Michael Bell wrote:
In article , Ian F.
wrote:

"Nimbo" wrote in message
o.uk...

I'm fed up paying 40% income tax and getting a sub standard public
transport system which is overpriced.


Overpriced? I know a lady who travels daily from Stevenage to London, she
pays £ 3000 / year, she thinks it is a lot, but counting the final leg of the
journey within London, it is a 60 miles return journey and for a working year
of 220 days, it works out at 22p/mile, in a train costing £ 8 Million. I
don't think you could get a ride for that without massive subsidy.

But if you take the cost of her portion of the train, rather than the
whole thing, then that cost reduces significantly. Say the train seats
500; the cost reduces to £16,000 per seated passenger. During the day,
that train carries more than one passenger per seat (i.e. on different
trips) and so the cost reduces further. A bigger issue is the costs of
running the train (track access charges and electricity charges I'd
guess, along with maintenance). But it shows that the price of the train
itself isn't really that significant.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London