Editors are pretty much left to their own devices.

And I don't see what's opportunistic about it. It's reporting yet another round of eye-watering fare increases at a time when the cost of petrol is 25 per cent down from where it was in the middle of the year and inflation is falling. These decisions are down to the rail industry and the government's policies.

Sloppy? Well, if you're not an expert and the picture caption says "Cross Country train" in it, then you might well use it when the story mentions CrossCountry. Most journalists' knowledge of rail isn't that much more sophisticated than that of the general public - and the general public doesn't care who runs the trains and what the paint job is, as long as the fares aren't extortionate and they get to their destination on time.

The DMG, (notorious for 'rhetorical journalism'), has an unashamed political bias throughout its empire and although there is some editorial  input, the party line is followed quite tightly.  Extortionate annual rail fare price increases have been a fact  of life since well before 1997.

 Slopppy because  XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services from the south coast, (normally considered as Sussex Hants and possibly Dorset) don't run through Gloucs.  And...services from the South West via Gloucs do not serve Nottingham directly.

[willc]

 

Slopppy because  XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services from the south coast, (normally considered as Sussex Hants and possibly Dorset) don't run through Gloucs.  And...services from the South West via Gloucs do not serve Nottingham directly.

No but the ones from Penzance do, and as I said, the reporter would be unlikely to be a rail expert and was probably taking it off a general Press Association report, which has to cover all the bases for media across the whole country, so they just lifted over whatever was said about XC.

As someone who used to work for a regional paper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust, I can be quite clear that my then editor was not under instructions to toe some line dictated from London about the rail industry, or anything else for that matter. Do not confuse the attitudes of the editor of the Daily Mail, reflected in that paper, with those of other people working for the group or papers owned by the company. I don't doubt some other editors may share some of Paul Dacre's mindset at times but they're not working to some pre-ordained script.

[G.Uard]

Slopppy because  XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services from the south coast, (normally considered as Sussex Hants and possibly Dorset) don't run through Gloucs.  And...services from the South West via Gloucs do not serve Nottingham directly.

No but the ones from Penzance do, and as I said, the reporter would be unlikely to be a rail expert and was probably taking it off a general Press Association report, which has to cover all the bases for media across the whole country, so they just lifted over whatever was said about XC.

As someone who used to work for a regional paper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust, I can be quite clear that my then editor was not under instructions to toe some line dictated from London about the rail industry, or anything else for that matter. Do not confuse the attitudes of the editor of the Daily Mail, reflected in that paper, with those of other people working for the group or papers owned by the company. I don't doubt some other editors may share some of Paul Dacre's mindset at times but they're not working to some pre-ordained script.

This shows that XC trains from Penzance do not serve Nottingham direct.  As such, sloppy journalism IMO^▸ (in my opinion).  It doesn't take more than a moment to read a route map or use the on-line timetable. Blind 'lifting' does not constitute good journalistic practice...or does it?

It would also be reasonable to argue that the 'engine' of the DMG, the 'Daily Mail' is an unashamed Conservative champion.  In the last available MORI/IOSOS data available, (2005)  57% of Daily Mail readers expressed the intention to vote Conservative and this number has probably increased.  It could thus be argued that whilst group 'owners' often stress the concept of complete regional editorial freedom,  there is evidence to suggest that the temptation, through the exercise of monopoly power in particular areas, is too great for proprietors to resist. The uniformity of reporting within the DMG supports this contention- particularly where party political matters arise. Owners will therefore use their press interests to push their own political views which are, in the main, most favourable to their business interests.


I recognise that this forum is probably not the place to conduct a debate of this nature. The point I am attempting to make is that media, (of any hue), reports do not necessarily convey the true facts and that political motives may outweigh the desire to inform without bias.

[grahame]

I recognise that this forum is probably not the place to conduct a debate of this nature. The point I am attempting to make is that media, (of any hue), reports do not necessarily convey the true facts and that political motives may outweigh the desire to inform without bias.

Maybe not ... but the point about media reporting not conveying the true facts is a very poignant one - whether it's due to policical motives (as you suspect in this case) or just plain not reading things right / making assumptions rather than checking.  We have certainly had cases here (and one very particular recent one comes to mind) where "the press" has misquoted this forum in such a way that the resulting article was factually in error.

[willc]

This shows that XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) trains from Penzance do not serve Nottingham direct.  As such, sloppy journalism IMO^▸ (in my opinion).  It doesn't take more than a moment to read a route map or use the on-line timetable. Blind 'lifting' does not constitute good journalistic practice...or does it?

What I meant, and I think it was really pretty obvious, was that XC trains from Penzance serve Gloucestershire. And you can of course use a Cardiff-Nottingham XC train from both Cheltenham and Gloucester, but this story is about fare rises, not the finer details of where XC trains run. The wording could have been clearer but it is hardly as disastrous as you seem to suggest. And as I said, most people don't give a damn who runs the trains, they just want to get to their chosen destinations. End of story.

I still don't get where all the political bias is supposed to be in this report. You could go through newspaper and BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) web reports from all over the country on the fare rises, which all make the same broad points. Or are they all part of a giant conspiracy too? Not that I know what the conspiracy is. Is Severnside Rail Future some front organisation for DMGT's world view? I think many people on this forum would share David Redwell's views of government policy towards the railways, but that doesn't mean we're Tory stooges.

And does anyone actually think that 11% fare rises are a good thing? Did they actually get things wrong about the fare rises?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hello, again - it's me, who seems to have inadvertently started this debate! 

My original post, with a link to the local Gloucestershire news item, included my personal observation that the picture they chose was not necessarily relevant to those TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) who are currently running services through that county.

That's not a problem: merely, within the context of users of this forum, I quizzically suggested it was a 'rather bizarre' choice of an illustration?

I'm careful not to include political opinion in my posts of news items, for just this reason!

Chris 

[G.Uard]

Chris, I take your point.  Problem is, railways and politics are inextricably linked and sometimes it can be difficult to keep the political dimension at bay. However, no one can say that these boards do not provoke reasonable and civilised discussion.  IMO^▸ (in my opinion), a refreshing change in cyberland.


For my part, I propose to willc that we agree to differ in this debate and move on.  That said, an old lecturer once told me that when 2 people agree, one of them has stopped thinking.  (He went on extended sick leave soon after).