Age of the Train

[daleksvscybermen]

I want BR back. I travelled on an intercity service from London-Norwich the other week and it was HORRIFIC. The seats were all broken, and I was lucky to even get one, the toilet hadn't been cleaned since like, the 1800s, I considered First Class, but it would probably be full of people who didn't even have First Class tickets, and I ended up being sat opposite two teenage girls going 'Oh he was like..., and I was like...' throughout the journey.

[googleisshittoss]

British Rail...as dead as Sir Jimmy :(

[mmaconachie]

Yes, there's plenty of room to move about on the trains because nobody can afford to use them nowadays. This isn't the age of the train.

[ArunKrisM]

RIP Sir Jimmy Saville

[cymboi]

The young lad singing in the background is my friend and only found this out last night.

[toomuchpetrol]

@cymboi Peter Auty is the name of the singer...he also sung the theme tune to the animated film

'The Snowman, Walking In The Air'

[ibidydo]

what happened to this livery ?

[ashthemainman2012]

@ibidydo if you peel back the paint on the current HST livery bet it will still be there :P

[bluebellnutter]

Dear Jim, can you fix it for me to get from London to Brighton for under a fiver again please, only now it costs £16 minimum.

[andyjay729]

Jimmy Jangle jewelry

[gorn779757]

swansea to london day return (before 7am) £250; return flight london to new york; £300. go figure....

[porkandbeans1991]

london to brighton £4.94 return, lol; more like £20 now...

[landsbergprison1925]

No, it is Peter Auty, same as in Snowman!

[MrCoogs2010]

@landsbergprison1925

i think you will find it was paul phoenix (also did tinker tailor soldier spy) i know this as i was at school with him!!!!!!!!!!

[Paintheshed]

I recognise that voice! It's Aled Jones

[choirboyfromhell1]

No It's Emma Kirby!

[fantasticministry2]

Bodmin Parkway Station

[nasilemak2008]

Bring back Jimmy Saville. He made British Rail great

[Javindo]

Of the train!

[unigateman]

saville, the last hidden closet gay, I know the woman in n° 21 told me when I was delivering milk, she knows him see, a realwoman that is , real hairy pussy like in the 70s not like the plastic ones today, shes into trains as well, often says shag me on the rails, husbands a train driver see, has those big fuckin sideburns like ELVIS, anyway always up the social comes home pissed, she says the only boiler he stokes is the trains, still thinks they run on steam, ignorant COW,

[Perranporth]

Back then, it all looked so nice! Do you see television adverts promoting cheap rail transport these days?

[unigateman]

Back then it was nice, real beer, real woman,

[CNash85]

@Perranporth No; in fact the major train operating companies don't advertise at all, only the price-comparison websites. This might be because it's unfeasible, as several different TOCs operate in the same TV region, so (for example) an advert for Southeastern would be seen by people served by Southern and South West Trains too.

[davidgwr]

Corr look at those fares. Wish you could travel by train as cheap as that now.

[WrongRoadRailways]

That's why privitisation is a bad thing. All the different companies having arguments is driving up the fares!

[FabFM]

Let's not forget that this was in the mid-1980s, five quid then is about 12 quid in today's money. Britain is really lucky to have such a great railway system (even today) is most countries, trains only stop at major cities, meaning you have to get a bus if you can get one, or a taxi if you can afford it to travel anywhere outside the city, and the train fares are also two or three times as much as what you pay for a UK train.

[053bss]

you do know that we have the most expensive, overcrowded and wasteful rail network in Europe? The French must be laughing their heads off at us.

Nationalise the railways NOW!

[FabFM]

Do you realise that Britain has the only railway that covers the whole country? Not just major cities. Like it or not, UK rail is the best in the world!

[053bss]

It would be better if it was fairer!

[FabFM]

I'm not saying to copuldn't be better but all these people who complain about UK rail clearly take many things for granted!

[053bss]

I take it you're happy to pay £1.20 for a cup of scalding tea & £60 for a train ticket from Leicester to London? This is what is wrong with the Brits: we are a nation of compromisers. We're more than happy to just sit back & let our public services go down the toilet just because we don't like to cause a fuss. You have to admit, less & less people are taking public transport because of falling quality of service. Nationalisation would lower fares & get more people on the trains and out of cars

[FabFM]

Your claim that less people are using the trains today is not true, more people are using the trains today than have been for years. Again, I never said I was happy, I never said it the train service was perfect and could not be improved, of course it can, but your false claims are typical of the british moaner - have to lie to make your point of view look stronger than it really is.

