I notice today's piece by Helen Pidd endorses an unusual direct approach:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/dec/01/why-we-must-boycott-higher-train-fares
I think that she is absolutely right; some direct action is likely to be the only way to achieve reduced rate increases under current circumstances. Of course, the fares I most often buy will increase by around 5%, so 3.1% would be a dream to me.
Unfortunately her proposal seems difficult to work. How can a guard or ticket office issue a ticket with the wrong price and get away with it? They could issue the tickets and pay in short but that brings its own set of problems.
The fact that this mindset by customers of direct attack towards the industry is a sign of the times. I remember it never used to be like this. I've seen people more motivated towards fare evasion or ticket fraud as a result of unjustifiable price increases and deterioration of service. Even whith us most all enraged, though, and with agreement from the majority that tickets aren't value for money, it seems very unlikely she will get enough people to participate in her campaign of disobedience.
Why I refuse to pay January’s unfair new train fares
There is only one thing for it. On 2 January, when the fares go up, we all need to refuse to pay the difference. A mass act of disobedience is all that will make these rail companies listen. Many stations outside major cities don’t have barriers. People can just board their trains as usual and offer the conductor the old fare. (Have exact change to make things nice and easy.) John Parker Lee, a photographer in Manchester, told me he got so fed up with delays a few years ago that he started offering 80% of the fare. The conductor never argued back. “If everyone started paying what the service is worth, and not what it demands, the network would be reformed in months,” he said.
There were 1.7bn journeys made on the railways in 2016-17 – which averages out at 4.6m a day. Even if only 1% of us took part, that would be 46,000 people causing a major headache for the mickey-takers who run our trains. We can crowdfund the legal fees for anyone they decide to make an example of. Who’s with me?
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/dec/01/why-we-must-boycott-higher-train-fares
I think that she is absolutely right; some direct action is likely to be the only way to achieve reduced rate increases under current circumstances. Of course, the fares I most often buy will increase by around 5%, so 3.1% would be a dream to me.
Unfortunately her proposal seems difficult to work. How can a guard or ticket office issue a ticket with the wrong price and get away with it? They could issue the tickets and pay in short but that brings its own set of problems.
The fact that this mindset by customers of direct attack towards the industry is a sign of the times. I remember it never used to be like this. I've seen people more motivated towards fare evasion or ticket fraud as a result of unjustifiable price increases and deterioration of service. Even whith us most all enraged, though, and with agreement from the majority that tickets aren't value for money, it seems very unlikely she will get enough people to participate in her campaign of disobedience.