adam277:
That’s insane. No wonder there are so many cars on the road…
Think I’m gonna by a little 125cc to commute on they can do like 100 mpg and can be had for a bag of sand.
If you do, a little advice from a lifelong biker. If you don’t already have a full motorcycle licence, you’ll have to do CBT training to even get on the road, no matter if you’ve got every other licence under the sun. That ticket only lasts for two years after which you’ve got to either have passed your A2 test or you have to do CBT again. The CBT alone will set you back £100 or so, then there’s the cost of training and taking your A2 test on top.
If you haven’t got proper riding gear, that’s another couple of hundred quid at least; like anything else you only gets what you paid for and cheap bike suits leak, so as well as the jacket and trousers, gloves and lid you’ll also need a decent oversuit;and a pair of bike boots while you’re at it.
Now to the bike; yes they can be picked up cheap but again yer gets what yer pays for. Basically, you should avoid anything that isn’t a Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki or Yamaha; pretty much everything else is Chinese crap and won’t outlive its warranty. You’ve also got to service it and keep it in tyres, chains, brake pads, etc.
If it’s purely for commuting, I wouldn’t even bother with a bike; modern scooters are so much better suited to the job. To get set up with decent kit that ain’t going to break down every five minutes will set you back two grand. If the weather’s so pants that you can’t or won’t ride the scoot to work, you need to factor that in and there’s more days like that than most people imagine.
Still think a bike’s going to be cheaper? 
kcrussell25:
adam277:
I considered it very briefly due to stupid fuel prices and wanting a break from the road.
I only live 10 miles from work so figured it would be cheap…
£35 a week!!! Works out like £1700 a year.
That’s insane. No wonder there are so many cars on the road…
Think I’m gonna by a little 125cc to commute on they can do like 100 mpg and can be had for a bag of sand.
That’s my little rant for the day.
I don’t know how relevant it is but considering how the government want to get vehicles off the road due to emissions maybe they should just renationalize the railways to provide the public with a viable means of public transportation.
Failing that just do the popularist thing and blame it all on trucks to appease the masses by making it harder for them to do the deliveries we are increasingly making at the click of a button.
/Rant.
Is 35p per mile bad really? No tax, insurance, mot, maintenance and depreciation to factor in. Are you in a city as thats always more expensive?
I am only 35 so can’t remember British rail but I don’t think nationalization is the way as the main way to bring fairs down would be to subsidise from taxes. Why should I and others then pay to reduce the cost of your commute when we may not have the option of a train ourselves?
You already subside the Railways
actionforrail.org/the-four-big-m … atisation/
Conor:
Fincham:
The question I always ask is “Why in this age of technology and advanced communications do people travel miles every day to work to use a computer and phone when it could probably be done in an office far closer to their home?”
Economies of scale. Its far cheaper to run one big office than several small ones.
So office space in big cities works out cheaper than in the suburbs. If you employ people in London it costs more in office and salary costs than it does in most other cities and certainly more than in provincial towns.
Conor:
Fincham:
The question I always ask is “Why in this age of technology and advanced communications do people travel miles every day to work to use a computer and phone when it could probably be done in an office far closer to their home?”
Economies of scale. Its far cheaper to run one big office than several small ones.
I think more people could work from home.
Take for example call center operatives, all they do is read off computer screens and input data into them. Could very feasibly be done from a work phone & computer based at your own home, yet call centre car parks are full of hundreds of cars.
Conor:
adam277:
I considered it very briefly due to stupid fuel prices and wanting a break from the road.
I only live 10 miles from work so figured it would be cheap…
£35 a week!!! Works out like £1700 a year.
That’s insane. No wonder there are so many cars on the road…
That’s my little rant for the day.
The problem with your train of thought is you’ve only considered the cost of fuel.
Now consider:
Tyre wear at 0.5-1p per mile.
Servicing at 1-2p per mile.
Insurance
Road Tax
MOT
Repairs
Any finance costs
ANNUAL DEPRECIATION OF YOUR CAR’S VALUE
If going by train meant you didn’t need to own a car, you’d save all of that lot. The last item in that list could easily cost you more a year than the £1700 a year train tickets. For example I bought my car at 2 years old for £8500, its worth 6 years later £1800. Its depreciated £1,116 a year but only because I’ve owned it until its 8 years old. The car was £24k new so the first owner lost at least £8,000 a year in depreciation so suddenly when you factor that in all of a sudden £1700 looks a bargain.