[gloucesterharry]

As much as I disagree with nationalisation in general, I think it is the only way to sort out the railways. Private companies have a monopoly and do not work for public benefit, they work for profit. So bring in inflation busting fare increases and cramming people onto dated trains with infrequent service is in the companies interest.

We also need to look at re-opening some of the lines closed by the beeching axe. Some of them which were not viable back then will be now.

[gloucesterharry]

Yes, but they could be better; turning up on time, finding ways to keep services to more stations and (after years of massive increases) keeping fare price rises below inflation. A train to London from my station to london costs about £45, whereas a car costs £30 in petrol and a tenner on parking. And I usually have another person with me, so by driving I'm £20 better off. (before we start edding taxi's o the station...)

Long story short, prices need to go down.

[FabFM]

Of couyrse multi-ple travel is going to be cheaper, if you have 2 or 3 people in a car of course it's going to be cheaper than 2 or 3 train fares, they are running a business. However, for single traverlers, there is no way cars are cheaper. Not with all the tax and insurance costs. And your 30 quid on petrol and tenner in parking certainly does not account for mateninace costs either.

Long story short, trains still need to be maintaned,etc.

[gloucesterharry]

Tax, insurance, MOT, servicing and repairs are about £1000/year. I do 12000 miles so thats 8.3p per mile, with petrol adding about 12p.

So for the 195 mile return trip to london, thats £39.58 plus £10 for parking: near as dammit £50.

So If I want to go off peak on my own, take the train. If I want to go peak or bring people, take the car.

Mind you, thats more to do with avoiding the packed trains at rush hour than cost, I actually prefer the train.

[maverickgoose123]

what about car ownership taxes , MOTs , servicing costs etc? does someone else pay those for you?

[maverickgoose123]

"...whereas a car costs £30 in petrol and a tenner on parking."

No you didn't - you're just like every other mug punter out there who can't see past the end of his nose and realise than when you take account of all the costs involved, car travel is actually pretty damm expensive.

Especially with ever rising oil prices.

And especially if you live in central London. My 900 quid a year travelcard gives me all the travel I need in central London. And it gives me 1/3 off national rail fares.

[maverickgoose123]

Let's take your figures for the car at face value. Are your train figures based on a season ticket or turn up and go fares?

Also - you're forgetting the initial cost of the car. Or did someone buy it for you.

[bronzeonion]

erm, wouldnt sat a car is comfortable, seatbelt rubbing you, you have to actualy drive a car, you cant stand up and stretch you legs unless you stop at a service station. You cant get and get a snack from the buffet car in a car unless you go to a service station.

[gIoucesterharry]

I've thought about what you've said maverick and I can actually see your point. I take it all back, having made some fundamental errors in my calculations.

Yes, the train is the much better option, I apologise for trying to get you to believe otherwise.

[zombiesonacid]

True, but you don't have to pay for road tax, insurance or an M.O.T with the train do you? Plus a little less of a chance of being involved in a crash too.

[harrow177]

Classic advert! lol

Yeah! It made me got on a train.. before I got a car! lol

[Shanshan00123]

It's Peter Auty who sang this jingle. He's also the boy who sang the original "Walking in the Air," from the Snowman

[nickpackham]

I've been after the song for years - I still haven't found out who sang it or where I can get a clean(ish) copy. So if anybody knows...please let us know :D

[IDrawGibsonGirls]

I somehow was under the impression that Peter Auty sang the song for this commercial, though I recently heard a rumor that it wasn't him. Was Jimmy Saville the real singer in this commercial?

[IDrawGibsonGirls]

Oops! My mistake... Jimmy Saville was the actor.

Sorry

[dackywamboo]

Maggie privatised it saying its good for long term and investment, why do that you want to govern the country but can`nt run train Station and give away to people that may be want it work because they want there bank balance to be bigger every week.Goverment should of let people the train spoters and people with there train sets at home it would be dream for them because it would be fun and they geting paid for as well, in it love of the of trains not money and the would make it efficient.

[lborogay]

Thatcher didn't privatise the railways, even she said that she believed it to be too risky and difficult.

BR was privatised by Sir John Major's govenment between 1993 and 1997, long after Lady Thatcher had left Government.

Also, regardless whether it were to stay nationalised or privatised the Train Operator would still have had to have been split from the Infrastructure as that is now required under EU Law (the '1st Railway Package').

