No more bunking trains?

[Westdene Wonder]

Richard Branson should take a long hard look at the Japanese Rail system. He could learn a bloody lot.

I'm dreading the day I have to move back to the UK.

Could not agree more,spent a month in Japan making many rail journeys,trains on time,clean and fast and you dont take liberties with their staff

 

[Beach Hut]

Christ, you were a wanker as far back as 2003.

Possibly but a certainty is you've been a racialist a hell of a lot longer

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I find it's only Virgin Cross Country that always actually check tickets regularly. With most other providers I usually wonder why on earth I bothered.
I guess cutting staff numbers on trains is only going to reduce the amount of ticket checks all the more.

Indeed, fare evasion has never been easier on Southern and rightly so, even more so on the replacement buses where the drivers aren't even interested in whether you've got a ticket or not. I used to keep an out of date one handy to hold up as I got on, but I don't even bother doing that anymore.

In related news - buying a TV licence is a mug's game, don't waste your money.

 

[Puppet Master]

So that's solved the mystery of why Danny Seagull was in Aldrington.

Banging this girl who's real name is Emily.

I don't think this ever actually happened if I'm honest. Granted my memory barely stretches 5 minutes let alone 13 years but I've no recollection of ever getting fined on a train!

 

[Solid at the back]

Bunk the train regularly. Been fined 3 times, appealed one of them and received a cheque for £17.

 

[Colonel Angus]

What's going on with Charlie Sheen on the far right?

 

[alfredmizen]

Possibly but a certainty is you've been a racialist a hell of a lot longer

Wow, that stung, it will be a long time before argue with you again.

 

[portslade seagull]

Used to bunk the trains all the time following the Albion in the Div 1 days.

 

[Deadly Danson]

Lots of platform staff. Don't need guards then?

Plenty of both as I recall from my trip out there. Nice and efficient.

 

[Garage_Doors]

In related news - buying a TV licence is a mug's game, don't waste your money.

Tell me more. how do you overcome this if you are a owner/occupier of a house/flat/bungalow/cottage etc?

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Tell me more. how do you overcome this if you are a owner/occupier of a house/flat/bungalow/cottage etc?

Easy for me, I don't watch TV. Two households I know who do watch TV haven't paid for one in over ten years, writing back when they get the annual letter, reconfirming that they don't watch TV and they've never had so much as a knock at the door. The whole system of licensing is a joke in any case.

Edit - further to the above, I'm not sure that TV Licence bods have any legal right to enter a private home in any case, unless you invite them in.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

I've been in Tokyo way too long.

Tickets for any form of train travel here is so easy and painless, it's almost untrue.

None of this Special Saver or use only at certain times stuff. They have the prices to each destination on the boards above the ticket machines in the stations, so it's just one fare and thats it. No nonsense stuff. The only ticket offices thay have are for the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) and with the usual Japanese efficiency you're in and out in no time.

Plus the fact that you cannot get to the platforms without a ticket as the ticket barriers are automated. So you purchase a ticket to get in and you must have that ticket to get out. If your ticket doesn't cover the fare of the journey, the ticket barriers won't let you out, until you've been to the Fare Adjustment machines and paid the difference.

Plus the fact that no self-respecting Japanese person would ever cheat the train companies anyway.

Oh yeah, the trains also run on time as well, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. They may be expensive, but it's definately a price worth paying.

This is the same in China and one of few things that run perfectly. Clear and cheap price, same for everyone, no delays or cancellations, clean and modern and same price for the line I use no matter what time of day or night. Just you have to get a little red stamp from an old guy who thinks he's a cop every time you go through a barrier as everyone needs a job they can sit on their bum or on their phone all day not thinking, so that the economy works. Often there will be 2 guys watching the guy with the stamp and 2 guys on their phones ready to replace them in half an hour.