Consider the fact if he keeps the cycle for 5 years, he will still have a sellable assest at the end … where’s as the train is 8500 down the drain, doesn’t take you from door to door, don’t have to wait for delays or cancellations … The train doesn’t give privacy … or take him to works doorstep etc… so as for a depreciating assest … a vehicle always has value.
discoman:
Consider the fact if he keeps the cycle for 5 years, he will still have a sellable assest at the end … where’s as the train is 8500 down the drain, doesn’t take you from door to door, don’t have to wait for delays or cancellations … The train doesn’t give privacy … or take him to works doorstep etc… so as for a depreciating assest … a vehicle always has value.
However, he doesn’t have to pay for RFL, MOT, insurance, servicing, fuel, tyres, and a host of other incidentals. Realistically it very much depends on individual circumstances as to whether doing without a car actually works for you. I couldn’t survive without some means of personal transport, even if it was only a motorcycle; but then again I live in a semi-rural area by choice.
Twenty five years ago, I was foolish enough to get done for drink drive and had an enforced twelve month break from driving. That ban brought home to me how much we are dependent on personal transport in this day and age, and how much losing it affects your life and more importantly your independence.
and once you’ve bought you’re yearly train ticket , if you park your car at the railway station , you have to factor in the daily parking charge, at wellingborough railway station it currently £9 per day.
and if you want to go to beford in the morning they put you on a bus and if you want to come back in the afternoon they put you on a bus . so this bus does one way trips only . it does actually drop people off from bedford in the afternoon , then legs it empty back to bedford.
Should also be noted motorcycles hold there value rather well compared to a car.
So the tax payer is still paying for the railways but the private businesses collect all the profits?
I’m all for privatisation for example the royal mail should of been privatised ages ago as the private sector have been doing a far more effective job at delivering parcels for ages.
I think we should just fully privatise it and embark on a major redevelopment of the railways to improve speed, reliability and coverage to people not inside the m25 zone.
I’m on a mobile atm but just look at china’s train system all the major cities are well connected fast and cheap. Heck if I wanted to go from Hong Kong to Beijing I could do it for less then £100 that’s over 2000km BTW.
Or If I wanted to only do 100km guangzhou to shenzhen that is about £10
For a simple 10 mile commute your looking at like 50p.
Government would never do it though as it takes them years to get anything done or eve put before the house. Im sure Hs2 would of took a tenth of the time if it was done in China or any of the other emerging asain countries. Thailand pretty good as well.
Also I think the people in charge want to keep the north south disconnect firmly in place.
Also first class in China or over asain countries is actually first class service whereas here all it means is you are guaranteed a seat…
adam277:
So the tax payer is still paying for the railways but the private businesses collect all the profits?
Yes, that’s how UK privatisiation seems to work.
adam277:
I think we should just fully privatise it and embark on a major redevelopment of the railways to improve speed, reliability and coverage to people not inside the m25 zone.
I’m on a mobile atm but just look at china’s train system all the major cities are well connected fast and cheap. Heck if I wanted to go from Hong Kong to Beijing I could do it for less then £100 that’s over 2000km BTW.
Or If I wanted to only do 100km guangzhou to shenzhen that is about £10
For a simple 10 mile commute your looking at like 50p.
I think you’ll find that both China and Tailands railways are state owned and you do know the average wage in China is far lower than the UK, so that £100 equivelant fare is actaully quite expensive for your average chinese worker.
adam277:
Government would never do it though as it takes them years to get anything done or eve put before the house. Im sure Hs2 would of took a tenth of the time if it was done in China or any of the other emerging asain countries. Thailand pretty good as well.
Also I think the people in charge want to keep the north south disconnect firmly in place.
It’s probably far easier to get a rail system built through a country when you don’t have to worry about things like democratic process, planning regulations or legal challenges. 
And to address Adam’s other point: private small parcels and letters are doing a good job around busy cities and well populated areas. They don’t do such a good or cheap job as Royal Mail in less densely populated areas. Giving them free rein to cherry pick some work and ignore other work would the London vs Rest divide deeper still.
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discoman:
kcrussell25:
adam277:
I considered it very briefly due to stupid fuel prices and wanting a break from the road.
I only live 10 miles from work so figured it would be cheap…
£35 a week!!! Works out like £1700 a year.
That’s insane. No wonder there are so many cars on the road…
Think I’m gonna by a little 125cc to commute on they can do like 100 mpg and can be had for a bag of sand.
That’s my little rant for the day.
I don’t know how relevant it is but considering how the government want to get vehicles off the road due to emissions maybe they should just renationalize the railways to provide the public with a viable means of public transportation.
