Better Transport

We went around the country to recruit passengers to help us convince the Government to cut train fares. We need thousands of people to join our campaign if we're going to win this fight. More tour photos are on our Flickr page.

Monday 28 September
At the start of our tour we got a big thumbs-up from passengers in Norwich and Cambridge, who are sick of high train fares. Passengers were very pleased to see us and keen to take postcards.

Tuesday 29 September
Today we were talking to passengers in Guildford, Brighton and Southampton. We met up with Stephen, our executive director, who is taking the message about cutting fares to the Labour party conference.

Wednesday 30 September
At Reading, Cardiff and Bristol, older people told us that price does matter - free bus passes have made it easy to leave the car behind. Younger people told us that train fares need to come down to stop them from driving in the future when they no longer have railcards.

Thursday 1 October
At Birmingham (covered by the Birimingham Mail) and Nottingham, people were taking postcards not just for themselves but for family and friends as well. We ran out of postcards! On the train, one man told us that he’d recently been on a very overcrowded train where a young woman had fainted. We’re campaigning for the Government to invest in more carriages quickly, as well as cutting fares.

Friday 2 October
We had a great time in Liverpool and Manchester today. In Liverpool, one woman said that both train and bus fares must be cheaper to get people out of their cars. She said "keep the planet healthy - we all have chest complaints here". Another asked "how can we make people care about the environment?" In Manchester we had lots of excited reactions; "I’ll second that", "me me me!" and even a scream of excitement from one young woman with a pushchair.

Saturday 3 October
We were in Glasgow and Edinburgh today. We met two women who talked about the high cost of commuting from Dunfermline. And they told us that a Glasgow-Edinburgh season ticket costs £3,000 a year, or you could pay over £18 for a day return. That’s a lot of money to pay, and if the cost of petrol is cheaper, people might be tempted to drive instead.

Sunday 4 October
We finished our tour by visiting Newcastle and Leeds. On the way to Newcastle, we met Australian tourists who told us that UK fares are indeed the highest in Europe – apparently Italian fares are a fraction of the price. In Leeds, one woman told us that she has to travel back to London to visit her ill mother. She takes time off work to travel on a Thursday because she can’t afford the higher price of travelling on a Friday.