[tomm]

Britain's rail networks are an expensive joke and the worst in Europe
To put this into perspective, the average salary for Britons may have risen by 9% from 2010 to 2015, but most of this is spent on getting to and from work.

“Rail fares have rocketed over the last five years leaving many commuters seriously out of pocket," said TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady in a statement.

“If ministers really want to help hard-pressed commuters they need to return services to the public sector. This is a fair, more sustainable option and it would allow much bigger savings to be passed on to passengers. Introducing an arbitrary cap on fares is simply passing the bill on to taxpayers. The government wants the public to subsidise train companies’ profits and bear the cost of the fares cap.”

According to the TUC and AFR, we spend a greater proportion of our salaries on travel costs compared to the rest of Europe. We're working more just to pay for the transport to our jobs and back home again.

In France, people spend around 12% of their salary on rail tickets, 9% in Germany, and only 6% in Spain and Italy. In Britain, we spend a huge 17%.



http://uk.businessinsider.com/uk-ver...strikes-2015-8