Is it fair that your travel rights are being delayed?

It is a sad fact of life that, on any popular travel day, there is not enough room on trains and not enough space on the roads. It is almost inevitable that one will be part of a rail cattle truck or endure endless queues on jammed motorways. It also seems that we are having more accidents these days. I can’t prove this, but every travel bulletin I hear has an accident somewhere in the mix. Alternate routes have been ruined by speed humps, potholes and endless speed restrictions on roads that were unlimited in the past. Do we blame motorists who refuse to obey the law or the nanny state, or both? From that diversion to the topic in hand. It would be really good if train travellers received compensation for nightmare journeys described above, but until we spend a vast amount of money on the infrastructure these journeys will be with us when too many people want to travel at the same time. The only way round is for the train companies to insist on pre-booking travel and ending that booking when all the seats are taken. Gone, then would be the idea of going to a station and catching a train when we feel like it. It would also mean that those without a ticket would not travel and hit the roads instead. No easy answers. If train companies can not guarantee travel they should not offer it. On the occasions when something breaks down unexpectedly, they should compensate travellers by a great deal more than the fare paid.

Yesterday – Bank Holiday Monday – showed the common sense of many. I visited my local tip (recycling centre) open as usual. But unlike most days it was awash with people who’d been clearing houses, gardens, sheds – – using their brief holiday usefully instead of sitting in a traffic jam. Ah, but having said that there was a queue a queue of cars on the road in both directions waiting to enter the site – at least 3 in each direction – so even tips are not immune to Bank Holiday delays..

I always take a view not to travel on Bank Holiday weekends is a smart way to avoid travel problems. I do therefore have little sympathy with people that do travel then and subsequently complain.

Similarly people who decide to live miles from work forcing them to become commuters, and then travelling at peak time.

Charities I have noted pay around £5000 extra for junior London staff compared to Bristol so we, as the public , perhaps need to exert more pressure on charities to move. There have been consistent polls that show the public are unimpressed with the need to be and costs for charities based in London.