| Rail Industry double speak Posted by grahame at 15:42, 8th March 2026 |     |
George Orwell - 1984 - Rail terms for 2026. Perhaps it's just my age, but I am sensing that I'm more being lectured at and less being an appreciate partner who helps pay the bills and bring business these days. We could - if we were so inclined and trusted - help explain some of the very real issues ...
| "We are going to make trains more reliable" | "We'll run trains empty, or not at all, rather than in passenger service if their stats are bad" |
| "We are going to freeze fares" | "We'll cut the numbers of tickets we sell in the lower price brackets" |
| "We'll reduce fraud" | "We won't refund unused tickets - even fully flexible ones" |
| "We'll save money" | "We will cut Sunday trains so that we have less crews to pay high weekend rates" |
| "Catering is available on the train" | "We have a trolley which will reach you just before you get off" |
| "I have asked our team to look at that" | "We don't have an answer, and you may not hear back" |
| "We have asked a passenger panel / sample" | "We have ticked the 'consulted' box" |
| "Can we take that offline?" | "That's an embarrassing question which we would like to forget" |