Failing that just do the popularist thing and blame it all on trucks to appease the masses by making it harder for them to do the deliveries we are increasingly making at the click of a button.
/Rant.
Is 35p per mile bad really? No tax, insurance, mot, maintenance and depreciation to factor in. Are you in a city as thats always more expensive?
I am only 35 so can’t remember British rail but I don’t think nationalization is the way as the main way to bring fairs down would be to subsidise from taxes. Why should I and others then pay to reduce the cost of your commute when we may not have the option of a train ourselves?
You already subside the Railways
actionforrail.org/the-four-big-m … atisation/
I know my taxes subsidise the railways but my point was more that if they were nationalized then they would likely be subsidized more to bring the fares down.
Government departments are well known for wasting money on things like procurement so not haggling on that alone would likely off set the savings made by not paying out dividends.
I to be clear I don’t agree with the way they seem able to walk away from the risks of bad decisions like the East coast did. If they get it wrong they go bust, government takes over then.
kcrussell25:
discoman:
kcrussell25:
adam277:
I considered it very briefly due to stupid fuel prices and wanting a break from the road.
I only live 10 miles from work so figured it would be cheap…
£35 a week!!! Works out like £1700 a year.
That’s insane. No wonder there are so many cars on the road…
Think I’m gonna by a little 125cc to commute on they can do like 100 mpg and can be had for a bag of sand.
That’s my little rant for the day.
I don’t know how relevant it is but considering how the government want to get vehicles off the road due to emissions maybe they should just renationalize the railways to provide the public with a viable means of public transportation.
Failing that just do the popularist thing and blame it all on trucks to appease the masses by making it harder for them to do the deliveries we are increasingly making at the click of a button.
/Rant.
Is 35p per mile bad really? No tax, insurance, mot, maintenance and depreciation to factor in. Are you in a city as thats always more expensive?
I am only 35 so can’t remember British rail but I don’t think nationalization is the way as the main way to bring fairs down would be to subsidise from taxes. Why should I and others then pay to reduce the cost of your commute when we may not have the option of a train ourselves?
You already subside the Railways
actionforrail.org/the-four-big-m … atisation/
I know my taxes subsidise the railways but my point was more that if they were nationalized then they would likely be subsidized more to bring the fares down.
Government departments are well known for wasting money on things like procurement so not haggling on that alone would likely off set the savings made by not paying out dividends.
I to be clear I don’t agree with the way they seem able to walk away from the risks of bad decisions like the East coast did. If they get it wrong they go bust, government takes over then.
Gov Departments waste money?
True?
Are all Private or Public Limited Companies examples of efficiency and proper fiscal and moral behaviour?
No.
What’s the comparison between the two? I don’t know. I don’t know who really does know. How much does it really cost when a Carillion goes bust? How much has been lost to contractors and their workers to make savings in the Public Sector that employed Carillion?
Where do we get most of our news about wastage of Public funds from? The privately owned press.
Inefficiency in the NHS?
Politicians of all colours have been trying to improve that for decades. But do we want “efficiency” here?
A bus with stanfing room only is an efficient form of transport. We’d much rather travel in a Limo though wouldn’t we!
When we’re ill we don’t want to jostle about in a crowd, we want to be treaded properly.
“Government spending bad.
Private business good.”
is an over simplification, I reckon.
Mismanagement exists in both Public and Private sectors, but only in the Publuc sector does it scrutinised so closely, although we either as taxpayers or consumers end up paying for inefficiencies equally.
This is a complex and difficult problem to understand and resolve. Like all complex issues there exists a simple easy solution, that is always wrong.
[emoji6]
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Have you got someone who lives nearby you could car share with?
I share a car 50/50 with another bloke at work, works well, any repairs, MOT etc we just go halves. If the car gets too expensive to repair we will buy another between us, costs me £20 a week to get back and forth to work, live 4 miles from the quarry, the only real issue we sometimes have is if one of us is back a lot earlier than the other, I just get my wife to collect me if that’s the case.
Might be worth considering?
Was story in local paper yesterday.
Do liz Kershaw wanted get train from Stockport to Ashford. Granted she wanted 1st class but was told be £1000 thank.thats one way
Our “child” who is home from uni, needs to be in Liverpool on Tuesday, the train is about £85 return, National Express takes 6 hours with a change stop, that was about £60, “Dad” can do it for £20 and we know she is safe. The trains are on strike on Tuesday, the coach is full now so I imagine the M62 will be shut for me.