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Where to live in Edinburgh

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    #62
    Michael D Not Higgins
    Registered Users Posts: 7,223 ✭✭✭Michael D Not Higgins


    NoCrackHaving wrote: »
    The cost of season tickets in Scotland is truly phenomenal. Theoretically Glasgow/Edinburgh should really be one economic region with commuting between the cities a lot more commonplace than it is. However the costs of commuting put a huge number of people off this idea. I looked at it myself a few times and once you add a season ticket in a lot of the finances of certain jobs no longer match up.

    A back of the envelope calculation would suggest it's cheaper to drive the M8 and park in a park & ride and get the bus than it is to get a train season ticket between the cities.


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    #63
    NoCrackHaving
    Registered Users Posts: 535 ✭✭✭NoCrackHaving


    Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »
    A back of the envelope calculation would suggest it's cheaper to drive the M8 and park in a park & ride and get the bus than it is to get a train season ticket between the cities.

    But still they put those ridiculous flashing signs saying 'think bus/train/bike' all along the M8. If you want people to use public transport you need to make it financially viable.

    In general inner city transport (buses in Edinburgh, trains in Glasgow) is quick, reliable and good value in both cities but the public transport between the two is far too slow and expensive for the distance that you travel.


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    #64
    Michael D Not Higgins
    Registered Users Posts: 7,223 ✭✭✭Michael D Not Higgins


    NoCrackHaving wrote: »
    But still they put those ridiculous flashing signs saying 'think bus/train/bike' all along the M8. If you want people to use public transport you need to make it financially viable.

    In general inner city transport (buses in Edinburgh, trains in Glasgow) is quick, reliable and good value in both cities but the public transport between the two is far too slow and expensive for the distance that you travel.

    Well they are doing EGIP which will get the journey time down to 42 minutes in a couple of years. But yeah far too pricey.


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    #65
    NoCrackHaving
    Registered Users Posts: 535 ✭✭✭NoCrackHaving


    Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »
    Well they are doing EGIP which will get the journey time down to 42 minutes in a couple of years. But yeah far too pricey.

    Still not amazing though, the original plan was for a High Speed Link which would have it down to 27 minutes.


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    #66
    Michael D Not Higgins
    Registered Users Posts: 7,223 ✭✭✭Michael D Not Higgins


    NoCrackHaving wrote: »
    Still not amazing though, the original plan was for a High Speed Link which would have it down to 27 minutes.

    I imagine a high speed train would double ticket prices. I think there's diminishing returns for such a short journey. A longer route like HS2 gets the journey from Manchester to London down from 2 hours to 1 hour. That's an easier sell than 52 mins to 27 mins.

    In my own experience, most of the people on the train at rush hour times are either commuting and paying for it themselves in which case they want the cheapest option, or they're travelling for work and their company is paying for it, in which case it doesn't matter and they're more likely to want high speed.

    I'd say there's few people between Edinburgh and Glasgow actually having the travel covered by their company.


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    #67
    Fysh
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 11,054 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    Tangent: The real problem with public transport across the UK is that the infrastructure for buses makes them no more useful than car. Train travel should be much better but thanks to a cack-handed handlign of privatisation train operators effectively don't have to invest any significant portion of their profits into maintaining or upgrading the infrastructure, and can walk away from unprofitable routes with little or no penalty. To add insult to injury, a number of the operators are owned by non-UK firms meaning that there's a net flow of profit for transport services out of the UK. (Which is why I'd be in favour of looking at re-nationalising UK railway - the current approach is an expensive shambles, so it may as well be a nationalised shambles with the profiteering bastardry removed...)

    Commuting is a real bugger in terms of the job market, from what I can tell. I've seen a number of jobs on the Glasgow-Edinburgh train route where the impact over the course of the year will be between £2500 and £4000, which in some cases means you make a net loss compared to working in the city centre for the same money.


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