Haha this has to be a JOKE! Network Rail is transporting its staff from Reading to Coventry for a meeting by coach as the train fare is too expensive!???

Haha

Apparently the coach will cost £12 per head and the train tickets costs over £100 per head to get there! So with the number of people they are transporting they are saving thousands!

Crazy isn't it???

Those in jobs at Network Rail do not get freetravel or even any sort of discount on the trains! Complete Madness! Even those working for train companies admit they cost too much

Privatisation by the government comes to mind... Train companies are businesses, businesses need to be profitable to survive. Catch 22. The only way around cheaper tickets is to book and pay in advance - the sooner the better if that is possible. Try not to buy tickets on board if you have boarded at a station with a ticket office or a ticket machine, it costs considerably more. Most train companies have websites so you are able to check ticket prices, make a selection, pay and have tickets ahead of time.

Thats all well and true Shizara but with the prices of things like London Travel cards going up so much over the last few years booking in advance does not help! I can't believe how much prices have been hiked up over the last few years!

Some tickets prices have jumped up so much it is actually quite shocking to lil old me! And me being one of the people that often has to travel at short notice, buying tickets in advance is not one of my stronger points lol, other than that yes I agree buying in advance is definately the way to go!

I know exactly what you are saying and fully agree with you, but it seems to me that the only way to keep the cost down is the buying in advance.

I totally agree with you there it is one of the only ways and if you know in advance enough then that is what you should try and do! These advance booking prices are more along the lines of what you should be paying on a regular basis anyways in my opinion! Dont you think?

Of course, though it boggles the mind when you think about the mega millions spent on various aspects of privatisation and franchises and could it have been put to better use perhaps.

Its always the way! God knows where they have spent all the money really? I mean does any of it even make sense!

There must be a big, bottomless pit and it gets shovelled down there to appease the gods?... I guess the shareholders need appeasing too or they will take their money elsewhere..