[38wd]

@lborogay I don't quite understand the infrustucture could you explain on this please

[Northernlightshow]

Having worked on the railways for many years, the ghost of BR haunts the industry still.

It still is disjointed, but a lot of the problems have their origins in BR.

At least the HSTs are still running...with a few new bits.

[lewisner]

Happy days before the evil Thatcher turned Britain into a privatised shithole. 8-(

[SamFischer1000]

This was made before 1991(that's just about when it all started going to pot)

[tjf4375]

A long time before 1991 - looks more like 1981 to me!

[Mbenwe]

Interestingly enough when the advert was filmed fifty percent of Sir Jimmy Savile was at a charity do for Stoke Mandevile Hospital. As a result the missing half was computer generated...you can occasionally make out the pixels on pixels on his parka.

[calstock]

Bodmin Parkway looks a lot better than that now.

Turn up at the right time and you can see a nice GWR steam loco behind where that terrible shelter was back in the 1980s.

The signalbox is a buffet now.

[steboy32]

The Good old trains have gone,but not forgotten

[reliancerail]

Still see the HST (albeit bastardised) on the GWML among others

[iBrowners88]

WAHAY! Bodmin Parkway/Road! (Whatever it was at the time)

I wonder why they showed a westbound service at the start and then the train arriving at the platform going eastbound?!?!

[rajaboy]

Look how cheap travel was then

[FabFM]

this was 27 years ago, it wasn't as cheap back then.. wages were much lower too.

[whatyoucooked]

Bring back British Rail pleaseeeeeeees.

[marc26110]

Good old british rail

[wisteela]

Oh man, that is great. I love the 'as it happens ' line. Dig the music.

[lolguy543]

i have one of these trains in 00 hornby form

[hugalove]

Maybe Jim should have said "any minute now, you're going to see a train turn up on time at this very station, which is unmanned, making it an extremely unsafe place to be at night". Yes indeed guys and gals, for me, this is the age of the gravy train. Uhhuhhhuhhhhuhhhhuuuuuuh!"

[Owentheguitarist666]

Im not trying to be funny or any thing, the reason the trains are over crowed is becuse there on the come back and the companys cant YET!!! afford new stock and the fact is the rail is over crowed it self (well in northumberland) there start to send Express trains onto the fright lines at time during peak hours becuse its that busy, the only way for the Railways to Slove this is the start rebuliding the old network, that was there

[Owentheguitarist666]

befroe beaching hack it apart, and only the more trains will be able to run with better serives

[Alstom1995]

Unfortunately the only thing preventing that is the government.

[dancingduade]

train privatisation screwed up everything - trains are dirty and overcrowded - disgrace. This advert is good though - nice collars

[Alstom1995]

Quite right, the other problem is the government, Gner are going out of business soon just because the government is demanding money from them that they do not have. And now the government has said they want to sort out the railways and we all know what that means, THE FARES WILL RISE AGAIN!

[Owentheguitarist666]

the thing is it is hard to run more train becuse the mainlines are as busy as ever now, due to the beachinf cut we dont have the net to be able to Run More serives, so, only way to GROW is to go back and reopen lines etc to cope with damand

[FabFM]

The problem is that the current government (labour) have to clean up the big long mess called privatization that the Tories left behind. Believe it or not, Britain has the best railway system in the world, not to mention the most extensive, and with all its faults, it is much better today than it was when it was first privatized.

[kev5176]

6 quid CDR Northampton London - how the times have changed !!

[FabFM]

This was 1981, that would be about 18 quid now.

[rynewell91]

what year was this ad form

[michaelc6012]

That British Rail adverts with Jimmy Savill was great !!

[nkt1]

That's cos they got it *so* right in the first place.

[RapidAssistant]

Whether the Pendolino and Voyager will still be here in 30 years time is still open to debate!

[HSTMAN]

definateley not the sooner we get rid of voyagers and pendolinos the better.

[RapidAssistant]

The inside of the Mark 3 coaches has hardly changed in 30 years, apart from the upholstery!

[globalbloodstock]

& the fact you can't now get a seat so have to stand for the journey.

[redm0zzy]

I wish it was still that cheap... LOL

Think you will find the song was written soley for the ad.

[Northernlightshow]

It still is that cheap...avoid the internet. I got to 1st class Edinburgh from Preston for £53 from my local station, same journey £155 from Virgin!!!!

[kiyran]

wots the song

[videonut33]

"It's much cheaper than you think because..."

"...This is the age..."

"...Of the TRAIN!!!"