Short sighted MP penalizing commuters today for future benefits

It seems more than a little short sighted that coalition MPs should allow the rail companies, amongst whom South Eastern will be foremost, to raise fairs by 11% to fund future investment in the railways. That means that an unequal burden of funding falls on the poor commuters who need to use the railways over the next 4 years. The funding schedule is set only for the next few years, after which, we're assured by Theresa Villiers - Minister for Railways - that these above inflation increases will be discontinued. Which means all those elderly commuters of the past got away with using the railway without having to pay their fare share for the upkeep. All the future generations of commuters won't have to find extra cash to pay the right amount to keep the trains going. No, the only people who should be penalised, according to the government, are today's hard pressed commuters who are already being squeezed until the pips squeak. Enough's enough. The only argument any of these MPs will understand is deselection at the next election. Whoever you vote for, make sure it's a party that insists the railways are funded correctly and equitably by everyone who has ever used them.

It might not have been great but it was better than most...

The government's simplistic desire to always go for the highest bidder has left Richard Branson bemoaning the short sited nature of train franchises. First group offer 83% customer satisfaction whilst Virgin can boast 91% so it seems that customer satisfaction comes a long way down the list of government priorities. As anyone who regularly uses South Eastern knows, value for money is not a concept familiar to the train companies. Apparently, it will be necessary to keep bleeding the poor old commuters year-on-year with fare rises of around 10%+ to fund 'investment' in the railways. For investment read Directors' bonuses.