When I saw this article over on BBC News that Trains ‘too costly’ for rail firm, I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. If you were truly running an efficient rail line, than rail travel should be a cheaper option for your employees than road transport!
But for Network Rail, who own and operate Britain’s rail infrastructure, it’s cheaper to transport 200 staff by coach from Reading to Coventry for a conference — £24,000 cheaper! This tells me that either they are doing a very poor job of cost control, there is a disconnect between operations and sales (who would set the pricing), or government muddling is preventing efficient pricing and operations. (Why can’t workers travel at cost when the trip is related to their job? Do you think an airline who has to fly a pilot from point A to point B charges itself retail for the privilege?)
Your thoughts?