markskoda
Member
It seems to me that this is one of the major arguments being advanced in favour of HS2. I have been in the U.K. for my Xmas/New Year family visit and am about to return to The Czech Republic. In my time here I have used Birmingham New Street Station on many occasions. It appears to me that at all times of the day and night including so called peak times the First Class carriages which form such a large proportion of the long distance trains in the U.K. are grossly under utilised, some with not a single passenger (customer/client whatever the latest marketing speak is). While Second Class (Oops Standard) is massively overcrowded.
So here is a simple suggestion for the marketing people at the train operating companies.
On a controlled basis, permit 2nd class season ticket holders who spend large sums of money with you and travel in cramped conditions, to use First Class accomodation at all times.
You could trial this in stages and control numbers at the outset by the length of journey or expenditure , or a combination of factors to release a large number of seats in Second Class and award First Class seats to those who contribute most. You may lose a few First Class season ticket holders but surely this would address an important issue?
Forgive my ignorance if this has already been "trialled" or "rolled out" or even tried. I live in a land of simple value fares and am unaccustomed to the complexities of the pricing structure in the U.K.
So here is a simple suggestion for the marketing people at the train operating companies.
On a controlled basis, permit 2nd class season ticket holders who spend large sums of money with you and travel in cramped conditions, to use First Class accomodation at all times.
You could trial this in stages and control numbers at the outset by the length of journey or expenditure , or a combination of factors to release a large number of seats in Second Class and award First Class seats to those who contribute most. You may lose a few First Class season ticket holders but surely this would address an important issue?
Forgive my ignorance if this has already been "trialled" or "rolled out" or even tried. I live in a land of simple value fares and am unaccustomed to the complexities of the pricing structure in the U.K.